Why You Should Go to Baseball Game in Korea

You'll regret it if you don't

안녕하세요, it’s Ari, your friendly Korean source and weekend reminder 🎉 Today’s newsletter is about why you should go to baseball game in Korea, a joke about Tom Cruise, and an instant noodle recipe. Let’s start!

🎧 You can listen to this newsletter on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or other your favorite podcast platforms.

📕 My Korean exercise book, Not Studying Korean, Just Filling in the Blanks is available on Amazon (paperback) and my online store (digest e-book). Check it out if you want to pick up some basic grammar & vocabulary, test your skills, and support my work! ❤️

---

⚾ Why You Should Go to Baseball Game in Korea

img credit: theqoo

Baseball is the most popular sports here in Korea. We have 10 professional teams and 9 baseball stadiums across the country. All teams belong to conglomerates like Samsung so the name of a team starts with the name of the conglomerate it belongs to like Samsung Lions. The country is in the middle of this year’s baseball season which ends in fall. Though because of a scandal of players involving call girls, baseball audience and ratings dropped, it’s still the most beloved sports in Korea. Families, couples, and friends go to baseball games not just to watch games but also to eat, drink, sing, and dance ☝

⚾️역레발🦁 @Tteggerlooks

아파트 떼창

Do you remember the unique culture of Korean concertgoers called 떼창 (loud sing-along in a group)? I talked about this many newsletters ago. Korean concertgoers often say, “I don’t go to a concert to listen to a singer, I go to sing for myself.” The same goes for baseball fans. They often say, “I don’t go to a baseball stadium to watch a game, I go to eat, drink, dance, and sing.” You’ll see what I mean with the above video ☝

Each baseball player has his own cheering song so when the player enters the ground, the song plays and the audience sing along. During breaks, cheerleaders of each team dance on a small stage set up in front of the audience. Some audience get hyped up and stand up to dance, especially when the team they support is doing well. Many eat fried chicken with beer or other food while enjoying a game.

img credit: theqoo

I believe this unique audience culture makes Korean baseball stadiums the unusual tourist attraction. If you visit South Korea between spring and fall, I recommend going to baseball games to sing (you don’t have to know the lyrics, just scream), dance, and have fried chicken with beer. Tickets are cheap. They usually cost between 10 USD to 60 USD according to seats. After game, you may have became friends with a few baseball fans and go to have soju together 🍶

---

🎤 Mic Drop- Brother Tom

아리 @GoodGeorizd

아 톰크루즈 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ K - 팬서비스의 모든 것을 통달함 ㅠ 목례도 해주고 손하트도 해주고 카메라 뒤로 뒤집어라~ 한 담에 셀카도찍어주고 감 …

American actor Tom Cruise came to South Korea this week to promote his new film, Top Gun Maverick ✈🎉 A lot of his movies have been big-hit in the country. Koreans love him so much that he even has a nickname, 톰 형 meaning ‘Brother Tom.’ People love him not just for his great movies but also for his attitude toward Korean fans. Many say that he’s the only foreigner star who knows how to do proper Korean style bow ☝

While the American star is promoting his movie, the biggest Korean actor and Parasite star Song Kang-ho is busy promoting his new film, too. Broker is a drama film that won the Best Actor Award at 2022 Cannes Film Festival for him. While Song was promoting Broker in a theater, he made a joke about Tom Cruise which is today’s mic drop line,

오늘 톰 형도 와 있는데 톰 형 무시하고 저희 영화 보러와주신 여러분께 다시 한번 감사드립니다.

The line means, “Today Brother Tom came (to Korea) but thank you again for ignoring him and coming to watch our movie instead.” 😂 (I modified his words a little to make it easy to practice.) One takeaway from this line is the word, 와 있다 (in 와 있는데). It’s a compound verb which is a combination of 왔다 (came) and 있다 (stay). So it means ‘came and is/are staying.’ Similarly, there’s a word, 가 있다 which is a combination of 갔다 (went) and 있다 (stay) meaning ‘went and is/are staying.’ Since Tom Cruise ‘came’ to Korea, Song used 와 있다 instead of 가 있다. Koreans use the two words a lot so keep them in mind :D

Words in the line,

1. 오늘 Today

2. 무시하다 V. To ignore

3. 영화 Film, movie

4. 여러분 You (plural)

5. 다시 한번 감사드리다 V. To thank again

👄 You can practice speaking the line on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or other your favorite podcast platforms. Don’t forget to send me your voice message 👇 If you send it by 4 pm Wednesday, June 29th ET, your voice will be on the next podcast episode!

---

🍜 TikTok viral ramyeon

Today’s food is Korean instant noodle or ramyeon with mayonnaise & egg yolk. I found this food on YouTube though the video title says it went viral on TikTok. Adding mayonnaise is not the usual Korean way of enjoying ramyeon but the food looks so good that I would’ve definitely tried it unless I’m on a diet ㅠㅠ Since it’s an instant noodle, it’s super simple to make. Just mix ramyeon seasoning, minced garlic, egg yolk, and mayonnaise in a bowl. Cook ramyeon noodle with vegetable mix. And then pour the noodle and water into the bowl. You can add toppings like chopped green onion, boiled eggs, and chili oil. Watch the cooking video ☝ and try for yourself! It’ll make a perfect lazy weekend dinner :D

Thanks for reading! If you liked my newsletter, ❤, share, or leave a comment. Don’t forget to send me your voice message 🎤 See you next week! 안녕 👋