[HiKorea Hostel(Guesthouse) in Haeundae, Busan] When the Shouts of Busan Echo Around, the Sajik Baseball Stadium

 Starting last 30 March, people exhaustively gather to the Sajik. The excitement is hot already. The Korean professional baseball season has come again this year without fail. On Saturday, when the spring rain was falling violently, I was worried about the rain continuing until late night, but in the morning, the sky was blue as if it were a lie. The people of Busan, pack their snacks on a sunny Sunday, and head for Sajik. To watch, ‘Lotte.’

 The game starts at 2 PM. But near the baseball stadium is noisy from the morning. The nice smells of chicken, pizza, gimbap, pig trotters and roasted filefish fillet sting your nose, and people hand out cheering tools at one side. You can see people wearing the uniforms of the players. There are little kids that wear uniforms that are too long for them, hanging to their legs. In other name, the ‘little seagull’ that the parents have brought here. When the homerun balls or the foul balls come over to the seats the ‘Azura!’ for these little seagulls start. It means ‘give to the children’ in Busan dialect. They give them the ball to make them come back to Sajik to cheer again, and this might be a good memory for the children, but the lucky guy that has caught the ball may be sorry. These children grow up to be parents, and they come again with their children hand in hand to watch baseball. This is a perfect course for a date for lovers. They hold a kiss event on the electronic display for those lovers. There’s no need to add about with friends. Your stress will go away if you cheer together and enjoy the fun.

Is it your first time at Sajik? Or, is it your first time to watch baseball games? But there’s no need to worry. You will be able to catch the rules at about the 3^rd inning at Sajik, and at about the 5^th inning you will be able to follow the cheers little by little. At the 8^th inning they hand out orange colored plastic bags to gather the trash, and if you put air in those and tie them to wear it on your head, it becomes a perfect cheering tool. At the 9^th inning you can learn thoroughly how to enjoy baseball in Busan. If your hands feel empty, you can tear newpapers horizontally and make a cheering too. If you can’t do it well, you can ask for help to other people. They will willingly help you out. If you are lucky, some people share snacks with you also. The people of Busan become one inside the Sajik.

It’s normal to cheer for the ‘Lotte Giants’ in Busan. The cheer of the people of Busan is famous all over the country. They are sometimes criticized for their violent behaviors, but normally, cheering cheerfully and passionately is all, so you don’t need to worry about that. People cheer calling each player’s name as they come out to play, and sometimes people stand up together and put arms around each other’s shoulders to sing the ‘Busan Seagull.’ ‘Come back to the Busan harbor’ is one of the cheering songs that can’t be missed. Also you can’t miss the surfing cheer. If the opponent’s team throws a check ball they shout ‘Ma!(Hey dude)’ out loud, and if the other team gets three strike out they sing ‘One day~’ to the notes of ‘She has come out.’ The electronic display event that is held at inning change time is also very fun. It is the time you become the hero of this place, solving puzzles and dancing along. At first this atmosphere may be very unfamiliar and awkward, but if you just participate once to cheer you cannot forget this thrill. This is the first reason the people of Busan come to the baseball stadium, the festival mood. If they win, they feel much better, but it doesn’t matter if they lose either. You don’t have to know about baseball, and you don’t need to catch the ball that has come over to the seats. Enjoying, that is all.

At the match of the Lottel Giants and the Kia Tigers that was held at 7 April, Lotte lost by 3:1. We were sorry because they missed all crucial moments, but who cares? We had delicious chicken, cool beer, and cheered to our hearts’ content and got rid of out stress. The Sajik baseball only needs that. If you had fun, you have enjoyed the Sajik baseball stadium properly.