STX Cup Korea Open Regatta

       Everyone in Korea may already know that the country will be hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics. However, this is not like the first time for Korea to host such big sporting event. In 1988 Korea hosted the Summer Olympic games and in 2002, they co-hosted the World Cup with Japan, If I were to mention some of the biggest. This year alone Korea is also hosting the  IAAF World Championships in Daegu and just like last year Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix in Yeongam-gun in Jeollanam-do Province. For the upcoming years, Korea will be hosting more of these big events and one of these is the 2013 World Rowing Championships, which will be in Chungju City. And in preparation for this, I heard there will be many friendly rowing competitions to be held just like the STX Cup Korea Open Regatta held last July 31st at Misari Regatta in Gyeonggi.

   Actually, my friend who studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) invited me to watch the competition since he will be joining it. So I just said sure, I'd like to see how the rowing sports industry in Korea is going anyway. But when I arrived at the venue, I was surprised to see a lot of people and the area's surprisingly really huge. I had to walk for like almost 20-30 minutes from the entrance to the place where they dock their boats. Plus it was extremely hot that day. The idea of walking back to the entrance after the event made me really upset. hahaha Anyway, while walking, I saw a lot of people, couples, families or groups of friends already settled with beach umbrellas and food, just like having a picnic and they were all ready to watch the race. I wanted to just stop and sit down but my friend was waiting on the other side.  When I reached the main area it was really crowded. There were many activities like rowing practice and activities for kids like games, picture booths and more. I guess they incorporated the idea of typical Sunday for Koreans, which is usually a family day or couple day for some. hehe.

Muhan Dojeon (Infinite Challenge)
Finally, I met my friend and his team. After talking for few minutes we suddenly heard screams and a big crowd was formed like right in front of us. It turned out that Korean comedians were there. The cast of Muhan Dojeon (Infinite Challenge)*, a very popular show here in Korea. Since they were right in front of us I managed to take a lot of pictures. Being comedians most of the people's comments were also funny like 대박 or 웃겨 or even 못 생겼다,**of course except for Jinwoon of 2AM who was very popular among young girls who kept on shouting 잘 생겼다.*** I heard they finished 8th in the novice category. Awards are usually given to top 3 teams but they were still awarded for their hard work. After all they're not a professional rowing team.

Results:
High School
1st Daewon Foreign Language High School
2nd Chungju High School
3rd Cheongshin International High School B

Female Sprint
1st Suwon Athletic Association
2nd Songpa Distric
3rd Chungju City
General Public
1st Yonsei University OB
2nd Seoul National University OB
3rd STX
Male Sprint
1st Korea National Sport University
2nd K-Water
3rd Yongin City
Novice
1st Melbourne University
2nd Keio University
3rd Oxford University
8th Muhan Dojeon (Infinite Challenge)

*Muhan Doheon is the first "Real-Variety" show in Korean television history.^[ref] (for more info visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_Challenge)
**대박 (daebak) literally means a big win or jackpot or huge success. It's hard to explain the context but it's used when you think you hit a jackpot or something unbelievable just happened...like seeing your favorite stars in person you can say daebak, or you bought something that's supposed to be expensive but you got it for a very cheap price...웃겨 (utkyeo) means funny, 못생겼다 (mot sengyeotta) means ugly
***잘생겼다 (chal sengyeotta) means handsome/ good-looking

Source:
http://rowing.sports.or.kr/ass_news/notice_view.jsp?keyField=&keyWord=&pg=&code=NTC20110730212531219&seq=386&gubun=notice