The pride of Wonju: Dongbu Promy

There is not much to our little city Wonju......we have some beautiful mountains (which I am embarrassed to say we have not yet climbed), we are home to two fantastic festivals (the Hanji Festival and the Wonju Tattoo Festival), Korea's best female weightlifter Jang Mi-Ran is from here, and we have the Dongby promys who are both champions and have held several seasonal titles!

Dongby Promy...what the hell is that? Well, it's Wonju's basketball team!

Last night, I had my first ever basketball experience!!! And it was so so fun! Oliver finished work too late and had an insatiable snowboarding desire he had to have filled, so he wasn't at the game but boy am I happy I went along!

There were many people there to support their local stars....there were cheer-leaders and kiss cams, and free give-aways.

Before the game started

We tried our hardest to get in on some of the free pizzas, steaks, and ice-cream cakes but alas we are no longer children and we are not yet old so despite our best efforts at screaming and going blue in the face with energy.......we did not get any of the delicious food parcels that were handed out during ad-breaks. But don't you fret.....our little group of waygooks (foreigners) got their fair share of prizes.

Being a foreigner definitley comes with its fair share of good things. Being white, means that the local TV crews want you on TV. It sounds strange....but it's true!

First up, Lauren and Brock were spotted by the kiss cam and they gave the camera such a show that they were given 150,000Won's worth of beef. That's a lot of beef, and in the land of very expensive meat that is a fantastic prize!

Next, Steve was called onto the court to play rock, paper, scissors with a cheerleader....I am not too sure what happened because I was busy getting prepped for my time on court. Yip....I got to go on court....my first time ever at a basketball game and I got to go on the court.....hahaha! YAY!

Before going on court

The Dongbu Promy Mascot

Once on court I had to pick a letter from the name Dongbu Promy....Then I was given a challenge. My challenge was to try and get a basket! So, I got into my best pose I could, bounced the ball a couple of times, tried my best to look like I had a blinking idea what I was doing, and took a shot...........I missed! Sniff sniff, weep weep. So much for all the months of playing with Oliver...when it counted the most and I was being watched by a stadium full of people....I missed...URG!

Then the announcer asked where I was from and I proudly announced I was from South Africa, I then proceeded to show him my South African Converse shoes. I totally forgot I was on national TV and acted like a nerd...I mean who shows off their shoes even if they are totally sweet because they are green and have the South African flag on them. What a turd!

My super cool shoes

Anyway, it was a good laugh and I got a prize!!! whooop whoooop! I got two day passes to Sungwoo Ski Resort which is super funny because just last week I bought a season pass for that resort! Haha! So because it is Lauern's birthday weekend I gave them to her as an early gift! Now I have someone who can spend the whole day falling with me which makes me happy!

And then, Brock and Lauren gave me a Dongbu Promy basketball with the team's signatures! Whoop Whooop! Who's the gangster now?

 The awesome Dongbu Promy ball

For the rest of the night I was super hyped up! I joined in the shouting and screaming to the extent that my throat is sore today! I love those environments and to top it all off our team won by a landslide!!!!

I will be going again!!!

Post by Claudia