The Winter Olympic Games are coming up Feb. 9 to Feb. 25 and are being hosted in Pyeongchang, in the Republic of Korea, this year.
What are some fun facts about South Korea heading in? The number four is considered unlucky; much like our number 13 has a reputation of being unlucky. In the Korean language the word “four” sounds very similar to the word “died.” So, although we might skip a 13th floor at all in buildings with elevators, they will use the letter “F” as a place holder.
South Korea has developed its own sound with K-pop becoming a very popular music genre there. The music is a mixture of hip-hop, pop, rock, and R&B sounds. Do you remember PSY’ s popular “Gangnam Style?” Well that catchy tune is his 18th K-pop single.
South Koreans use the alphabet “Hangul” for writing. It was created in the 15th century using 19 consonants and 21 vowels. In addition to this difference, the letters are grouped into blocks of syllables to form a word instead of in a straight line like English.
Personally I’ve always enjoyed the Olympics. I love watching the dedication and abilities of the top athletes in the world. What they can do is usually nothing less than amazing. Being that I’m Canadian, I enjoy the summer sports in the Olympics, but I love watching all of the winter sports.
The winter sports include Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Short Track Speed Skating, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Snowboard, and Speed Skating.
My favourites definitely include hockey – which will be a little different this year since the NHL didn’t allow their athletes to compete – freestyle skiing, skeleton, snowboard, speed skating (mostly because I remember watching Catriona Le May Doan light it up when I was little), and figure skating… although I’m the type that if the Olympics are on, I’ll probably flip to the channel and let it play.
The Olympics bring people together – it promotes camaraderie amongst the nations partaking. When a Canadian broke their ski pole, a Norwegian coach, gave her a spare in order to finish the race after Sara Renner made it midway through the team sprint event and thought all was lost.
In the past the Olympics have been integral in world events as well. Jesse Owens, African American, winning four gold medals during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. There was racial tension there considering Hitler was pushing for the Aryan race as the superior race; but, Owens completely crushed this belief of the time by winning those four gold medals.
So, the Olympics not only are a way to promote a world culture, but provides a venue for addressing world discussions.
Something that came up during the summer Olympics two years ago was the Egyptian Beach Volleyball Team competing. Beach Volleyball is traditionally played in bikinis, however, the Egyptian team wore a sports type hijab, long sleeves, and pants.
In the Egyptians first game, which was against Germany, the differing cultures were quite the discussion point. At the end of the day it allowed people from any religion or background that you can succeed and reach your goals.
So, once again I’m looking forward to watching the Olympics.
