Since ESPN’s College Gameday was in town for the huge FSU vs. Clemson game on September 22nd, a group of students from our class that come to the English conversation Club went over to Langford Green to check out all of the festivities that were happening there before the big game on Saturday. Among the students in the group was Clara, so we talked for a good amount of time about the phenomenon of college football in the United States. We started off by looking through the FSview and we all read articles than pertained to the success of the FSU football team thus far in the season and how much hype that our school has surrounding it this 2012 season.
Being an avid sports fan and football fanatic, I had so much fun explaining to them the process of the BCS polls, the AP Polls, and the USA Today system and how this is the first time that FSU has been ranked consistently in the top 5 for years. They were really interested in the amount of planning and attention to the sport that went into the entire College Gameday process. They marveled at the stage, the lights, the cameras, and the free giveaways that were happening all around us. I was beginning to realize just how much of a difference this is between our cultures that I had never previously thought about. When I asked which sports were popular in Korea the main answer was baseball, however, they said that most of the time they don’t really make plans to go attend games. This is such a contrast to the world that I am used to living in because sports are a big part of my family’s life. We make social plans around them and gather for big sporting events throughout the year. For example, I told Clara that every year at the end of October my family attends a football game in Jacksonville, Florida in which the Georgia Bulldogs plays against the Florida Gators. My family from Georgia comes into town and we all stay at my house, it’s equivalent to a giant family reunion. She was so amazed at that.
While I was showing them the stage area and the green behind it, Clara could not believe that the entire lawn would be filled with people by 8 am tomorrow. When I told her that people were most likely going to end up camping out here overnight to get a good seat, starting at 10 pm on Friday, she was in awe. I think it was interesting to see that huge gap in culture, because she couldn’t believe that so many people would gather around a sport and spend hours camping out just to support their team (or trying to get on TV). I however am more than used to that feeling, because I’ve done it multiple times for my teams that I support. I learned that the American college football culture is something that is completely a breed of its own, and I loved showing and teaching Clara the key aspects of it.Baseball and tennis are common sports in Korea but Clara told me that these college football events don’t even compare. I had fun observing the faces of awe whenever I told Clara or the group that the entire lawn of Langford green would be filled with people by tomorrow morning, all screaming with signs and trying to get on television. To see the blatant cultural differences right in front of me was so interesting. I kept telling them how amazing it was that they were here for such a great season with Florida State football, in which we are ranked number 4 in the nation, but as much as I tried I’m not sure if it particularly resonated with Clara and the rest of the group. This is definitely an example of cultural differences.
My own cultural perspectives shaped the event because I had such a strong feeling of pride behind the college football phenomenon so I almost felt like they were missing out by not having something equivalent to this in Korea, China or Japan. I put so much effort into explaining the events and the process of college football I felt as though I was a professor. When I get started with a topic like football I keep going without stopping, so I felt as if my cultural perspective caused me to assume a teacher-like role in the event.
My partner, Clara, and the rest of the group we were with, definitely had cultural perspectives that were different than mine. I was amazed that in Korea the phenomenon of college football did not exist and that even sports like baseball didn’t have that much hype surrounding them. I still cannot imagine going to a school where the sports teams don’t have as much prominence as they do here at Florida State. It is such a huge part of my life that I can’t even imagine not having it. Clara was not expecting this much hype or importance surrounding the game. Everyone was asking if someone was performing on the stage, but I told them, no, it was simply that big because the show is broadcast all over the nation and the announcers/hosts are on that stage. They saw a huge stage and thought a large musical group was performing! I thought this was interesting too, and I laughed a little.
I learned so much in this cultural activity. For one, I learned that sports are very much so idealized in American culture, a little more than they are in Eastern countries like Korea. I learned that in Korea, baseball is a prominent sport, but the hype surrounding it is not on the same level as NCAA or NFL football here in America, which was surprising to me. Specifically regarding myself, I learned that I think a GREAT deal about football and sports, more than I realized. It truly is a family based, cultural part of my life that has been ingrained in my mind as a child. After talking with Clara and the rest of the English Conversation Group, I realized that sports are such a huge influence on me. I know all the basics of each sport, I really do take into account who roots for who, and sometimes I agree with stereotypes about teams I don’t like. This was eye opening for me. The experience was about what I expected it to be, I knew I would have to teach them a lot about football because they probably wouldn’t know much, but I didn’t expect to realize more about myself in the process. I can relate this experience back to class because when we talked about stereotypes, I didn’t really think that I wholeheartedly believed in any of them. That is to say, I definitely am aware of a few and have probably made many generalizations. However, I was never fully aware of just how much I stereotype fans and teams that I don’t like. For example, when I was telling Clara and the others about how my family hates the Florida Gators, I really noticed how odd I must have seemed to them, to talk with an air of dislike about a random group of people. We simply hate them because they are the rivals to our favorite team the Georgia Bulldogs (and the Seminoles as well) but that’s the only reason, there is nothing concrete behind it.
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