Off to the Races!

I have a new hobby! Gambling!

Actually, I only bet on one horse, in one race, and he came in dead last, but it was still great fun to sit outdoors and talk with friends, and every 30 minutes, the Koreans would stand up and yell and a crowd of horses would dash by. Saratoga, here I come! (which reminds me, I haven't been to the speedway since the last century...need to fix that ASAP)

Fortunately, I was meeting 4 friends, because otherwise I probably would have skipped the racetrack and just gone to a park or something. I'd made up my mind to go some months ago, and had lately been wondering what the attraction was. Still, it's a new experience, I figured. But it was fun!!

I had no idea what to expect. We were greeted off the subway by the unmistakable, rotten-egg smell of bundaegi, always a sign of festivity. Horse statues were everywhere. We followed the crowd to a gate where, after paying our 80 cents admission, we were welcomed by women wearing the sort of dresses one associates with mint juleps or porch geese. There were tulips, a fake waterfall, a hole in the ground with bleachers and stables.

Inside, it was just like a European airport. Even the rows of chairs must come from the same distributor. People queued, people dashed about, people sat along every wall and median, papers spread in front of them, meals arrayed around. Instead of flight times, tv screens showed odds and videos of the horses, while crowds squatted in the concourse below, taking notes and filling in bet cards.

Lonely Planet promised a lounge area just for foreigners on the fourth floor, so, with difficulty, we found the place, and a desk where the attendants spoke a smattering of English. They gave us a printout of the competitors and a brochure detailing how to fill in a bet card. Finding no seats, we sat on the floor and made arbitrary choices (mine was, anyway...some of my companions chose horses with cool names). We'd arrived just in time for the one race of the day with waygook horses...I bet on an American. Looking around the "foreigner" lounge, it seemed like many of the people were Korean...maybe just Chinese, I figured. Then I went back to the info desk to see how to place a bet and also happened to see the sign that announced "The foreigner lounge will remain open, but as of April 17, 2010, will allow both foreigners and domestics."

We placed our bets, a 2-step process, then decided to go outside and see if we could find seats out there. Good choice! There were dozens to choose from, all with ashes staticked onto the plastic. We moved a couple of times trying to escape cigarettes before realizing how utterly fruitless an endeavor that was. (Next time, bring a mask...in Korea, no one will even glance twice) It was like being downwind of Krakatoa. Ashes rained on us steadily the entire time. The sound of loogies being enthusiastically prepared was continuous and in stereo surround. Nonetheless, the track is away from the urban jungle, ringed by mountains, and made all the more attractive for the cherry blossoms that filled the center.

We watched with interest not only the occasional run-by, but also the infrastructure; the placement of the starting gates, the camera towers and video replays, the families frolicking in the center. Tractor zambonis would come out to groom the dust after the horses had done their exhibition prancing, and I noticed they were the very John Deere models I saw manufactured in Iowa last year.

We stayed for three races, and I hope I have a chance to go back. Much more fun than the lessons I now have to write.