Leadership Retreat: the Stage for Korean Games

Harin Park

The noise of the students’ clapping hands got louder, and the atmosphere intensified as the rhythm of the game started to pick up speed—the Korean games had just begun at the leadership retreat, August 11th.

As a group of students walked into the conference room of the Lost Paradise Resort and sat in a circle on the floor while waiting for dinner, they quickly noticed that three-quarters of their number were Koreans. Soon after that, the Koreans introduced those from other nations to the irresistible world of Korean games.

To start off, they taught the concentration game to the group, a game which, as its name suggests, requires much concentration from the players. This game starts with a short introductory melody accompanied by a rhythmic clapping of hands, which decides the speed of the game. As soon as the beginning tune ends, a player calls on another player’s name followed by a number between one and four. Then, the player who is called on says their names as many times as the number that followed their name. To add more craziness into this already complicated mental game, the players must say their names in synchronization with the clapping rhythm.

As expected, the non-Korean players had much trouble getting used to this chaotic combination of continuous clapping and saying their names at the right time, especially as the rhythm of the game was quickly accelerated by the expert Korean players. Their hands clapped so rapidly that they were nearly invisible, and their tongues twisted as they tried to spit out their names as fast as they could. However, their body quickly internalized the game, and they soon played skillfully. As Hyun Ji Kim (12) said, “Although it was hard to progress the game in the beginning, everybody got better eventually, and we had a blast playing those games.”

Threatened by their expertise, the Koreans introduced another mind-blowing game—the dummy game. Externally, this game looks much easier than the concentration game; however, it requires more brainpower than the first game. This game involves showing a number between one through five with your fingers but saying a different number out loud. Then the next person has to read the number shown with the fingers of the previous player and say the number while showing a different number with his or her own fingers.

Unlike the previous game, this game confused all of the players, including Koreans. With puzzled eyes, each player said a number hesitantly. Watching each other’s brain-mouth coordination glitches amused the players, and unstoppable waves of laughter continued throughout the games. “The Korean games we played allowed me to bond with my fellow ExCom members and other leadership members. It was fun to learn a tiny bit about Korean culture as well as being with friends,” said Aaron Tan (12), an enthusiastic player.

The games went on until dinner was called. The players left the conference room promising another round. What remained after the games were red hands, tired mouths, puzzled brains, and new friendships.