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www.groovekorea.com / October 2014 82 Edited by Jenny Na (jenny@groovekorea.com) COmmuNITy Groups and GatherinGs Although it’s not uncommon to see foreigners crawling home as the sun rises on the weekend, many of them are up early to play sports. The Cheongju Tigers soccer team keeps many a beer belly at bay, while social male and female friendly soccer games take place during the week. The Reapers baseball team plays every weekend during the season, and American and Canadian hockey players hit the ice in winter. Ultimate Frisbee is also a popular way to keep in shape, as is cycling along the Musim River or to nearby Daejeon during the less extreme seasons. Language exchanges take place weekly across the city, and it’s not only Korean and English that are being shared: French, Ger- man and Spanish exchanges also go down. Once a month, brains are flexed and egos flaunted at The Bugle’s pub quiz. Quizmas- ters come up with questions on a huge array of subjects as quirkily named teams battle it out for the pot or a second-prize pitcher of beer. The Cheongju Art Club meets every Sunday for workshops with Matthew Anderson, and their efforts are exhibited at events throughout the year. Originally from the U.S., Anderson has been teaching art classes and art history since he received his MFA in painting from Miami University in Ohio in 1994. “I studied East- ern-style painting after graduate school and my teacher, who was Korean, taught me a lot about Korean culture as well,” he says. “This, along with my studies in Eastern art history from my univer- sity days and my enduring interest in Asia, led me to Korea.” Board games and role-playing games are other ways some Cheongju folks spend their free time. Canadian Joe Brady, who has been in Korea for close to six years, is involved with an ev- er-changing group of players who dive into games like Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer and Silverline. “The groups change pretty regularly and the dynamic of the game changes with it. So some groups tend to use a lot more role playing, while others use meta-gaming a lot more.” He is also heavily involved with the Cheongju Board Game Nerds, which began in April and always welcomes new members. The group meets at Monopoly, a board game café in Cheongdae Cheongmun, which stocks a wide selection of English and Korean games. “Most of the games we play at Monopoly are strategy board games and card games, but everyone is very accommodat- ing if someone wants to try something new or different.” Bars and Guitars “Music has always brought foreigners together here,” says Lee Won-jae, who has owned expat-friendly bars in the uni- versity area, Cheongdae Cheongmun, since 2002. “The rock music that played in the stairwell of my first bar is what drew English teachers in, and from there musicians would meet up, talk about and create music in the bars.” Open mic nights at The Bugle (previously known as Pearl Jam) and rock ‘n’ roll bar Soundgarden see Korean and for- eign musicians get up and strut their stuff weekly. Local ex- pat bands The Primary, OTL and the Prison Murder Gospel Choir also play regular gigs. It’s not just rock music that gets Cheongju going. Sound- garden has played host to successful Motown, garage and funk nights, while Buzz bar, Road King and MJs keep people dancing to ‘80s and ‘90s classics, house and hip-hop every weekend. Still, many agree that the live music scene is not quite what it used to be. “A lamentable development is the decline of the music scene here in Cheongju,” says American saxophone player and longtime resident Tim Crawford. “There used to be a good bunch of pretty decent musicians, but many of them left and no one has come along to replace them.” In an attempt to remedy the situation, Crawford, along with Sparks, has put on a few arts and music festivals that have gained national attention and had widespread community support. The Art from the Moon and Live from the Moon 1 and 2 events featured art exhibitions and auctions, local and national live music, DJs and juggling performances from American couple Bob and Trish Evans. “We’ve been actively involved trying to create a ‘culture ini- tiative’ that crosses between Koreans and foreigners here,” says Sparks. ‘the expat Community is tightly knit, so we always feel welCome, but it’s large enough that we Can be wallflowers and just hang around if we want.’ david sparks, u.s.