Monday, March 04, 2013

College basketball was an interesting affair.

There were elements that echo Hollywood movies closely. There's the cheesy band that plays bite size tunes every time there is a time-out or a break in play. There's the cheerleading squad who wear the tightest dresses and do crazy somersaults every time the home team scores. Then, there's the bunch of jocks who are hurling the most hilarious insults at the visiting team.

Sitting right at the back and watching the game, I realised that amongst the spectators, 40% of them were college students and the others were adults. At first, I assumed that most of them are parents of the students and the remaining adults are probably relatives of the staff. I was happily munching through my free hot dog when the old man beside me started talking to me. Asking me the usual questions of where was I from, what was my major, how long would I be in the US, how I found Tulsa, etc.

When I asked him if he was there to watch his son/grandson, he laughed and turned to his row of buddies next to him and repeated my question to them. They also joined in the laughing before answering my question. The whole bunch of them attended this university close to 40 years ago. And ever since then, they make it a point to attend basketball or football matches every once in a while to keep in touch with each other and visit their alma mater. Then he started pointing out groups of people in the crowd, telling me which groups are likely to be family members of current students and which groups are just former students coming back to support the university. At that moment, the woman in front of me turned behind and introduced herself, her husband and her son. She went on to tell me how her husband and her met here while studying a few years ago and got married right after graduation. Now, they bring their 4 year old son along to such games on Saturday afternoons as a family picnic and  enjoy themselves.

I was really stunned. As much as I miss and love VS, I don't really go back and watch their games. But here I am, surrounded by so many people who come to watch games played by their university, and every bring their children along with them. I can't think of many Singaporeans who would do that. To take time off, and watch games played by their juniors. It's a culture, I was told. Everyone enjoys it. From the adults reminiscing about their university days, to their kids enjoying a day with their parents, everyone's happy.

Exchange is all about experiences and learning. And that even applies to a simple game of college basketball. While learning new things, I did not let go of my Singapore culture, I went for 3 rounds of free hot dogs.

Mumbled @ {5:08 AM}
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