Bump, Set, Kixx!

Nissa and I had a chance to check out Korea's pro volleyball league for the first time this weekend.  We saw a men's match and a women's match -- both of which were pretty damn entertaining.

The above video is from the women's match between GS Kixx and Hyundai Hillstate.  Note the corporate team names, which is standard in Korean professional sports.  Exhibit A: the Kixx' mascot, which is a gas pump.

While the game was great, the highlight for me was the crowd participation.  As you can see, they're led by an energetic conductor and a group of cheerleaders.  Nissa was the first to notice the sound effects that play in sync with each bump, set, and spike by the home team -- "G...S...KIXX!"  The woman who spikes the ball in this clip is Destinee Hooker, an import from the U.S., who dominated whenever she was on the court.  She even had her own theme song (which you can hear) that they played after she made kills like that.  Granted, a few of the other players had theme songs, too, but I thought her's was the best -- "My Destinee, my Destinee..."

We had another first after the game as well.  Yellow sand (황사).  It's the toxic dust that blows in from China every spring and can be hazardous to your health.  We couldn't really see much since it was dark outside -- in daylight, a yellow haze hangs over the city like a fog -- but we took note of what the locals did and covered our faces as we headed for the subway.