Doha Asian Games

Most of you know that Jeff was in Doha, Qatar from October to April last year, and he flew me out for New Year's. Down on the Corniche (the main city walkway/park area) there was the Doha Asian Games mascot, Orry the Oryx, with a countdown until the 2006 Asian games. Check out that crazy Oryx:

Here is a picture of some real Oryx, if you care, courtesy of our visit to the Doha zoo.

When we arrived in Korea, there were commercials galore for the Games. Well the Doha Asian Games have finally arrived. I am guessing the coverage in the US is non-existent since before I went to Doha I didn't even know the Asian Games existed. You would be interested to know that the Asian Games are the second largest organized sporting event outside of the Summer Olympics.

What's cool about the Asian games are all the sports I never knew existed. Take Kabaddi, which is an Indian game that seems like an organized game of group tag. A sport that is popular with Koreans is Soft Tennis. Basically its tennis with a lighter racquet and ball, in which longer rallies and enjoyment ensue. There's a martial arts competition, called Wushu. It looks pretty cool. You will be suprised to know that Chess and Cue Sports (billiards, snooker, carom, and pool) qualify as sporting events in the Asian Games. Of course, the Koreans kick ass in Taekwondo, they invented it.

Because of heavy news coverage, we have learned to support some Korean athletes. There is this baby faced swimmer who won some medals. He seems cool. Since we cannot understand Korean, we don't know his name or his demeanor, but whatever. Godspeed little doodle.

-Mia (with help from Jeff)