화이팅! (Fighting!)

This post, and the following short detailed posts, will describe my experience running a marathon here in South Korea because it has been different from my past running experiences.  Also, it's pretty entertaining.

Ok, don't worry, I haven't been getting into fights here.   "화이팅! (Fighting!)" was a phrase yelled at me hundreds of times during my marathon run and I'm sure I, or any foreigner, could have been confused.  My first experience with this Korean Konglish (Korean-English) expression was watching Korean dramas.  I was quite confused when the girl would smile, hold up her fist and yell what seemed to sound like the word fighting to her boyfriend.  As I heard the phrase more often I began to realize that it is a phrase of encouragement, like "You can do it!"

The cool thing was to see this expression in action during the marathon.  Many of the spectators would simultaneously hold up their fist, crouch down slightly and bellow out "화이팅! (Fighting!)" as if we were the soldiers running into North Korea to take over the capital Pyeong Yang.  It didn't stop there.  Many of the other runners also held up the signature fist and yelled "화이팅! (Fighting!) to the runners straggling or to the older gents running as a form of encouragement and praise for challenging themselves to a marathon.  I even got in on the action and responded to the encouragement from the crowd and other runners.  Many of the spectators would either chuckle or applaud my response to them.   Yes, I was maybe 1 of 5 runners who were foreign out of 1,000's.

Personally, "화이팅! (Fighting!) as an expression is a good form of encouragement.  The phrase embodies the challenge and the fight to finish, the endless drive to keep going and not give up.  In English we might have "You can do it!" where to me there seems to be a challenge but just accomplish it, don't fight for it.  It is also easier to say "화이팅! (Fighting!) than "You can do it!" while running and I was more inclined to yell it to the other runners, as it took less precious oxygen.

The next time someone I know needs some encouragement for a big interview, is down in the dumps, or just needs a little pick me up, don't be surprised if I hold up my fist and yell "FIGHTING!" in your face.