Chiang Mai FC – Nothing like professional sports to make you feel at home

I have now been to two professional soccer games since being here a few months. Soccer/Futbol throughout the world has such a huge following, and Thailand is no exception. Chiang Mai has its own team – ‘Chiang Mai FC’ – they aren’t very good, lost 10 out of the last 10 games they’ve played, but fun nonetheless J.

The last two times I have gone, it has literally been a little piece of home and reminds me of going to Timbers games in Portland. Just like home they have food (though the street vendors food tastes a bit different than at home), team colors, jerseys and random stuff for sale, and of course screaming crazy die-hard fans.

The game we went to a month or so ago was definitely a cultural experience. Though many things are the same, fans are even more intense (which is hard to imagine b/c Timbers fans in Oregon are pretty insane as it is). At the end of the game, we almost ran out thinking there was going to be a riot. The fans were convinced one of the referees was cheating and people were storming the front of the stands, threatening to come out on the field, people were throwing hundreds of water bottles out onto the field, and the whole situation was a bit crazy. We stayed back to be safe and eventually everyone calmed down. The mayor of Chiang Mai came out onto the field and fired the ref in front of everyone on the spot and then made a speech about how he would never let that happen again. Futbol - a very important political agenda J.

The game last night was so much fun. I went with Nhu, the house dad, and some of the other missionaries that are staying here. It had rained that afternoon and the field was soaked. The guys were literally sliding all over the place and splashing around. Then just after halftime it started raining again, not just a little drizzle – a full tropical monsoon. The athletes kept their heart and played in the puddles/wading pool all the way to the end– though I’m not quite sure it was the same game after the rain – the ball literally wouldn’t roll it would just float around the field and stop long before it normally would.

Don’t know what it is about sports, but attending these games really made me feel like I am a part of this community. Relaxing, playing around, having fun, and feeling “at home” in such a drastically different environment has really helped me settle into the reality of my life here.