The Chonnam Tribune features this section to share the voices of foreign students at Chonnam National University. For this issue, we interviewed three students about traditional games in their countries. This gives readers the opportunity to share the voices of and learn from those who have experienced things that most other readers have not. – Ed

What games are commonly played in your country?

In our country, children play many kinds of games like hide and seek, where one person is the seeker and the others must hide somewhere. The seeker counts to 10, then searches all the hiding places in the area. This game is called saklambaç in Turkish. I enjoyed playing it because I didn’t have any electronic devices as a child, and we usually spent time outside on the street from morning to evening.

What is the most representative traditional game from your country?

One of the main traditional games is oil wrestling. It is a sport where two people cover their bodies with oil and try to make each other fall to the ground. The goal is to bring your opponent down in order to win. This game is one of the most symbolic and historic Turkish traditions, dating back to the Ottoman Empire — long before the Republic of Turkey was founded.

Did you learn any lessons from playing traditional games?

When playing saklambaç, we need to focus on trust and belief. When we played before, some players revealed the hiders’ locations to the seeker. That made it easier for the seeker to find everyone. So, we need to trust each other and hide with people we can rely on. That way, we can all stay safe and win together. In this game, trust is really important. 

By Kim Ye-Ji, Reporter