Games Pt. 2

Another popular Korean game that never ceases to distract from "real" work in my classroom is gong-gi, a.k.a. salgu. The game is similar to what we call "jacks" in the States, except that there isn't a ball and the "jacks" are colorful octagonal solids made of plastic, not spiky metallic objects. Basically, players start by throwing one of the five pieces into the air and trying to scoop up another piece and catch the airborne piece in the same hand before it falls to the floor. The next round, they try to scoop two pieces and so on. In the final round, the player tries to throw all five pieces and catch them on the back of his or her hand. The pieces themselves have imprints of numbers, Korean letters, Latin letters, and pictures of different sports. None of my students could give me a satisfactory answer as to what significance, if any, these decorations have. They don't seem to change the play of the game in any way. Gong-gi seems to be more popular with the girls, although I've seen some boys play it as well. Here one of my students, "Laura," demonstrates how to play the game: