Monday we had a school trip to the Daegu Stadium to see the games during the morning events. This was nice that students are being invited to visit and enjoy such a major event in their hometown. There were many school parties during the mornings events and I've heard from other teacher friends they have school trips as well during the week.

Unfortunately for me, I live on the northern tip of Daegu, and the stadium is the southtern tip. Its taking me 1hr45mins each way to get there with combination of bus, subway, and shuttle bus. We were told to make our own way as no buses were being provided and I arrived late so had to look for my school party.

There were various track and field events going on which ended by 12.30 due to the heat. Evenings events would resume after 7pm. Now that I had the day to spare I decided to wander around the event venue and make use of my access pass when there are no crowds around.

Video : Morning Womens Hurdles and High Jump
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7CdoE9R B3Q

So I was kind of exploring and saw the gates to the media centre. Officially my pass does not allow me access. However, when I walked up they smiled and said welcome so I continued in. Major security breach! I was wondering when I would get stopped. So I decided just act like you know what you're doing and belong here, until someone tells you otherwise. Then just play dumb and say you thought your pass allowed you.

There was a large reception area with organizers, who took no notice of me, so I continued walking and decided not to linger there and attract attention. There were many media people speaking various languages who had different coloured passes around their necks. I started walking to see what broadcasters were here.

By the reception were closed rooms with a glass wall. This was filled with tv panels showing all the broadcast feeds and a lot of related editing equipment. Next was a great hall with rows of tables like a cafeteria. This was filled by journalists on laptops. Along one wall was press releases and call times for various events and press conferences.

I continued down to where all the broadcast offices were. I saw doors marked with a Swedish flag and a sign for German Radio. France TV and Rai TV Italy had their own massive suites with editing rooms. I managed to find Channel 4 TV UK but the BBC were only represented by BBC Radio who had a small room with the door closed next to Channel 4. NBC also had a small room with a closed door. I saw a large room for Japan TV, as well as China.

The bulk of the space was for Korean Broadcaster KBS. On the floor plan I saw Al-Jazeera and Eurosport but I couldnt find where they were located. There were signs for a media restaurant and press conference room so I looked for those.

To get to the press conference you enter the underground parking of the stadium. This is where the VIP cars entered and the interior ramps leading into the stadium field. I found the press conference room which was a large room with chairs facing a main stage. On the stage was a long table with many microphones. The table and backdrop were draped in the IAAF logos and that of th sponsors. There were tv cameras setup in the rear.

Nobody was in the room so I decided to take a timer pic of myself on the stage. There was nobody to ask to take the pic and it would have seemed a bit odd and amateur thing for a supposed 'journalist' to do in the press conference room had I asked someone. Luckily I got my shot ok.

Then I tried to follow signs to the media restaurant as by this time I was starving. It exited me back out the stadium so I was no longer in a restricted zone. I went to the Daegu Sports Museum which had been taken over as the main accreditation centre where I had got my pass from on day one. One a portion of the museum in the basement was open for visitors.

The upper floors were again restricted access but I just got in the elevator from the basement. The third floor was the Addidas Lounge. There was lots of full size displays and promotional items. There were serving a free buffet but it wasnt food I could eat. The second floor was the media restaurant. Again, a buffett but charging over 10,000w. Maybe I should have gone in and got some some real media contacts.

I was following the map trying to go around the stadium to the Athletes Warm Up Area (another restricted zone I dont have access to). However, I overshot and went too far round to the Market Street. Now I was really hungry and worried everything would be closed as no public events were going oin till 7pm. There was a Lotteria Burger restaurant by the Daegu Sports Museum but it was closed.

In the market zone I found a place selling Turkish Kebabs. Saturday night I had seen Star Kebabs but this was a different vendor in another spot. Now that I was fed I had some time to explore the market area while it was empty from spectators during the afternoon heat.

TDK had a pavillion where you can take a blue screen shot at the finish line which they email to you. My experience with blue screen shots has not been good. I got the email with a jpeg file but it says 'file is empty' and wont open it. Samsung also had a pavillion where you can take another blue screen shot but no option to email it to yourself. Addidas also had a pavillion, as did Korean Air, Posco, and a car showroom.

There were many tourist info booths such as Gyeongbuk Province, Pyeongchange 2018, Moscow 2013, Visit Daegu, and Daegu Medical Tours. They were handing out lots of free stuff and had a traditional tea drinking setup, and you could get a free dental check!. There were also Daegu 2011 souvenirs and Sarbi mascots for sale.

One complaint made about the venue was the lack of food options. I've been to so many festivals where so much space is devoted to food such as bibimbap, pajans, odeng, hot dogs, waffles, fried food, and other types of korean foods, that are quick, easy to make, and suited to foot traffic. Other than the two kebab vendors, and even after complaints in the media at the start, there was very little available in terms of food.

There are no restaurants walking distance and inside the stadium you can only buy bags of chips or pop. For the sheer volume of people and as an opportunity to showcase korean culture, there should have been many more food stalls that I've seen at so many festivals. This was a missed opportunity to highlight korean cuisine. For many foreigners the stadium, airport, and hotel might be all they see of korea.

People need cooked food and protein for such a long time outdoors, not just a bag of chips and pop everyday. We had to bring our own food. Every festival I've been to has had more food stalls and choices. They could have had a korean food festival going on and the foreigners and visitors would have loved it.

Another complaint is the whole market area shuts at 9pm when events continue on till sometimes 10pm. It makes sense that all the crowds are inside watching events and will leave when they are finished. The Market Street should have remained open till 11pm to deal with the crowds once they file out the stadium. I had to make a second trip earlier in the day to spend more time here.

The rest of the week I didnt attend as its a 2hr trip one way and I will be going back Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings when Usain Bolt will be running on two days.