The Triangle 2021: Squid Games Edition

After a long year of virtual events, the North Carolina KSEA local chapter held an in-person event on October 23, 2021: The Triangle. The Triangle is an annual KSEA local event that fosters networking amongst the North Carolina KSEA community. Its name is derived from the nickname that the region has, the “Research Triangle Park”, referring to the major research facilities and companies built around three major academic institutions: University of North  Carolina, Duke University, and North Carolina State University (NC State).  

The Triangle event was led and organized by the President of the KSEA NC Chapter, Minyoung  Suh, Ph.D. (NC State). The organizing team included the Vice President of the KSEA NC  Chapter, Sung-ju Kim, Ph.D. (NC State), and four volunteers: Hyeon Ki Jeong, Ph.D. (Post-Doc,  Duke University Medical Center), Min Jin Lee (Graduate Student, Duke University Medical  Center), Clara Kim (Post-Doc, Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp), Ji Eun Na (Professional,  Absolute Dental Service). 

The Triangle event this year was held with the theme of the popular Netflix series, Squid  Games. The organizing team prepared three games: 달고나 (Dalgona), 딱지 (Ddakji), and 무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다 (Red Light/Green Light). During check-in, each attendee was assigned a number in order of sign-ups – just like the Netflix series. However, unlike the Netflix series, there were no fatal consequences in losing a game! The event was held in the beautiful outdoor space of the North Carolina Museum of Art with approximately 35 attendees including professors, graduate students, young professionals, and post-doctoral researchers.  

The afternoon began with all participants enjoying a picnic with delicious sushi rolls while folding their own ddakji and learning more about KSEA’s activities. Participants who were not KSEA  members were encouraged to join the organization at this time. 

Then, the first game began – 달고나 (Dalgona). The organizers had made approximately 50  dalgona candies for the event, with four different shapes! Regardless of children or adults, everyone at the event enjoyed carving out the shape in the dalgona candy for a prize. The first six people to complete the dalgona shape received T-shirts.

The next game, 딱지 (ddakji), was held as a tournament. All participants were paired, and the winner of the tournament received tickets to the NC Museum of Art! We had asked the participants to make their own 딱지 (ddakji) during lunch; it was great to see families and friends get together and share strategies to make the most sturdy ddakji to win the tournament. Of course, during our event, there was no money given to winners, unlike the Netflix series! 

The last game of the afternoon was 무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다 (Red Light/Green Light). One of the organizers volunteered to be the 영희 (Younghee; the “it”) and had lots of fun adjusting the speed so that all participants were on their toes as they moved and froze to the game. As this is a very popular Korean childhood game, everyone enjoyed being in the outdoor space and playing with the rest of the group. The winners of this game also received tickets to the NC  Museum of Art.  

Overall, this event was very successful in gathering the local community members outdoors in a  safe environment – there were lots of competition, laughter, and memories made as everyone enjoyed their favorite childhood games. We would like to thank all the event organizers and  KSEA for sponsoring this event and we look forward to future North Carolina events.