Fun Night at the Olympic Stadium

By Sydney Molaver
  

 Before our dinner, we had the opportunity to stop at a The Olympic Stadium, which is located in the middle of Phnom Penh. We arrived to the very busy parking lot that had many people wearing jerseys, which was odd because we were not aware of any game going on. We walked up very high stairs to a free viewing area which was around 3/4 of the stadium. In America you must pay to enter games and there is assigned seating, as well as security. This is different in Phnom Penh because only 1/4 of the stadium is assigned seats where all the fans are located (during local league games, however if the national team is playing the whole stadium is assigned). When we entered the stadium there in fact was a game going on, between two local Cambodian teams each sponsored by an organization.  We watched about 10 minutes of the first half including a great goal by one of the teams. At half time a giant dance team came onto the field and performed for the fans which was really cool to watch. Then we walked down the stairs at the back of the stadium and had the chance to participate in street aerobics on the sidewalk. I thought it was interesting that there was a free exercise class going on that anyone could join, and even more interesting that older women were the majority of people participating in the workout together. 




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