By HyunCheon Kim
Translated by SeungYoun Woo


As Yuna Kim, the Figure Skating Queen’s performance of “An Evening with Champions” at Harvard University is just around the corner, some Koreans are soexcited about her appearance in Boston that they are paying a premium for the show tickets.

The news about Yuna Kim’s performance on October 15th and 16thwas announced on August 15th. Following the announcement, the tickets were all sold out in one or two days. Koreans who heard the news later have already given up getting tickets; however, some are still desperate to attend the performance,and they are seeking other ways to buy tickets, such as paying a premium.

Eun-mi Kim, a resident of Lexington, said, “My daughter wanted to see Yuna Kim, so I tried to buy
tickets through the phone.But I couldn’t reach the sales person at first. When I finally had a chance to talk to them, they said the tickets were all sold out.” She still wants to buy tickets even if she has to pay above the regular price.

Also, an international student couple, who are 2 months away from leaving Boston, said, “We are still looking for tickets. Although it’s a small-scale performance, the tickets are much cheaper here than in Korea.” They are still waiting for the reply of any seller.

Because there are too many buyers, the ticket prices keep increasing. Han-naJeong, living in Malden, put up a post on BostonKorea.com a few days ago to sell one ticket for Yuna Kim’s show. Her asking price for a ticket was $25. As soon as she posted her notice, there were many callers. One of them wished to pay $40 for the ticket. “The price was a buyer’s suggestion. Also, someone wanted to buy more than one, regardless of the price,” said Jeong.

On the other hand, in some cases sellers have crossed the line. An office worker, in his 30s and living in Boston, said, “I was looking for two tickets for me and my wife but a seller asked $100 for each. I thought it was too much so I refused to buy them.”
Some Koreans, after realizing theall-sold-out situation, found a donation program on the website, www.aneveningwithchampions.org. They could buy their tickets after donating a certain amount of moneyonline.

Myung-Ja Lim lives in Braintree, and bought tickets by donating on the website. She also posted the website address on BostonKorea.com, to inform other Koreans about the donation tickets.
Soo-young Kim, a huge fan of Yuna Kim, found out about the online sponsorship tickets. She could buy 3 tickets for $100. She paid $25, the regular price, for each ticket, and the remaining $25 as a donation. “I’m so glad to see Yuna Kim’s show,” said Kim.

According to EWC (EveningWithChampions), the sponsorship tickets for the Saturday (15th) performance has already closed on September 30th, but those for the Sunday (16th) performance are still available through the website, www.aneveningwithchampions.org. Buyers can download and fill out the application and send it back to the donation sponsor.

Also, people who are not able to get tickets by the show days can still come to the performance place and wait for the remaining empty seats-- those that are still not filled even after 30 minutes of the performance.

This charity show isthe first time for Yuna Kim to perform in the East coast of the U.S. The show will not be broadcast on TV but it will be available later through DVDs.
“An Evening with Champions” is hosted by Harvard University and the Jimmy Fund to raise funds for cancer patients. There will be about 10 athletes joining the performance, including 2010 National Champion Rachael Flatt, 2011 National Bronze Medalist Ross Miner, and 2011 World Bronze Medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani.

Yuna Kim, with the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, 100 days ahead [I’m not sure what you mean by 100 days ahead; do you mean 100 days ago?], was appointed an honorary ambassador for the 2012 Innsbruck Winter Youth Olympic Games last October 5th.

ⓒ 보스톤코리아(http://www.bostonkorea.com), 무단전재 및 재배포 금지