World Cup Fever

[Receiving packages from home when I was in college was nice.  It was usually a care package to get me through finals or a gift for my birthday.  Receiving packages while in a foreign country is like Christmas.  Thank you Mom and Dad for the packages lately.I couldn't ask for a better way to start my day than with a package from home.]

#110.  Koreans hold grudges when it comes to their soccer.  Park Ji Sung is the best athlete on the South Korean team. He is beloved by his fellow Koreans and has always been supported...until recently.  During the game against Argentina he accidentally scored a goal on his own team.  It has been more than a week since this happened and Korea has since made it to the top 16...but the Koreans are still unhappy.  My kids at school refuse to cheer for him and tell me they hate him.  Intense itty bitties. 

As many of you know, America is not big on watching soccer.  There are three big sports that the majority of the country watches:  baseball, basketball and football (not necessarily in that order).  Here in Korea soccer is one of the only sports that matters.  Soccer fever has swept the country even more than usual when the South Korean team advanced to the top 16 for the first time since 2002.  The beaches are packed with people watching the games on a huge screen.  The bars are filled to capacity with people fighting for a spot to watch the match.  The phrase, "DAE HAN MIN GUK!" (basically meaning 'again Korea') has been yelled in the streets since the beginning of the World Cup.  

Koreans are incredibly patriotic and love nothing more than to yell their coin phrase over and over again.  In Korea there are no bandwagon fans when it comes to soccer.  They all support the team and watch as many matches as they can.  Case and point, my entire Korean staff went to our school at 330am for the deciding game to watch their team advance into history.  How many adults in America would do that?  One thing I have definitely learned about America is that bandwagon fans are plenty and right now I am one of them.  The game is fast paced, the players are hot (yes i'm shallow) and the game is relatively short (only 90 minutes).  

Yup.  I'm a band-wagoner.  Before I came to Korea I didn't watch soccer.  Didn't play soccer.  Didn't give two shits about soccer.  Now that I am here and have been playing consistently on a league (before I broke myself of course) and have witnessed the madness that is Korean soccer, I have developed an appreciation for the game. 

Soccer is without a doubt the favorite sport of people around the globe.  I may have started out as a band-wagon fan but after catching the World Cup fever, who knows.  

South Korea plays against Uruguay at 11.  USA plays against Ghana at 3am.  I'm rooting for them both.  I figure i'm an American living in South Korea so that means I can have two teams.  Right?

DAE HAN MIN GUK

GO USA

Watching the Korea vs. Argentina game at Bukbu Beach

Cheering on America at Whistlers Bar

Korean man at his finest.  Dae Han Min Guk!

The Pohang crew sporting red to support South Korea

Clearly happy with the USA win.  GO USA!