WORLD CUP!!!

This Saturday Michelle and I experienced the World Cup like we never did in the USA. We left our house at 2pm and arrived back home at 6am the next morning. The day started with us meeting friends in Seoul for the official Korean watching party. Before getting our spots to watch the Korea v Greece game we got a drink and a bite to eat. I can happily say that after 4 and a half months I can read Korean. Unfortunately, my vocabulary still needs some help. So when I tried to order some peanuts and chips to munch on, I accidently ordered dried fish. Here is a picture of me studying the food I am about to hesitantly eat.

After our snack we went out to the street to find a spot to watch the game. They shut down the street and put up a bunch of screens for people to watch the game. The estimate was that somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000 people were there. It was crazy. A funny side note is that when the game started everyone sat down so that everyone could see. Don't get me wrong they were still going crazy; they just did from the ground. I found this an interesting window into the respectful nature of Korean culture. Korea's team name is the Red Devils so that is why there are so many people wearing red horns. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it was absolutely pouring outside. This however did not detour the Korean fans at all, in fact it added to the crazy atmosphere.


We also uploaded a video of everyone singing Korea's soccer chant song at half time. It pretty much is saying shout loud for the Republic of Korea.
AND KOREA WON 2-0!!!
People were dancing and singing in the streets for hours. In case I left some doubt about how crazy they are for the World Cup; our school just informed us that we will be ending early on Thursday so everyone can watch Korea's 2nd game.

Here is a picture one of our friends took of their TV during the game. They showed the the viewing party on TV here in Korea throughout the game.

After the Korea game we made our way back to Suji where we watched Argentina beat Nigeria, which ended at 1am. We then went out for a little late night Korean BBQ which kept us awake for the USA v England game at 3:30am. We watched it at a bar with all of our foreigner friends. There were 4 people from England and 2 from Canada who wanted England to win. There were about 10 Americans who had stayed awake hoping that the US wouldn't get embarrassed. To set the tone the 4 English people sat in their seats and sang quietly along with their anthem. To not be out done by the Brits the Americans all stood up arm in arm and belted out the Star Spangled Banner at the top of our lungs. Even though it was a tie, to the English it was not only as good as a loss but an epically depressing loss. Unsurprisingly, the Americans in the bar were more that happy to pour salt on the Brits open wounds. Then Michelle and I made our way back home to fall asleep as the sun was rising.
That was our very long day of the World Cup in a Nation that actually cares about soccer.