World Cup Fever

Most of you in North America will barely notice, but here it's all anyone can talk about. We (I'm including myself in the Korean fan-base since Canada didn't qualify) beat Greece last Saturday 2-1 but lost last night to Argentina 4-1. Next Wednesday is our match against Nigeria and that should determine if we make it to the next round.

Man, I love World Cup season in Korea. We just don't have any kind of event that draws this much nationalistic pride in Canada. Hockey doesn't count because everything is segregated into different cities. Millions of people don't flood the streets. I love getting swept up in it all. All I have to do is walk into one of my classes and yell out Dae Han Min Guk! (Korea) and kids know exactly how to clap. I remember when I was here in 2006, I was still living in Daegu and they shut down the streets (they did this in Seoul this year as well) and after Korea beat Togo I had just never seen so many happy people. Hugs and cheers were given out to everyone.

Last night the mood was much more somber as I was biking home from work and could see the people leaving the outdoor area near my house that people chose to watch the game. There were whistles, red shirts and red devil horns but no celebration. Is it bad that I really want Korea to win, just for the party after wards?

Dog Cafe

Mike and I found out that there was a place in Seoul where you can hang out with many, many dogs and puppies. We thought it was too good to be true, but it isn't! People bring their dogs to the cafe to socialize, and there are also around 15-20 dogs that stay there permanently. It's not the kind of place I'd ever want to eat a meal, but to have a coffee or tea, it's fine. They also served beer, so it's basically Mike's favourite place ever. The dogs have full run of the place. They walk all over the people, tables, chairs and ledges. The go to the bathroom anywhere, but there are tons of workers there who just follow the dogs around and clean it up. There were actually big dogs there, which I liked and just a few frilly little rat dogs.




Here's a video of what it's like to be inside. Every now and then the dogs would go nuts and start barking, but overall they were pretty well behaved. Honestly, if it were closer to my house, this is the place I would go to whenever I felt sad or lonely. Seriously, what cheers you up more than playing with a dog? Nothing.

I was also talking with a friend the other day where I stated that, "Any adorable outfit you put on a baby, would be just as, or probably ever more cute on a puppy." Think about it, it's true.