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?