Week 1: We Win Some and Sometimes We Get Schooled

Korea is a convenient place to watch the world cup because of the seven hour time difference between South Africa and Seoul. Games play at 8:30pm, 11:30pm and 3:30am daily so for the Korea vs Greece game fans had plenty of time to throw back a few bottles of soju, cover themselves in face paint, put on every piece of red clothing they could muster and make it to the nearest park, stage or pub before the 8:30 kick-off. Walking up to Taewha river park in Ulsan can only be described as what it must look like walking into Hell with thousands of red faced fans wearing glowing devil horns, banging drums and sticks together chanting Korean game cheers. With Jung-Soo Lee’s  first goal against Greece the audience erupted even before the fireworks did and by the second goal Korea was in a state of perpetual celebration. Hite, kimchi and dried squid were passed through the crowd, and nothing but “Dae Hanmin Guk!” could be heard for miles. I drug my cheer weary lungs home at 6am after watching a surprising draw between England and the USA and had sugar plums and Park ji Sung dancing in my head until the next afternoon.

Game two for Korea was an expected but devastating defeat against Argentina. The stadium across the street from my house in Ulsan packed 15,000 people in to watch the game live on a flat screen and dedicated fans cheered right through Higuain’s goal streak. I have always known Korea to be a patriotic country but the extent of their loyalty has not been crystal clear to me until now. It was a rough Friday at school with middle schoolers in tears pleading with me to teach them swears and insults in English that they could hurl at the Argentinian team. The one phrase that I felt appropriate and that I am sure will now never hear the end of is “you got schooled.”

With Korea’s next game to be played against Nigeria at 3am I would expect a smaller crowd this coming week, but something tells me Koreans will be out in full force to stay up through the night to support the Red Devils with unwavering adoration and pride. Stay tuned…