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June 2010
Just to prove that I do have a life outside of the World Cup, I am heading to Japan on Thursday morning and returning on Sunday. The itinerary includes two nights in Hiroshima, a day trip to Himeji Castle and a night in Osaka. Oh, if only the Blue Samurais had won the shootout over Paraguay, 3:30 a.m. in Osaka would have been that much better. Update: I did not go to Himeji Castle. The castle is being renovated and tourists cannot go inside. I'll post plenty of stuff upon my return. Until then, enjoy the World Cup, where South America teams have yet to lose to a team from outside the continent, New Zealand has finished ahead of the defending world champions and the officiating still sucks. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. Yes, you read that correctly. Saturday night, as our small group of friends was deciding where to watch the South Korea-Uruguay match, one of the options was a church that was giving away beer. Having never put those words in the same sentence before, we realized there really was no other choice.
The church, located across the street from a popular hangout that sells hard liquor in Ziploc bags, does not look like a church from the inside. Had I not known it was a church, I would have guessed it was a soup kitchen or a youth center. Koreans smiled and welcomed about 20 foreigners who joined at least 100 Koreans on the floor of the main room. We took off our shoes and navigated our way to the left side, while Koreans watched from the middle. One young fan brought a drum, another a whistle. And the crowd cheered the simplest of advances as if the Jonas Brothers walked into the room.
Uruguay won 2-1, and thus ends a run that captured this country. I will repeat what I have said earlier: This is not a soccer-savvy country but they were full-on into the World Cup. The people here are prideful, passionate, and a tad bit delusional over Park Ji-Sung's status as one of the world's great midfielders, but God bless 'em, they were so optimistic and infectious that many teachers happily joined in and adopted South Korea as their first or second team. Later that night, I watched the U.S. lose to Ghana 2-1 in added time. I watched in my normal place, Commune's. After we rocked and sang along to "Don't Stop Believing," "Eye of the Tiger" and "Born in the U.S.A." (we conveniently ignored the fact that the song is about a disillusioned Vietnam vet and just sang along to the chorus), the atmosphere dropped off from there. Ghana's early goal + the 3:30 start + too many people getting wasted during the Korea match + not exactly the largest catalog of songs + a finish past 6 a.m. = not exactly the best atmosphere. Still, the Yanks got out of the group, which is all I wanted. And I think people are too cynical about Ghana -- just because they don't have a long tradition doesn't mean they're not good. They were faster and well organized. We made mistakes and didn't finish enough chances. As for England-Germany, I promise to my English friends that I won't mention the score. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. This is Nathan Allison. An English teacher from Ireland, he performed this juggling act at a benefit theater show last night at Buy The Book in downtown Daegu. The idea is he would juggle in the styles of the 16 countries that had advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup. The act came about two hours before South Korea faced Uruguay (keep this in mind for his closing line). The countries, in order: Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Netherlands, Ghana, Chile, Slovakia (he does remember; give him time), South Korea, England, Paraguay, Japan, USA, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Uruguay.The show benefited the local animal shelter. For more information about the Korean Animal Protection Society, and its mandate to find a new place to house its homeless dogs, go to the group's Facebook page. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. Tonight/this morning marks the seventh consecutive day I have stayed awake for a 3:30 a.m. kickoff at the World Cup, and for the sixth time in that span I'll stay awake for the whole match. Tonight it's Japan vs. Denmark for the right to move on to the knockout round, for the record. But the 3:30 game everyone in this fine peninsula seemed to care about occurred two bleary-eyed days ago. And unlike me, just about everyone who stayed up had to report to work or school two or three hours later on minimal, if any, sleep. Depending on the estimates you read, anywhere from 400,000 to a half-million people gathered in Seoul to watch the local heroes tie Nigeria 2-2 to advance to the next round.
Among my six adult students, five watched the match and got a maximum of three hours' sleep. One girl, a college student, was working on 35-plus consecutive hours of being awake when class ended. Many of my elementary students watched as well. Some stayed up all night and studied for their school exams until the 3:30 kickoff. Others slept before and after the match. I actually considered, perhaps for about 1.7 seconds, not watching the match but then I came to my senses. I settled in at WaBar, a local joint favored by foreigners but still largely frequented by Koreans. The place was about half-full an hour before kickoff and nearly filled up by 3:30. (Other places were full, and still others stayed open even to house just a few people who wanted to watch.) The staff handed out thunder sticks that spelled out "Daehan Minguk Fighting!" in Hangul. They also doled out two bottles of beer after each South Korean goal. I'll give you one guess at what the customers appreciated more. I was joined by four other foreigners, including a fellow New Hampshire native named Lowell, and we back the Koreans to go through. The match was nervy -- at any given time, a goal in the match we watched or the concurrent Argentina-Greece encounter could have continued or ended the Koreans' run. The draw was enough, however, and a day later the Americans' late heroics gave them first place in Group C. This is important, because, if South Korea beats Uruguay (good luck with that; Uruguay has yet to allow a goal) and the Americans beat Ghana (far from a given), they will meet in the quarterfinal. And I can only imagine what the scene would be like here in South Korea, because on the day that match would happen, I will be in Hiroshima. Regardless, World Cup fever continues here. To get your commemorative ceramics, click here. (You thought I was kidding, didn't you?) Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. It's shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday. For nearly two hours, I have watched U.S. players launch shots over the bar when it would have been easier to score, strike the right post, miss open nets, pass when they should have shot, shot when they should have passed, shot at the keeper when they should have shot to the side of him, and generally put on a clinic of How To Waste Your Chance To Extend Your World Cup over 90 minutes. England secures passage through to the next round. Let the celebration commence behind me. And a second later, Mr. Landon Donovan pops home a rebound and all hell breaks loose in our basement bar in downtown Daegu. I'm hugging people I don't know, and the bar owner plays "Born In The U.S.A." while the game has yet to finish. Within seconds, I have gone from trying to figure out how to keep a brave face with the U.S. eliminated to telling everyone within a 10-foot radius that I don't believe what just happened. Pure joy, utter shock, and all in all a happy ending for the people who crammed into Commune's bar to watch England and the U.S. go through. England fans sing along to The Great Escape, and I'll be damned if I pass up the opportunity to join their masses and gleefully sing along. And that, my fellow Americans who don't get it, is the World Cup. I will see all of my friends again at 3:30 a.m. Sunday. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. JUNE 18: DEAR TEACHER, WE ARE PLAYING ARGENTINA. SIGNED, EPSTEIN'S MOTHER Our school faced an exodus of students at 8:30 tonight. The happiest might have been the one I encountered in the classroom across from mine. At 8:30, the second of four classes for middle school students ended. This also was the scheduled kickoff time for South Korea's World Cup match against Argentina. My 7:45 conversation class had only four of seven students show, and two left after it finished to catch the match on the big screen at Daegu World Cup Stadium. When I reached Room 506 at 8:35, the room across from mine had one very high-strung student who couldn't believe his parents were making him learn English on the big night. One minute later he was bouncing around the hallway -- he called his mom or dad and got permission to leave. As for my class, we decided to write diaries. We pretended that, hypothetically, a student propped up a cell phone that showed the game on the screen, and we hypothetically took note of the game, provided that the four remaining students wrote a real diary about their thoughts, their observations, and their emotions as they hypothetically watched. It was an exercise that combined proper grammar use and the ability to put their emotions on paper. When we hypothetically learned that Argentina scored twice, they wrote about how much it hurt. And when we hypothetically learned the Lee Chung-Yong had cut the deficit to 2-1 with a hypothetical goal off a hypothetical mistake in injury time of the hypothetical first half, they wrote about their hopes that their team would win.
As for the rest of South Korea, they very non-hypothetically showed up in droves on the streets, to the tune of 2 million fans at 339 locations based on early estimates. In other words, about 1 out of every 24 people throughout the country showed up at a public outing. The match that will dictate whether or not they escape the group phase, against Nigeria, kicks off at 3:30 Wednesday morning; I am curious what events will take place and how well they'll be attended. As for me, well, I've been wrapped up in this thing, s you might imagine. I've participated in pub quizzes, stayed up until 5:30 a.m. twice, lost my voice, gained it back in full yesterday and will lose it again in about 23 more hours. I'll miss the 8:30 p.m. match, catch the 11 p.m. one, then watch a replay of the match I missed at 1 a.m. I usually don't watch the 3:30 match but I most certainly did last weekend, when Commune's echoed with dueling songs and chants from U.S. and England fans in the 90 minutes before kickoff. We stared in disbelief when England scored in five minutes and glowered when their fans chanted "We want five!" We hugged in disbelief when Robert Green gifted us a goal, and I reveled in the English fans' pained faces and utter unwillingness to sing in the second half (despite several of us singing, to the tune of She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain, "Are you nervous over there?"). And when it was over, we hugged and said hey, no hard feelings, let's both make it through the group stage.
I should have posted more details but I've just been caught up in so much, including the NBA Finals, which I have gotten to watch because the games are shown here at 9 or 10 a.m. The game features Korean commentators speaking over the ESPN feed, which means the crowd reactions aren't as loud as they would be on the natural ESPN broadcast. That will, of course, be moot by the end of Game 7, since the sound of Lakers fans trudging out in silence won't register anyway. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. I am writing this at 5:30 p.m., or about two and a half hours after I got out of bed today. The World Cup has thrown my life off kilter, in part because I'm a huge fan and in part because I just can't help but get swept up in the passion South Koreans have here. This was the scene last night at Duryu Park: The fans you see standing and dancing starting at the 0:18 mark are from the Dominators, the fun supporters group for Daegu FC. The man with the megaphone is their leader. He speaks English and we call him "King."Here is a photo of some very happy Koreans after their heroes wrapped up a comfortable 2-0 victory over Greece:
Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. JUNE 10: U.S.-ENGLAND HYPE, PART II: THE YANKS If you look at this weekend's U.S.-England match from a risk-reward standpoint, I'm sitting pretty. If England wins, what exactly are their fans going to say to me that they haven't said already? Yes, I know you invented the game. Yes, I know you have what most people call the best league in the world (that designation depends on your criteria, and based on mine, it's the German Bundesliga). Yes, I know your songs are clever and your TV shows are funnier and your rock bands are more influential. Congratulations. Now, if the Yanks win, well, the ramifications aren't much, aside from the fact that I'll text or email every English fan I know every hour at the top of the hour for a short period of time. Six months should suffice. So, does the inevitable await? Or will the glory go to the mighty Yanks? This humble blog has already looked at the English squad through the St. George's Cross-shaped glasses of the very informative Anto Griffin. Here is my take on the U.S. team:
My starting XI (4-4-2): Tim Howard; Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra; Landon Donovan, Jose Francisco Torres, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey; Edson Buddle, Jozy Altidore. I'm going on the assumption that Onyewu, who is recovering from a torn tendon in his knee, is ready to go for 90 minutes -- something he has not done since October. In three friendlies, he has played 139 minutes. Even if he is not 100 percent, a partial Gooch is better than the other options, which are starting Clarence Goodson in the middle or moving Bocanegra to the middle and starting Jonathan Spector on the wing. The emerging Goodson has earned his trip on the plane, but this is neither the CONCACAF Gold Cup nor the Norwegian Tippeligaen. If Gooch can jog, he should start. He's our most imposing, physical defender.
I like Torres paired with Bradley in the middle because he's better in possession than Maurice Edu or Ricardo Clark. The other two are more accomplished defensively, but being able to control the ball and making your opponent chase the ball is defense in itself. I'd rather see the U.S. confident on the ball and attempting to dictate some play rather than sitting back and launching a counterattack every 10 minutes. Up front, I'm giving Buddle the nod based on his form in MLS and familiarity with Donovan. I am assuming Jozy (ankle) will be fit enough to start, while a more informed source has a hunch he'll start on the bench. The Yanks' likely XI (4-4-2): Howard; Cherundolo, DeMerit, Onyewu, Bocanegra; Donovan, Clark, Bradley, Dempsey; Robbie Findley, Altidore or Buddle. I almost called this a 4-2-2-2, given that Bradley and Clark, which has been coach Bob Bradley's favored pairing since last summer, are in the lineup for their defense and not as string-pullers. We don't have a classic distributor at center mid, although Bradley does go box-to-box and will score the occasional goal. But I'll keep this as a 4-4-2 because against England every mid will be called upon to play defense, especially given the attacking acumen of England's fullbacks. This is a long shot, but I won't rule out Bob Bradley moving Dempsey up top and starting Stuart Holden at outside mid to provide more defensive cover, provided Holden is healthy.
Findley probably starts because he's the fastest forward we have, and the hope is that his speed will open up space for Dempsey, Donovan and Jozy/Buddle. Against Turkey, his lovely chip led to our first goal. ... "Look at this ball over the top ..." That's our man Findley.Against Australia, Findley threatened constantly and should have had at least two goals, but he kicked the ball into Soweto. The choice facing Bradley is the same facing Capello: Do you start the less productive striker who could open up chances for your best players, or do you start someone with more finishing ability? Bradley will probably go with Findley, and his partner will hinge on Altidore's fitness. Confidence meter: It swings. I'm really prepared for anything. I'm prepared for a 3-0 loss and an emphatic upset. Call it a 6. Shall I remind you that the pressure is not on us? What I like about the squad: We have guys who have performed well on the big stage. Howard was immense in the Confederations Cup; none of the goals in the 3-2 loss to Brazil were his fault and he kept a clean sheet against Spain. Donovan, after several laughable spells in Germany, got the overseas performance he needed at Everton, where he was productive, influential, even appreciated. Dempsey played without fear in 2006 and has emerged into one of Fulham's best players; he also happened to score one of the most glorious goals in team history against I also like what we don't have: pressure. What worries me about the squad: Holy crap, our back four could get lit up. Over our past 14 matches, we've posted one clean sheet, against non-qualifier Trinidad & Tobago. We're lucky the Aussies (aka Not Exactly Spain) didn't put at least three past us. The English press is anticipating their hero Rooney to run rampant, and I must admit I don't blame them for their confidence. I have a genuine fear of Lennon, Joe Cole, Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney coming at us in waves and overwhelming Howard to the point where he just can't do it alone. My other concern is how we adjust to Carlos Simon. He's a referee, by the way. If you don't know who he is, you will, because he loves letting everyone know he's there. In his three matches at the 2006 World Cup, he brandished 17 yellow cards and a red. While the English press has declared a state of emergency over Rooney's temper, I'm concerned about our guys, especially Gooch and Bradley, picking up an early card that would impact how hard they play England's attackers, particularly their two bulldogs up front (assuming Heskey starts). The England squad: Can Sven come back? I said this last summer, and I will repeat it here: No national team's governing body made a better hire than England appointing Fabio Capello. He is a master tactician, and if the U.S. relies solely on the counterattack to produce offense, Capello will find a way to shut that down and force the U.S. to try something else. And I don't know how effective our Something Else will be. As for England's players, we all know that man-for-man they're better. I won't waste my time there. I'm hoping the Yanks can exploit any of these: Glen Johnson's pedestrian defense on the wing; a repeat of Donovan abusing Cashley like he did in the Chelsea match; Lampard taking a penalty; Rooney stepping on somebody or telling the ref to fuck off; the very real possibility that England tighten up under the enormous pressure they're under. Prediction: My brain or my heart? My heart, of course. I think the U.S. is quietly confident and unafraid. Yanks win 2-1, and may I offer my sincere apologies for your impending violent slaughter. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. JUNE 9: U.S.-ENGLAND HYPE, PART I: THE THREE LIONS We dumped their tea in Boston Harbor, successfully escaped their tyrannical rule, shocked them and the world at their own game in 1950, and then we ... well, we ruined Coupling, didn't we? At least we had the good sense not to let this abomination hit the airwaves. Our cultures, and of course our national teams, clash again this weekend in South Africa. To properly set up the Group C opening match between U.S. and England at the World Cup, this blog will run previews of each team. Today, my special English correspondent Anto Griffin provides us with his view. The preview you will read is entirely in his words, which means you won't see any interruption from me, such as: [EDITOR'S NOTE: Lampard makes a penalty?]. Again, that is something you will not see in his preview. So here we go then:
My starting XI (4-4-1-1): Hart; Johnson, Dawson, King, A. Cole; Lennon, Carrick, Lampard, J. Cole; Gerrard; Rooney. Hart has been the stand-out English keeper this season, helping a very average team to some remarkable results. It's a big shout, debuting him in our toughest group game, but the man has character. I haven't dropped Terry because he's finally overtaken Ashley Cole as the most odious man in the world, but because central defence is all about partnerships. King can't train properly, so he and Terry will struggle to gain understanding. King and Dawson, on the other hand, have played together for several years. So, again, it's a touch controversial, but I'd let Terry sit it out. He's not that good anymore anyway. In midfield, despite Carrick's woeful season, there is no one else who can sit deep. He often looks like he doesn't put the tackles in, but that tends to be because he's positioned himself right for interceptions. He's also very good at shepherding players out of the way and to the flanks where the fullbacks tidy up. Joe Cole is one of the few world-class players in the squad for my money. In the hole, Gerrard. He links well and is a proven threat, as is Lampard from a bit deeper. To my mind, you have to get goals on the pitch, and this way, England have 4 or 5 goalscorers. England's likely XI 4-4-2(ish): Hart; Johnson, King, Terry, A. Cole; Lennon, Carrick, Lampard, Gerrard; Heskey, Rooney. I think Hart has edged ahead of Green now, and James is injured anyway. Capello isn't going to drop Terry, and he has a weird fetish for Gerrard on the left. Up front, I think he's looking for Heskey to bulldoze gaps for Rooney to exploit.
Confidence meter: A slightly twitchy 7. What I like about the squad: Joe Cole. Joe Hart. Everyone else was a shoo-in, and we all know about them. Those two were the ones I really wanted included and they have been. I also like the fact that Ferdinand was courteous enough to get injured while we could still replace him, unlike previous tournaments. I'm hoping a midfielder does the same so we can bring Scholes in (see next answer). Joe Cole: He's pretty good.What worries me about the squad: I think it was a huge mistake to select Carragher as cover in right-back. I'd actually have still taken him, dropped Upson and brought in Gary Neville. Not because I'm a United fan, but because Neville is still one of the world's best fullbacks. And he's got pot loads of experience. I think Carrick was the wrong choice in midfield. I'd have taken Parker. Scholes has said he would have agreed to play had he been asked sooner; if that's true and they left it too late then I'm appalled. He is the one who would have put us in contention for the win, against contention for a semi as we are now. Up front, no real complaints -- we have Rooney, which is self-explanatory, but no other English strikers stand out. Defoe and Crouch are the best of the rest, Heskey is a good alternative strategy chap. Unlike under Eriksson, it looks like England have plans A, B and C this time. The U.S. squad: Hmmm. Something of a Curate's egg this year. Flashes of class, but plenty of honest journeymen, and they don't tend to win much. The issue the U.S. has is scoring. Dempsey and Donovan will create chances, but I can't see who's going to be the fox in the box for you guys. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that your team is stripey: good goalie, poor defence, good midfield, poor attack. This is when you chaps keep a clean sheet against England and score for fun past poor Hart. Prediction: England 2-0 USA. Goals from Rooney and a Lampard pen. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. JUNE 9: SANTA CLAUS IS READY FOR THE WORLD CUP Correction: Santa Claus wearing military fatigues is ready for the World Cup ...
I don't know if South Korea will ever qualify as a soccer nation, but it sure is a World Cup nation. For the past two months I have been surrounded by red. Stores have displays of red T-shirts, megaphones and devil horns. Beer bottles have photos of the national team. The doors of convenience stores are adorned with "Korea Fighting!" slogans. A men's clothing store has a soccer decal on it. The local E-Mart has a giant cartoon of Park Ji-Sung. And no display of South Korean go-get-'emness would be complete without an appearance from the queen herself, Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yun-A:
Every major South Korean corporation seems to have an ad boosting the national team. SK Telecom got clever in its TV ads, recruiting famous athletes to back the team. Gold medal-winning swimmer Park Tae-Hwan, for example, lines up on the starting blocks for a race, only to leap off, head a soccer ball and pump his fists underwater as a virtual red T-shirt magically appears on his chest. The official slogan for the team is "The Shout of Reds, United Korea." Yes, the slogan is in English on all the official gear. This is slightly better than the slogan suggested by my fellow sports fans in the U.S., which was, "Wouldn't Soccer Be More Exciting If They Just Let All The Throw-Ins Be One-Handed Because, Like, That Would Increase Scoring So Much, You Know?" But even better than the official slogan -- and admittedly, I use the word "better" loosely -- is the official song that goes with the official slogan and is sung by the official annoying boy band of the peninsula, Big Bang. By all means, listen in and practice the dance steps, with a little help from you-know-who: Two of South Korea's matches in Group B have an 8:30 p.m. kickoff here, which should make for some crazy scenes here. Apparently, according to this article, theaters are showing the game in 3-D while another place is offering free tequila from 30 minutes before kickoff to the end of the match. South Korea's opener is Saturday night here, so I'll get a golden chance to experience the passion first hand. In Daegu, I have heard that a huge intersection will be shut down and the game will be on big screens; I have also heard they will show the match at Daegu World Cup Stadium, which seats 68,000. Honestly, I don't know what's right, but I still have a few days. There is no doubt, however, where I will be at 3:30 a.m. as Saturday turns into Sunday, and that's singing songs and trading more than a few barbs with England fans as the Yanks open up Group C play. This blog will do its duty to add to the hype with a special two-part preview as the English hope to rub away the bitterness of their crushing losses to the U.S. in 1950 and 1783. In the next day or so I'll post a preview of the opener from the eyes of an Englishman, Manchester United fan and all-around good bloke Anto Griffin. I don't want to stir the pot or anything, but here is an actual excerpt, if not exactly in context, from his preview: "England ... don't ... win." Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. I could tell you how happy the dogs at the Boeun dog shelter, located about 90 minutes outside of Daegu, were to see me and other volunteers when we arrived on Saturday. Or I could just supply the video and let you listen for yourself: This shelter, run by the Korean Animal Protection Society, is for big dogs who aren't getting nearly the exercise they need. Suffice to say that on more than a few occasions, the dogs walked us. My dog for the day was a Malamute named Sink. Her story is this: Her previous owner, who ran a sink company, treated her like crap. She was left outside too much with not nearly enough food, water, or attention. So now she's in Boeun, sharing a large outdoor cage and indoor shelter with other Malamutes, thanks to the efforts of Sunnan Kim, who has run these shelters and taken care of stray animals for nearly three decades.
Our walk lasted about half an hour each way. Despite the trees that lined the trail, the path was devoid of shade, so we welcomed the opportunity after about 20 minutes to rest in a tunnel. From there we continued to a reservoir. This was followed by a moment that just gets cooler the more I think about it. Throughout the walk we were told to keep the dogs on a leash. Like many strays, they have a tendency to run away if given a chance. But once we reached the reservoir, with its tricky, rocky embankment, we just let the dogs go.
Most of this rationale was borne out of self-preservation; getting ourselves over the rope and safely onto the embankment without breaking our ankles would have been difficult if we kept holding onto the dogs, who became as strong as military tanks once they got a sight of the water. So we let them go, and the dogs had only one place they intended to go.
I have posted a photo album here. Also, if you haven't read my original post about the dog shelter in Daegu, that entry is here. I'll point out that the situation regarding the Daegu dog shelter hasn't changed: Sunnan is still being kicked out and the cost of relocating is more than $50,000 U.S. I know you can't support every cause that people tell you about, and I know the economy isn't the best it's ever been, but if you can help out, the KAPS website is here. Finally, if you are in South Korea, the Facebook page dedicated to keeping the KAPS facility in Daegu is here. We'll be running fundraisers, including a theater performance downtown, and all the info will be posted on that page. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. I ate bibimbap. I had to say that right away. Before I went to Jeonju, a small city in the southwest part of the peninsula, everyone I told about the trip insisted I eat the bibimbap. And every Korean I spoke to after the trip asked me, "Did you eat bibimbap?" That's because the bibimbap in Jeonju is better than bibimbap anywhere else. I know this because everyone says so, particularly the writers of the official literature of Jeonju. Bibimbap translates to "mixed with rice," and in Jeonju's case, the rice is mixed with 30 ingredients -- meat, sprouts, seaweed, paste, egg, and, just in case you haven't counted, about 25 other things. The dish was served with six side dishes and the food was fresh, no surprise given the rural surroundings of Jeollabuk-do. So if you're in South Korea and want to eat bibimbap in Jeonju, I suggest the place across from the cathedral. Jeonju was a nice change of pace from the bustle of Daegu. I have posted a photo album here, and there's nothing else I can tell you here that you won't learn on the photo album. Well, that's not true. I'm just tired. T-minus eight hours until tipoff. Beat L.A.! Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. JUNE 2: HI, I'M THE MANAGER OF A PRO SOCCER TEAM. CAN I JOIN YOUR PHOTO? (AND OTHER SPORTS STORIES) Sunday was a day of revelry at Citizens Stadium in Daegu. Your habitually mediocre Daegu FC soccer team scored three goals in a second-half burst to beat Daegu Citizen in a Posco Cup group stage match. The group of loyal supporters -- I'd number them at about 25 tops -- were on the pitch. This group included about seven foreigners -- me (I arrived late from a weekend jaunt to Jeonju) and six others from Ireland and the UK who got a laugh at the ease with which we were able to walk onto a pitch after a professional match. At one of the ends, the females supporters used the opportunity to take photos of themselves running to the touch line and jumping in the air.
Then the girls motioned for us to join them. On their instructions we posed, and on the count of 3, jumped in the air. We did this for a few photos, and then a curious guest in a three-piece dark pinstriped suit joined us. The man was Lee Young Jin. He's Daegu FC's manager and a member of the South Korean World Cup teams in 1990 and 1994. So, on the count of three, we all jumped in the air for a photo, and he was front and center. I wish I had a photo of this. I'll pass it along if I get one. Point is, the accessibility at the top level of pro sports here tends to be different from the U.S. I have an anecdote from my previous Daegu FC game as well. It was halftime. I was chatting with Ben Armstrong, who I actually got gun-shy about asking for a photo, so I just snapped a photo of Dae Jong talking to a fan. I made two mistakes. One was still having my camera on the video function. The other was not being discreet (and/or not just asking for a photo in the first place). The fan he was talking to saw me, laughed and motioned toward me, which was enough for me to buck up, approach Dae Jong and ask if I could have a photo taken with him.
The next week, I went to my first Samsung Lions baseball game. A line of fans snaked around the road and stopped at a table in front of the stadium. The Lions made two players available to meet fans and sign autographs. I didn't recognize the players, nor could I converse with them, so I opted to try and take some photos from behind the line of onlookers. One of the Lions' mascots noticed me, waved hello, approached, and motioned for me to hand over the camera. The mascot then snapped these photos ...
... and then posed for me.
Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. |
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