Daehan Minguk!

Most of you are probably oblivious to the fever that's gripped the rest of the world, so let me give you an update--it's insane! All anyone wants to talk about is soccer. Last Tuesday was Korea's first game, and throughout the day probably 9 out of 10 people we saw were wearing red, Korea's color. We watched the game--yes, I actually watched it, and I hate watching televised sports--and it was actually pretty exciting. (It helped that Korea won the game!) The game was over at midnight, and for the next two hours outside our window all you could hear were cars honking the Korean chant--Daehan Minguk, da-da da-dum-dum (Daehan Minguk means Republic of Korea).

Korea cohosted the Cup with Japan the last time it was held, in 2002. Everyone was impressed by their enthusiasm, and Korea even came in fourth overall. So that probably has added to the excitement this year. I can only imagine what it must have been like in 2002 when the games were actually in Korea!


These people are in the World Cup stadium in Seoul, watching the game against Togo on TV. All the World Cup stadiums from 2002, including the one in Daejeon, were packed!

The U.S. didn't do so well, unfortunately. Our team is actually ranked pretty high, but they lost the first match, to the Czech Republic. The Czech team is ranked higher than the U.S., so it wasn't too embarrassing, but still. Then we tied our second game, with Italy, and Ghana beat the Czech Republic in an upset, so it's not over yet. If we beat Ghana in our third game and Italy beats the Czech Republic, we get to advance to the next round. However, in that case we'll probably have to play Brazil, who are awesome, so we'll probably be out one way or another.

(Whew! Hope I got all that right! It's a little embarrassing when Koreans know more about your country than you do. For instance, did you know the U.S. has a professional soccer league??)

If you get a chance, I recommend checking out a couple of games. If not (and I know most of you won't), watch Bend It Like Beckham or Mean Machine, two great soccer movies. Unfortunately for us, substituting movies for the real thing just doesn't cut it in Korea. Tonight, Korea faces France in their second match. Actually, it's more like this morning--the game airs live here at 4:30 a.m., what with that pesky time-zone difference between Germany and Korea. Most people we know will either be staying up late or getting up early to watch the game. We, however, are far less dedicated and will be sleeping through it. Of course, that means we have to go online first thing tomorrow to get a rundown of the game or else risk being ostracized for not knowing the outcome and main events.

Daehan Minguk!