Korea's last game in the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Well, Korea lost to Switzerland. One of the goals, however, was questionable. The Korean team stopped after seeing an offside call made by the linesman, but not aknowledged by the Ref. During the confusion, the Swiss team got their first goal. Terrible.
This was what I missed, due to a pounding headache, Friday night. I think half of my friends made it into the Seoul World Cup Stadium, as they went earlier. Then the gates were closed due to too many people. So, the rest of the group went downtown.
Chosun Ilbo:

Soccer fans gather to watch a live TV broadcast of the 2006 World Cup Group G soccer match between Korea and Switzerland on a giant video screen installed at Gwanghwamun, downtown Seoul, on Saturday. /Yonhap

BBC News (UK):

A sea of red gathers to watch the match on a giant video screen outside Seoul City Hall in South Korea.

Be The Reds... today at kindy

Some of the Squirrel Class (Korean 6 year olds): My first class this morning was FULL of red. (This isn't all of them.) I think only 2 students in the class were not wearing red.Navigating the hallways between the classes and during my lunch break is often a bit of a chore... with numerous students clinging to my legs or my clothes, or just crowding around me. Some of the Korean teachers say it is as if I am somebody famous.Taking photos is not always easy, when students are continuously trying to get into the photo. It is almost impossible to take a photo of just one student, as other students try to jump in or stick their hands or things infront of the camera. Or, there are still kids attached to my legs and clothes, so it is difficult to have a steady hand. Today I actually had to pick up some of the kids in one arm, and take the photo with the other in order to actually get a picture. But then other students were still pushing or pulling or trying to grab my arm. This is one of the students from the Roe Deer class (Korean 5 year olds). She is sooooooooooo cute!!! (and tiny)

TGIF

I am supposed to go to the stadium again to watch the Korean/Swiss game... but might not make it due to a pounding headache. :(
The game is once again at 4am. I'm not sure I'd make it that long, even if I did go. This morning, I woke up exhausted!!

more photos from the last game (very early Monday morning)

a quick nap before the (4 am) game

Korea's team cheering for the team
Jae-Sun (elephant teacher) and I Kelly (English teacher at kindy and LCC) and I

More photos from the World Cup Stadium June 18th/19th.

Seoul World Cup Stadium

I watched the Korea/France World Cup match at the Seoul World Cup Stadium (Seongsan). We arrived there at 10pm on Sunday, when it became free to enter (before then, you had to have tickets). I went with 8 of my friends (all co-workers at the kindy school). One of them, Kelly, is the other English teacher at the after kindy hagwon. The others speak little or no English. Of course, we were all dressed up for the occasion: red shirts, devil's horns, bandannas, and what ever else we could put together (red earrings, hair bands, etc).

Being that the Korea game wasn't until 4am, we had plenty of time to waste. They showed two matches before our game started: Brazil vs Australia, and Japan vs Croatia. The entertainment between matches, and during half times, was interesting. They had several famous Korean singers performing, each only about 5 minutes. People were still pouring into the stadium right up to 4am when the match started. The place was packed full.

Well... it was a 1:1 draw between Korea and France. Now I am VERY tired, but have to go to work. Yay for me. That's okay. It was worth it.

Dae Han Min Guk

FIFA World Cup Germany 2006
Korea played Togo on the 13th and won, 2 to 1. They will be playing again, against France, on the 18th at 9pm Germany time, which means on the 19th AT 4AM KOREAN TIME!!!! You can pretty much guarantee the entire country will be VERY tired on Monday!! I will be doing an all nighter with some of the other teachers from the kindy school. We will go downtown Seoul to watch the game on big screens that will be set up. The plan is to meet at 10pm on Sunday to head in, but I am hearing that we might be going in as early as 6pm, because of the crowds that are expected. For the game against Togo, every stadium was full of Koreans all wearing red, watching the game on big screens. I think all of the parks in Korea were also full of red, with big screens set up to watch the game.
In Korea, it is as if the World Cup 2002 is happening all over again. They have the same attitude now, as they did when the games were held here. Everyone is dressed up in their red T-shirts and their devil horns and anything else related the the Red Devils. The Red Devils are all of the fans of Korea's team.
Summer 2002 was an amazing time to be in Korea.

(my dad's creation, 2002)

(Cindy and I during the 2002 World Cup in Korea)