About 2 weeks ago, I was working on my computer and the entire screen froze up, faded to white, then to black and crashed! Thankfully, I was able to take it to someone who spoke English and got it fixed for me very quickly. Originally he had thought it was the logic board, whatever that is, but it turned out to just be the screen. After about a week and a half and $50 later, I have my computer back and it is as good as new!
Surprisingly, so much has happened in that short week and a half! (I hope you are picking up on my sarcasm because I'm laying it on pretty thick!)
Unless you were living under a rock in Korea, it would have been very hard to not know the World Cup was happening. The Korean's love the World Cup! The thing that is funny, is that during the years between the World Cup, no one here really cares about soccer. Once the World Cup starts, its a different story. That being said, I was really excited to experience how the rest of the world views the World Cup. The first round games were exciting and Korea did well, they won one, lost one, and tied another but moved on to the second round. As a small country, without a huge soccer background, moving on to the second round was a huge accomplishment. The first game of the second round pinned Korea against Uruguay. The game was a Saturday night at 11pm. I was pumped I would be able to watch this one (the first round games were played while I was in Jeju, and another was at 3:30am. I didn't really get to experience those games.) We decided to go to City Hall and watch the game with thousands of crazy Korean fans. We got to City Hall around 7:30pm, the game was at 11:00pm. We found our spot, set down our stuff and started to wait. It was a ton of fun! Even though it wasn't my country I was cheering for and I couldn't understand any of the pregame entertainment, it was such an awesome experience. It was so cool to see how a sporting event can bring an entire nation together. Around 9:30pm, while we were enjoying some Korean pop group sing on stage, it started to rain. Now, when it rains in Korea, it doesn't just rain, it pours!! Thankfully we had ponchos and were able to keep relatively dry. Even through the rain, everyone stayed, partied, and waited for the game to start.
At the stroke of 11:00pm the game started. The rain had stopped and all eyes were on the big screen. 5 minutes in, Uruguay scored. The silence was deafening. You could hear a pin drop. It was as if someone had died. I could go on with the cliche saying. It was quiet! The mood picked up with the many chances Korea had throughout the half. One guy hit the post and there were many more near misses. The start of the second half brought renewed hope, Korea scored shortly into the second half. It is an amazing sight when they score. It doesn't matter that you don't know the person next to you and it means less that you may not be Korean, you will high five and hug them as if they are your next of kin. It's so cool!
Unfortunately Uruguay scored with about 10 min left in the game and Korean could not battle back. It was a sad day but it was a great experience!
The night was far from over though! It was about 1:15am when we were leaving City Hall. Thankfully the buses were running late that night and we caught one of the last ones out of Seoul and onto Bun-dong. As we pulled into Seoyheon, it was 3:15am and we were only 15min away from USA vs. Ghana. We made our way to one of our favorite bars, Pub 210, and settled in for the US game. It started awful, much like the Korean game, with Uruguay scoring first. The US tied it and they were able to force and overtime. In the end though, Ghana was the better team that night and the US was sent home, as was I.
It was 6:15am as we left the bar. Words cannot describe how tired I was!! I made my way home and into my bed for about an hour and a half (why, you are wondering, would I only sleep for an hour and a half)? I had to wake up and skype with my family! I was not very coherent while skyping but it was good to see my family!
Even though the weekend ended with both of my teams loosing in the World Cup, it was an experience I will never forget!
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