Go Korea! Fighting!

No, the title of this post has nothing to do with North Korea. I'm talking about the World Cup! "Fighting" is a Konglish word- Konglish being the use of English words in a Korea context. For instance, to Koreans, "fighting" actually means "go team!" or "victory!" More about Konglish in a later post.

Friday night was the opening ceremony for the World Cup in South Africa, and this weekend I think all of Korea was watching the games. I'm not a huge sports fan, but I like watching soccer and it's fun to be in a country where soccer is a popluar sport. The first Korea game was against Greece, at 8:30 Saturday night. My coworker had a BBQ potluck, and we watched the game at his house while most Gunsan citizens were out in a park, cafe or bar wearing red and showing their support. I did my part by making this zucchini bread for the potluck.

My friend Jason wins for the most spirit with his "All the Reds" shirt, bandana, and Korean flag cape. It was indeed joyous when Korea won easily to Greece, 2-0. Then the U.S.-England game was on at 3:30am after that, and it was quite the rivalry as there are a decent number of Americans and Brits here. Many people stayed up to watch the game, but it was past my bedtime. I was happy to watch the highlights in the morning. Of course I was rooting for my home team, but I didn't think we would win. But I was surprised that we tied, albeit with a sloppy goal that barely happened. But still, cool!


There are two more Korea games in this first round, against Argentina and Nigeria. I am going to try to catch the U.S. and Korea games that are on at a decent hour.

So I'm feeling a lot of spirit for Korea right now, but one place I'm lacking enthusiasm is when it comes to noise. I just moved apartments a few days ago, to a different unit in the same building. Like I said in my last post, my apartment is nice but really loud. I can always hear the shipping/packing lot next door, plus people walking up the stairs and neighbors fighting (actually fighting, not Korean "fighting"). My new unit is on the top floor, on the other side of the building, so it is a little quieter. But now I have no view, and my kitchen is smaller. And I can often still hear neighbors, like the other day at 5:15am when I heard a man yelling and pounding on something. I looked out the window to see this man who had climbed up to a 2nd story window (in flip-flops no less). It's the apartmenet of the couple who I could hear arguing, so I'm guessing he's a husband or ex-boyfriend and had been drinking. I was surprised and sleepy, but I still managed to take a picture. The cops came shortly after this photo, and luckily I was able to go back to sleep.