대한민국 (Dae Han Min Guk!)

What’s HOT in Korea

FOOTBALL (SOCCER): After Korea’s top four finish in the 2002 World Cup, which they co-hosted with Japan, South Korea has made a religion out of Soccer. Jesus Christ, take a seat, the holy Dae-Han-Min-Guk mantra is recited more enthusiastically and frequently than the Lord’s Prayer. To be fair, even I am getting quite excited over the World Cup, however, I have not so disillusioned myself into thinking Korea has even the slightest chance of winning (or even make it to the semifinals). With South Korea playing France and Switzerland in the opening round, they have quite a mountain to climb should they even hope to advance further. Again, to be fair, I’d say the United States (who is a much better team this year than Korea) has an even smaller chance of advancing past the first round with both Italy and Czech Republic scheduled against them. Besides inundating the entire country with Korean Soccer related advertising and propaganda, the media has managed to deify the entire team, including the coaches. Needless to say, I do not feel safe, let alone comfortable, speaking ill of South Korea’s chances this summer. I’m sure the government has put into place some system whereby it revokes tourist visas and can reject foreigners who have not accepted The Korean Soccer Team as their true savior.

Sure, many folks would rebuttal that in countries like Germany or Brazil the soccer hype is just as big, if not bigger. However, I think what differentiates the two situations is the fact that those countries have a chance of progressing past the first round. In Korea, however, it’s pretty obvious that they simply don’t have any chance at all. So, upon a second analysis, I’m really looking forward to two things with the World Cup: first, the endless soccer games; second, to see the super-inflated ego and confidence of average Korean soccer fan come crashing down.

At the Rally. They gave out the cool armbands after we left.

Out for a walk.