Tuesday, August 01, 2006
The Red Devils and the Toga Party
Koreans have become huge World Cup fans, ever since their Red Devils did well, they have caught the fever. Having such a huge city going crazy for soccer is actually an exciting experience. I jumped on the bandwagon and started cheering for Korea as well. I have never seen so many people wearing red shirts and sporting flags as there were in Seoul. For the first game vs Togo, we went to Olympic Park to watch it on some public big screens. There were so many people there it was amazing. All of them were wearing red devil horns and red t-shirts. What was scary was that Olympic Park was one of the smaller venues, I heard that there were at least a few million people all throughout the city watching in public parks.
For Korea's final game a friend decided to throw a toga party. I have never actually been to a toga party so I didn't know what to expect. We got to his apartment and he cut us some sheets to turn into togas. The sheets were red of course to show our support for the soccer team. We moved onto his roof and chilled for a few hours before the game (which was showing at 4 am). We pretty much got trashed up there until around 1 am.
We then decided to head out to the busy clubbing strip in Seoul to watch the game. I gotta say, we stood out just a bit, 15 foreigners in red togas screaming, yelling, and singing Korean soccer chants. part of the journey to the strip was to take the subway. On the subway we turned our car into a giant party, with Koreans either joining in, taking pictures, or just staring in shock. The doors were opened in between cars and we could see Korean heads leaning over to watch the show. After the subway, which was a crazy and fun ride, we marched through Hongdae, which is the clubbing district in Seoul. We pretty much turned into a drunkin parade with Koreans cheering, taking pictures and giving us high fives... When I think about it now, I have to say, that it was one of the most rediculous nights I have ever had. It was also one of the most fun ones. Korea ended up losing and my hangover was terrible, but I can't think of a way to top that night here in Seoul.
Koreans have become huge World Cup fans, ever since their Red Devils did well, they have caught the fever. Having such a huge city going crazy for soccer is actually an exciting experience. I jumped on the bandwagon and started cheering for Korea as well. I have never seen so many people wearing red shirts and sporting flags as there were in Seoul. For the first game vs Togo, we went to Olympic Park to watch it on some public big screens. There were so many people there it was amazing. All of them were wearing red devil horns and red t-shirts. What was scary was that Olympic Park was one of the smaller venues, I heard that there were at least a few million people all throughout the city watching in public parks.
For Korea's final game a friend decided to throw a toga party. I have never actually been to a toga party so I didn't know what to expect. We got to his apartment and he cut us some sheets to turn into togas. The sheets were red of course to show our support for the soccer team. We moved onto his roof and chilled for a few hours before the game (which was showing at 4 am). We pretty much got trashed up there until around 1 am.
We then decided to head out to the busy clubbing strip in Seoul to watch the game. I gotta say, we stood out just a bit, 15 foreigners in red togas screaming, yelling, and singing Korean soccer chants. part of the journey to the strip was to take the subway. On the subway we turned our car into a giant party, with Koreans either joining in, taking pictures, or just staring in shock. The doors were opened in between cars and we could see Korean heads leaning over to watch the show. After the subway, which was a crazy and fun ride, we marched through Hongdae, which is the clubbing district in Seoul. We pretty much turned into a drunkin parade with Koreans cheering, taking pictures and giving us high fives... When I think about it now, I have to say, that it was one of the most rediculous nights I have ever had. It was also one of the most fun ones. Korea ended up losing and my hangover was terrible, but I can't think of a way to top that night here in Seoul.
