Tuesday, July 2, 2002.
So ... tired.
"Most Entertaining
Team Award" ... everyone is feeling
the love.
(Thanks Will.)
MAGIC TO GO TO MY STAR
Early a.m., Saturday.
I couldn't remember hearing the alarm, but I remember scrambling to turn it off. It said 3:00 a.m.
Disappointment. I thought I had set it at 2 a.m. for the World Cup Korea vs. Spain game. My cousins were supposed to call me so we could meet up somewhere and watch it together.
Did they forget? Maybe on purpose?
I'm too old to be hanging around them anyways, I thought. Plus, the idea of me being in a room full of zealous Corean guys I didn't know was a bit intimidating. Some things just aren't meant to be.
I curbed my disappointment by telling myself I could still watch the game at home solo. And …The LIGER! would sleepily keep me company too. I just wished I could have been a part of the whole spirit and magic that was happening for Corea during these games for once….
I remembered to check the caller ID and saw that my cousin called me a short while ago. They didn't forget! That made me happy. But probably too late to get ready, I thought … until I saw the time and it was only 2 o'clock, not 3:00 like my alarm clock upstairs showed. I must have re-set the time accidentally when I turned the alarm off.
Excitedly, I called my cousin, Young. Got directions, washed up, and with Amy's blessing I was off. (She preferred watching it during normal daylight hours and getting some sleep while baby was quiet.)
…The LIGER! seemed happy to sleep in anyways.
KNOCK KNOCKThe directions weren't so great. It was even worse driving around at 2:30 a.m. in poorly lit subdivisions.
I eventually got to the correct street, but then realized I didn't have the house number. (I was tired!)
So I looked for a house with a lot of cars in the driveway. Found one. I peered in the cars looking for telltale signs like little Corean trinkets or fat white Mashimaro bunnies hanging from the rearview mirror. I saw one car with fuzzy dice and another with racing stickers. Hmm, close enough.
I knocked on the door. Someone peered through the side window curtain.
"HI! Is this where the game is? Are you Young?!" I yelled, not really thinking.
Two very large, very scared eyes stared back at me.
Wrong house. Scared high school kid.
I left before finding out who the rest of those cars belonged to.
FOUND ONESecond time was a charm. No rice rockets, but I did find a car with a tiny yin-yang drum hanging from the mirror.
Always the silent sentry, my younger cousin, Young (20) greeted me at the door. He showed me to the living room where everyone else was.
Inside sat a dozen guys, ranging from teens to forties (the owner of the house). The 37-year old Pastor from the Corean church welcomed me warmly before turning back to the game.
Long Round (my 23-year old cousin) looked both proud and amused that I showed up. It's only been half a year since he came over from Brazil, and already he seems to have more friends here than I've ever had.
I'm so glad my cousins decided to stay in Michigan, despite the nightmarish start they had with my mom. They had been contemplating going to California, and even back to Brazil for a while before the church helped them to stay.
Long Round cracks me up. At the gym, he will often lose his "cool" composure and introduce me proudly to his friends, saying "this is my mixed cousin." He says that in Brazil, the "mixed" half-Asians like myself are held in the highest regard.
"In Brazil, I never had one mixed friend. Now I have my own mixed cousin!" he told me once.
He kept looking over at me and chuckling to himself during the game, and came over to talk during half-time.
HOME NATION ADVANTAGE
The game was amazing. My mood flip-flopped from anticipation to anxiety depending on which side of midfield the ball was on. The guy in the white tanktop in front of me would periodically raise his arms at key moments. The older man to my right would make frequent loud exclamations, even when nothing was going on. The boy to my left and I would share a laugh each time his cheers rattled our nasal sinuses.
There has been something phenomenal going on in Corea during these games that most of the world has not been aware of. I mean, besides the fact that this is the first time the Corean team has ever won a game in the World Cup, much less beat top ten teams and become a contender (or "sunsu" in Corean, haha) for the Cup itself.
Those living there have noticed it. News journalists have been writing about it. There's been a change in the general demeanor of the entire society. Corean pride at its best.
The fans (meaning most of the country) have shown their energy and spirit and heart in their costumes, patience, and enthusiasm. Many fans would even pick up the trash in the stands after the games. They'd cheer to the very last minute, often resulting in a last minute goal for the Corean team. "The best fans in the world" according to many a sports announcer.
Corea's had a bad year. The whole hypocritical dog-eating rap (Mary had a little lamb … and Bridgette Bardot has had one too). The Evil Axis comments regarding North Korea (as if most people know the differences between North and South Korea anyways). The skating call with Ohno at the winter Olympics. Japan trying to whitewash the history texts last year. Countries talking about banning Corea from their business servers (because of Corea's bandwidth or something). Coreans getting banned from certain gaming servers because of the youths' zealous competitiveness. Coreans are even the bad guys in the next James Bond movie (which some proud native actors refused roles in and international stardom because of).
The country has felt villainized by much of the Western world. And I am guessing a part of them has felt it is their time to show the world what they're made of, in a simple yet positive way.
"The ref's not very good," Long Round admitted, even if it was to Corea's benefit in that call.
The game went into overtime at 0 to 0. Then double overtime. Then penalty kicks on goal. And finally, Corea once again did the unthinkable. They won yet again.
A dozen guys jumped up and down then. Yelling, shouting in joy. Long Round ran circles around the small room and high-fived me, while most everyone else cheered with arms up in pride and relief mixed with disbelief.
"This is history! Never have they even won a game before! And now we're in the semifinals!" he exclaimed again.
I kind of stayed in back. Watching everyone's response rather than participating. I was just happy to be there and share in that one finest moment. In a room of people, including myself, whom it mattered to most.
I'm not a guy's guy. I'm not much of a sports fan. I don't hang out with the boys. But I could understand the elation in the room then. I felt it. The importance beyond just the game. Just being a part of something like this, was really a first for me in more ways than one.
I tried to sneak out then. It was a work weekend and time to go to work.
But Long Round caught me at the door with the crowd still moving out. Still expressing his joy in opinions and awkward pauses. His brother, Young, was waiting outside in the dawn to see me off. Young never says very much. Mostly just a nod and a smile tells what he is thinking.
21st CENTURY HISTORY BOOK
That would be the last game Corea would win in The World Cup. They'd lose to Germany next, 0 to 1. They'd end up in 4th place, after being defeated by Turkey 2 to 3. With their final goal in the last minute of their last game, they gave their people something to cheer about again. To remind them that great things can happen even in the final moments. Even if it really doesn't change anything, it can mean everything.
I couldn't help but compare this massive spiritual unification of national proportions to when Corea's three warring kingdoms (Silla, Koguryo, and Paekche) united in the 7th century to defeat T'ang China from taking over their peninsula. I've felt like I've been watching history in more ways than one during these games. (Crazy, I know.)
But of course not everyone sees it the way I do.
"Before The World Cup, when you'd play FIFA soccer on Playstation, the Corean team would always have the lowest ratings in speed, offense, and defense," Long Round mentioned,
"But after this, they'll make the Corean teams have the best ratings in the game. Hahaha!"
That's one way to record history, I guess.
________________________________________________________
HEAVY MEDALS
"... Tens of thousands of fans poured into the streets to celebrate the team's storybook success in the tournament." Even in fourth place, the country still considers their teammates winners. The Corean government even made Monday a national holiday.
Their Dutch coach Hiddink was given the most prestigious sports award there, the Blue Dragon Medal. The team was awarded the second-most prestigious award, Brave Tiger Medals.
Aren't those medal names just so f***ing cool?
_______________________________________________________
MY SPELL CHECKER WAS WRONG
One last note here about the C-spelling of Corea. Briefly, Corea used to be spelled with a C prior to the 20th Century. Actually, prior to the Japanese Occupation of 1905, it was spelled with a C.
Because of the timing of the change from Corea to Korea, many nationalist Coreans strongly believe the rumors that the Japanese purposefully encouraged the K spelling so that "one of it's colonies" would not be listed ahead of Japan in Western alphabetical lists. Some say that the K-spelling purposefully makes Korea look more primitive than the C-spelling of Corea (this theory is a bit silly to me).
Whether any of this is true or not is up for eternal debate. But several countries still do spell it as Corea, and from what I could see, all of the Corean fan signs spelled it with a C as well.
So, for this entry I've decided to use the C-spelling as well for Corea. Other times I use it as an in-joke to represent traditional Corea. But I may start spelling it like that more often now, seeing how the country itself favors the Corea version.
I hope this clears that up a bit.
Hey, no one said it was easy being Corean.
______________________________________________________________
Brave Tiger Dave has had some nice pictures from the World Cup on his site as well. (Confession: I tend to tease poor Dave a lot too. I like him.)
