as you dedicated and multitudinous readers of this page know, robert recently put out a call to find a sucker, er, person willing enough to give daily world cup updates. someone out there in the masses–it’s yet to be determined whether this was meant as a compliment or an insult to me–suggested me for the job, as i’ve been doing daily updates on my own web site since the weekend before the world cup’s opening match.
as for who i am, i’m dave, i live on the east coast of korea, in a city called gangneung. i write in all lower case letters because i’m too lazy to hit the “shift” key when i need a capital letter. i am opinionated, but honest and direct and my sense of humour does not fit well with those who are blindly patriotic, have thin skin, or take themselves too seriously.
i will never call the sport played in this particular world cup “soccer” and i will usually spell it “football” or “futbol.” i have no reason to be considered an expert in football, but i am obsessed with it. there might be photos posted on occasion to back up my silly bollocking–or there might just be crude drawings sketched up on a cocktail napkin at a local pub. as for any other judgments or opinions as to what i’m like, that’s up to you.
i do sincerely hope that you enjoy my updates, even if you don’t always agree with my insight or like my delivery. and since i am a guest on this site, i will not be as profane as i might normally. if you want that, i can direct you to my site.
having said all of that, i am very happy to have been invited to write about the world cup on this site and am honoured to have this chance.
updates from last night’s matches to follow shortly… thanks for reading.
9 Comments
i hope that, along with updating readers on the games themselves, that you’ll be offering regular updates on the much more important and relevant story of the World Cup…which is how the Korean street cheering is taking over the world.
just today i learned from the Hani that although the Wave was started in the US and Mexico in the 80’s, it wasn’t “adopted seriously” by fans until the Koreans blessed us with that serious adoption at the 2002 World Cup. to think that all those decades of American fans doing the Wave at thousands upon thousands of college and pro sporting events was a complete waste, and that it wasn’t until our Korean overlords “perfected” the Wave and showed the rest of the world how it was truly done, did it receive the “serious adoption” that it was craving.
i also learned that large groups of people gathering in front of big screens to cheer on their teams was innovated by…who else…but the Koreans! singing your national anthem at a game? invented by Koreans! in fact, it’s now obvious that cheering for your country, or local team, or son or daughter, is only possible through the great invention of Koreans!
and finally there’s the worldwide phenomenon that “Daehanminguk!” has become….with nearly all 6.5 billion people screaming it in unison every hour on the hour…it makes one proud to be a loyal minion of our great Korean overlords.
All hail the innovators!
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti.....32234.html
That Hankyoreh article is very, very sad.
that article is such crap, i hate to say. korea is becoming more and more like america, japan, or china, always claiming that what they do is original or that they’ve taken an idea and made it better.
So all the watching of the game on big screen with thousands of fans, all the cheering and singing i did and all the mexican waves i did in the last 15 years, doesnt count?
Dave,
I’m the one that emailed Robert, suggesting you as the guest blogger. I’m a girly-girl at heart and don’t really care about football that much, but found myself going to your blog to read about the games I slept through the night before. Looking forward to more posts!
Welcome to the Hole, Dave.
With your being signed on, I guess my career as the Marmot’s World Cup commentator has been cut short. Considering how I did with the Korea-Togo game, that is probably a good thing.
That was a beautiful introduction. I’m loving it - keep us updated, thanks.
“Some countries are also trying to learn street cheering from Korea.”
http://times.hankooki.com/lpag.....211960.htm
I think the Hani’s decision to publish in English will backfire. Some embarassments are best kept in the vernacular.