The Shame of Korea

You don't have to tell me. I realize full and well that I may or may not be worse for humanity than Kim Jong-il for not updating my blog in a week. Trust me, I felt the claws of guilt ripping away at me. What can I update you on?Thursday, I watched the second Korea game in a much less crowded venue than the first time. This proved to be good for a few reasons. 1) We could sit comfortably. 2) We could eat restaurant food. 3) It wasn't as awkward when Korea got completely dominated by Argentina in the second half. The chants stopped, the drumming stopped, and they all sat in silence for the last 20 minutes of the game while those half-kraut bastards made a mockery of the Korean peoples' suffering. I can't imagine how it would have been in Duryu Park.

Since I didn't have any class on Friday (yeah, only two days of classes that week), I decided to go to a show. Daegu tends to have live shows on Thursdays. This is due to the revenue flow. Daegu, 3rd largest city: Thursdays. Busan, second largest city: Fridays. Seoul, by far largest city: Saturday night, when it's alright for fighting. Anyway, a couple of others and I went to see King Khan and BBQ. Now, I got nothing against two guys doing their own thing when it comes to music. What I do have an extreme judgment call in is how bands treat their fans and patrons. I knew something was amiss when one of our group and the guitarist got into a fight before the show over the safety record of South America. First strike. Second strike: they started playing and were not really doing it for me. However, I'm not bashing them doing their thing. But, maybe they should put some more thought into what they play. The third and biggest strike (a two parter) that completely overshadows both other strikes by leaps and bounds: first, they trashed either some hotel room or someone's apartment because they got into a fight. Accounts vary. Second, they didn't play their Seoul show because they got into a fight minutes beforehand. I think the kicker of it all is that the King Khan and BBQ Show PR poster is one of three things on my bare walls (besides mold). I might have to draw bad things on it for it to stay up there rightfully.

Friday, I was not in the best shape, but I planned ahead well as I didn't have any classes. I had Korean class, went home, took a nap, then got up and headed downtown for the U.S.A. vs. Slovenia game. The excitement was actually pretty high for a soccer match, and at one point we were sure we won...until the goal didn't count. So, we tied 2-2 instead.

Sidenote real quick. Since when was it OK for articles to just deviate from the headline story whenever they felt like it (this is not an article so I can deviate how I please, thank you very much)? I was reading the story today about how North Korea showed its World Cup game live in Pyongyang for the first time in 44 years and it backfired because they lost 7-0, and then the writer felt it was ok to write, "Meanwhile in Capetown Boris Johnson blardy blar blar England 2018 World Cup." What? What does England bidding for the 2018 World Cup have to do with North Korea's rare display of openness backfiring? You know what? I'm so upset about it that I'm going to go back to that article and look up the author's name (Pause 5 minutes. Go get a drink or something). Ooohhhhhhhh, they're British. That makes much more sense. That's the equivalent of an American reporter writing the same article and then ending it with, "Meanwhile, America rocks." It happens all the time, right?

Saturday, after a day of barren nothingness, a few of us headed to the Kyungpook University area to get a change of scenery. There is a nice little downtownish area there that has a lot to do. We ended up at this bar where this duo was playing acoustic guitars. I noticed pretty quick that they were both talented, but the lead was straight shredding. He was amazing. After each song, it is customary to shout out, "Free Bird" or "Stairway." Instead, my friend shouted "Malaguena Selarosa," which is probably one of the more obscure requests I've heard being shouted. Immediately the pair perked up and the other one said, "It's our unwritten rule that when someone requests Malaguena Selarosa, we have to play it." And, of course, the guy rips through it flawlessly and much better than Antonio Banderas. It was so impressive that we had to end on that high note.

Sunday was spent mostly Skyping in various states of lucidity. Aaaaannnnddddd, that's my life. Back to work and the work week.