I made a
flying visit back home long enough to see my nearest and dearest before I
headed back to Seoul, this time on holiday. 8 days over Chuseok to show Wes
around my beloved city.
My flight
was via Delhi and avid readers of this blog will know my thoughts on that place
already. Despite how I feel India is never boring. I had a 3 hour layover and
did what everyone does, headed for the bar. I got chatting to an Australian
guy, mid-40s with a long beard. He had just been travelling Europe on a
motorbike and we drank and shared stories. He was an interesting guy. Then came
a question out of the blue. “What do you think of aliens?” This is why I don’t
talk to strangers. He went on to explain how there is no God, but the earth is
alive and controls everything and that aliens exist among us much like the plot of the movie Men In Black. Why are the
weirdest ones in India?
In Seoul
and we managed to see a lot. Gwangjang Market, a baseball game, a dog café,
Gyeongbuk Palace, Myeongdong, the War Museum, my old stomping ground of Kondae,
and the most boring goalless draw ever played.
The only trouble with visiting over the holidays was that a few places were closed.
The
highlight, other than seeing a few faces, was the DMZ tour. While there it was
kicking off. I’m not sure what the North Koreans were doing, but they were in a
stand-off with the South Koreans. We were also being watched by someone. After
having a look around the JSA buildings we weren’t allowed to continue the tour
due to safety reasons.
Wes and I either side of the border.
The North and South Koreans in stand off.
Our dreamy US soldier tour guide.
And before
I knew it it was all over. Two-and-a-half years in Korea and I’m out. When I
boarded by flight back in December 2013 to move there I thought I was making a
terrible mistake and the first Google search I made there was “how to get out
of a contract in Korea”. Having done it I can say it was one of the best
decisions I’ve ever made.
On the 25th May, 2014 it had been 6 months since
I left the UK. Nearly half way through and the time has gone so quickly. I’ve
been quite lucky that I haven’t felt any homesickness, obviously it would have
been nice to see friends and family during that period but it won’t be long
until I’m back, and sparing any UKIP deportations everyone will be there
waiting for me when I get home.
A reason why I possibly haven’t really felt any homesickness
so far has been that I’ve been surrounded with familiar faces since leaving the
UK. When I was in Thailand I met up with Amy and Kelsey, two girls from uni. In
Australia, I met up with Ed and Amy, a couple of Bedford companions. I got to
Korea and met up with Toner, a great friend from home. Soon after, Ben came out
to visit for a week. In February, Karl, one of my best mates from uni, came to
Korea to teach for the year. And most recently Kate, another mate from uni
popped over to Korea to visit Karl and I as she was passing through Asia on her
travels. In only a short period of time, I have gone from a tourist to a tour
guide, as I showed Kate and her bum-chum Rose around the sights of Seoul. Although
when most people think of Brendan the tour guide they immediately think of a
flamboyant, overweight twat… Maybe it’s more accurate than I thought.
Kate and Rose arrived in Seoul to torrential rain. The
heavens had opened despite my promises to Kate that it would be hot and sunny
when they arrived. She was not impressed. We started the catch up with a few
pints in the local, as we shared stories and got to know Rose a bit better. A
quirky, fun individual to say the least!
Unfortunately, due to our teaching hours Karl and I couldn’t
spend as much time as we had hoped with the girls during their stay, but this
gave them some exploring of their own to do without us. There’s a lot to see
and do in Soeul but when you’ve only got a week you have to start cramming. We
suggested the truly touristy attractions; cat café, dog café, palaces, temples,
museums, and of course soju and kimchee. Korea in a nut shell.
On Saturday we took a trip to the baseball. We found a good
spot in the stand to watch the game and cracked the first beer open in the
afternoon sunlight. It was nice for about 10 minutes but standing in the unbearable
heat stops becoming fun very quickly. I soon became a hairy, sweaty mess. My
chest was like a rain forest, my arse was like a swamp, and my bollocks had
mushrooms growing on them. I spent most of the afternoon with my legs apart
trying to give the twins some breathing space. And apparently the summer gets
hotter here in Seoul, my heritage derives from Ireland and England, I wasn’t designed
for the hot climates. I’m happy in the cold and rain, I’m a human slug.
I look so camp in this picture.
The baseball game was enjoyable despite “supporting” the
team that got dicked 23-1. In attendance were Kate, Rose, Somi, Karl, Bernd,
Angie, and I, we’re hardly what you’d call die hard baseball fans. Our excuse
was to show Kate and Rose something different that they hadn’t experienced on
their travels so far. In the crowd I happened to see this guy watching TV on
his phone, upon further inspection he was watching the baseball game that was
happening live in front of him.
If he had lifted his head up 20cm then he would have seen
the game live. Baseball is hardly that interesting at the best of times, if you
watch the game live and then watch the replay on your phone you’re only going
to be bored twice.
As we were leaving the game we also saw this pair of sad
acts.
“Together Since 2010.” So what? Rihanna and Chris Brown were
together since 2008, and look how that turned out. (Although, based on the
pictures Angie has been drawing of us maybe I shouldn’t comment on other cringey
couples).
We showed the girls the highlights of the Hongdae night
life. We went to the park and they got to meet the notorious Makgeolli Man.
Both Friday and Saturday night were filled with drunken
adventures which ceased around 5am.
They said they had a great time in Korea, and would like to
come back again. It was great having them here it’s just a shame it was only
for a week. Korea is an awesome place, and you know the old saying ‘Once you go
to Korea… you get gonorrhoea?’ I was trying to think of something more accurate,
but that’ll do.
I’ve been to a couple of football games in Korea now, both
domestic and continental. I attended Seoul’s opening game of the season against
Chunnam Dragons they started with the usual opening day procedures. When the
game got underway the most noticeable difference to the English game that I’m
used to is the considerable drop in quality and talent. Poor passing, no control,
and shambolic organisation. I have been told that the best Koreans players get
offers from abroad and head to Europe or Japan, and even those that can kick a
ball straight get lured to oil-rich nations such as the United Arab Emirates
and Saudi Arabia leaving Korea’s domestic game lacking quality to say the
least, even Emile Heskey could look good in this league… OK, maybe not.
Korea was lucky enough to joint host the World Cup with
Japan in 2002, as a result Seoul got a brand new stadium which Seoul FC were
fortunate to inherit after the tournament. The downside to this is that Seoul FC
usually attracts crowds of around 15,000 which don’t quite fill the 67,000
seater stadium that the team plays in. The fans are too spread and the stadium
looks empty. This is how a stadium would look if Joey Barton ever had a
testimonial, no one would go.
I’ve also made an appearance at an Asian Champions League
game, when Seoul took on Kawasaki Frontale. The Asian CL is different from the
UEFA CL, I was expecting to hear that glorious, recognisable theme tune (The
Champioooooons!). Instead I got a Korean rendition of If You’re Happy and You
Know It Clap Your Hands. Not quite the same.
I took my seat and before long the game was underway, I
noticed the two guys in front of me had a feast of snacks to eat throughout the
game, they even had a huge pizza.
This is what’s wrong with football today, the American
influence has changed every sporting event into an eating competition. You don’t
go to the football for the food. It’s called “The Beautiful Game” for a reason.
It’s meant to be watched, observed, studied, it’s about passion, and creating
an atmosphere, not filling your face with over-priced hot dogs. If you’re
hungry, you have a dodgy pie before the game. Unfortunately too many clubs have
gone down this route, and yes my club (Arsenal) is also guilty of this. Sure,
we can boast that we have one of the highest incomes from match days in
global football, but at what cost? Filling the stadium with plastic fans and
out-pricing genuine fans creating one of the worst atmospheres in European
football. The FA are guilty of this too, for too many reasons; for the over
budget Wembley Stadium, milking fans, charging them £50+ for irrelevant
friendlies – they’ve sold out. It’s a major shame… Maybe I overthought those
two guys having pizza.
I moved in the second half and got amongst the signing fans,
they were a delight. Real fans.
Seoul have lost the games that I have attended so far. Last
season Seoul finished 4th (surprise, surprise, I’m supporting the
team that finished 4th) and qualified for the Champions League. This
season they’re 2nd bottom and have scored a less than impressive 6
goals in 11 games. This demise has occurred since I have started “supporting”
them, I’m sure they could do without my support.
Baseball
The most popular sport in Korea is baseball so for months I
had wanted to go to a game. We decided to attend the Doosan Bears vs. LG Twins
game, these are both Seoul based teams so it was pretty likely that this game
would sell out. We came up with a plan to get to the stadium at 11am (3 hours
before kick-off) to ensure that we got tickets. There was only one slight
hiccup to our plan and that was that we went out drinking the night before and
therefore slept in. We arrived at the stadium at 1:30pm (30 minutes before
kick-off) and inevitably the game had sold out. This left us with 2 choices,
call an end to our baseball adventure or find a ticket tout, in no time at all
we found a tout.
They seem to be very common, all there to make a quick won.
In very broken English we asked him how much he wanted for a ticket, he said
₩9,000 (£5). We agreed and he led us to though the subway station to the man
with the tickets (it was very dodgy). We tried to give him the cash but he was
refusing saying that he wanted more, he wanted ₩19,000 (£11). We weren’t happy
about the increase in price but decided to pay it anyway as the game was
starting very soon. So we handed him ₩19,000 and he said no again, we realised
that in fact he wanted ₩90,000 (£52) for a ticket. We told him where to poke
his ticket.
The game had started and we decided to wait 15 minutes for
the ticket prices to come down a little and not long after we found another
tout and got a ticket for the reasonable price of ₩15,000 (£9). We stocked up
our beers for the afternoon and made our way into the stadium. We had standing
tickets and found a good spot at the back of the stand. The sun was shining and
I had a cold beer in my hand, I cared little about everything else around me.
I had no idea what I was watching. Scott tried to explain
the rules to me but ultimately it’s just glorified rounders. The atmosphere was
good and everyone else was really into it, although I couldn’t bring myself to
cheer at a girls’ school sport.
Scott made a comment that made me chuckle. He said that he
was impressed with the crowd chanted in unison. Well, yeah… that’s what all
sports crowds do, don’t they? He went on to explain that in American sports
there is no organisation with the chanting, everyone just shouts what they like
when they like. ‘Murica.
After a while I realised that watching baseball is very much
like watching cricket, you go along not because it’s a great sport but because
it’s a nice day and you can get drunk. I did have fun, and I’d probably go
again but when you have a choice to attend a good baseball game or a poor
football game I will always go to the poor football game. For all of football's downfalls it is still adored worldwide, and baseball
is just another bat-and-ball game. Football is the greatest sport on the planet. No questions asked.
"Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more important than that." Bill Shankley
