Thor's Korea Diary

The Virtual World Cup

In a city called Gwangju, on June 22, 2002, Earth time, a Korean World Cup quarter finals team played and defeated a Spanish team 5-3 in over-time kicks. There was reported to be some excitement. Meanwhile, in parallel galaxy, far, far away in shoe leather time, but a mere blink by electron magic, ecstatic crowds of five million went wild across the Korean nation, while every every soju bar and tiny corner shop became a makeshift mini-television theatre, packed with roaring fans. Hey, they take this stuff personally.

Next  

 

In Busan, every bus heading for the Sajik Stadium was crammed, with milling crowds at later bus stops unable to board


The Sajik soccer stadium was full, the entrances sealed, an hour before the game. Overflow crowds jammed the next door baseball stadium

Cheering wildly. Mystifies me. There was no game being played, not even on a screen.
 
Now what are they thinking about?

Hmm. All these phallic symbols. Girls seemed to outnumber guys, uttering a crescendo of squeals every time a Korean idol from THE team appeared in electron memory

Standing room only. Funny thing, there was all that green space in the middle of the stadium - no ACTUAL players in Busan.

He's trying to hex me, just in case I'm a Spaniard

Ho hum. Hey, you can't stay delerious all of the time. What is that guy trading anyway?

 

* Note on personal names: all names in this Diary have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals, unless stated otherwise.


Photography copyrighted to Thor May 2002; all rights reserved