A case of red fever

I'm not referring to Communism. Rather, the FIFA World Cup. Over the course of the last few weeks I've been asked, on a number of occasions what I think about the World Cup...am I excited, what team will I cheer for, etc. In typical American fashion I've often responded by saying "who gives a shit?" (shocking, I know). Well, that changed a bit following the events of my day. Tonight, my colleagues and I descended upon downtown Seoul, only to encounter the Korean equivalent of Times Square on New Year's eve. Thousands of people, sporting their red devils gear, gathered to celebrate their nationalism (quite the sight) and watch the Argentina vs. Korea game on multiple jumbo-trons. Unfortunately, they lost but from what I understand, they are not out of the competition just yet. Nonetheless, it was fun to be immersed in a sea of (many) drunk Koreans, some of whom found it amusing to take a picture with me. Hey, check out the racially ambigious giant we seldom see in Korea (my interpretation of what they were thinking, lol). Good times, good times. If I thought they could understand English, and were sober enough to care, maybe I'd tell them that I'm one of their own. Well, sort of.

In between my initial and return trip to Korean "red square," I had the pleasure of seeing MISO, an original Korean musical. While I was sort of in a funk prior to going out, following a long day of meetings and sweating my ass off, this could not have come at a better time. I LOVED IT. I was moved. I was inspired. At one point, I found myself on the virge of tears. For the first time since I arrived, I felt a genuine bond with Korea. In fact, at certain points, I envisioned myself on stage and for a few moments, felt like I was home. Quite timely considering that it is the eve of my birthday.* That is, the day that the doctors at the hospital estimated I was born. Time to let that marinate. :

To kick off my birthday festivities I will start the day with a tour of the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Nothing like a morning dose of Korean history (and turmoil) wrapped into one. Not that the war had any effect on me. Carpe diem.