Korean Job Discussion Forums

[catman]

I can't believe it has been 10 years already. Anyone else here during World Cup 2002?

[ttompatz]

[fosterman]

god don't remind me. yes I was here.
and still here. WTF. guess I am never leaving now.
I was in my late 20's then. thought I would of been out of here a few years after the world cup, then another one came, then another one. and soon to be another one hahahaha

[movybuf]

I missed the world cup by a few months. Everybody I met back then told me stories about how much fun all the festivities were. Even though I couldn't care less about soccer, it sure sounded like a lot of fun.

[FMPJ]

Got here a week after.

[schwa]

Fun, absolutely. I hadnt followed soccer before (or since) but it was truly captivating.

Korea was zoned in. Apartment parties, bar parties, you didnt even have to be watching to know when Korea scored, the cheers rang out from every building. Groans too, for near misses. Commerce stopped when games were on. There was a national holiday for the opening & some public school classes were just given over to watching matches on classroom TVs. Everybody was up on what was going on.

It was a fascinating invasion of sport into daily life for a month.

[Captain Corea]

Yeah, there was a nice vibe on the streets. Lots of fun.


Wow, that was quite a long time ago. Ten years, eh?

[meangradin]

I wonder how many teachers came for a month, and then left after the tournament concluded?

[catman]

[hogwonguy1979]

I was here for it, went to 12 games, was at Korea-Italy, Korea-US amongst others

what jumped out at me was all the empty seats, if Korea wasnt playing, nobody showed up, they had ms kids walk in during the games to make the stadiums look full. I was able to get a midfield seat for US-Mexico for 30,000 won outside the stadium

also remember a lot of infrastructure problems like non-existent shuttle buses to the stadiums, lack of English signage etc. For the foreigners who came it was a real challenge.

based on that i highly doubt korea will ever get another world cup

[Squire]

I was at school at the time, but remember it well. We didn't have to go in if there was an England game during the day, and usually other games would be shown in classrooms or assembly halls during break and lunch time (even during some classes actually). I remember watching Italy-South Korea at school. That world cup was my first exposure to Korea as a country

[12ax7]

It was fun, especially the time we surprised our friend on his birthday with tickets and a drive to his home country's game. We had planned the trip with his wife for a couple of months. Even his co-workers were in on it. He had begged them for weeks to replace him on that Saturday so he could go see the game, but they always refused. To make matters worse, they really rubbed it in in the week leading to it, "So, what are you doing for your birthday? Too bad I can't replace you on Saturday, you could go see the game." He still thought he and his wife were going to work when they stepped out of their apartment and we showed him the tickets. He hadn't even clued in when she told him to wear shorts and a T-shirt to work.

We had also organized to meet my old university roommate at the game. We had come to Korea at the same time and had joked that we'd go to see a World Cup game together if we were still in Korea in 2002. He had come and gone twice by 2002, but he was there for the World Cup.

Great times.

However, the rallies aimed at drumming up nationalistic sentiment before the Korean team's games were a bit much.

But, the Roh government's use of nationalism for its own political gains is a topic best kept for another thread.

[movybuf]

[hogwonguy1979]

Oh I forgot to mention the univ I was teaching at in Gwangju actually was giving finals during the US-Korea game which sucked for the teachers giving them, I actually got somebody to give my final while I was at the game.

I remember Ahn doing that stupid Ohno thing after the goal, my fellow yanks were saying "wtf is that?" they had no clue about that

[Joe Boxer]

Korea made the list at #9 for World Cup controversies:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/page/worldcup101-03242010/ce/us/ten-most-controversial-moments&cc=4716?ver=global
I remember waching those games and yelling "wtf?!"