Thursday, June 17, 2010

고 레드 데빌! Go Red Devil

Korea just smashed Greece in the World Cup and they're sparring against Argentina (good freaking luck) right now in South Africa. I've gotten into the spirit of things because I can handle soccer hooligans a lot better than their football cousins. Also, there's a catchy song, a dance [see video], and I really like my t-shirt. I rolled into my neighborhood with 30 minutes remaining in the game. It's the week or so before monsoon season and the air is brutally humid. Not in any real hurry to watch the Red Devils get reamed, I decided to wind through some unfamiliar streets in search of ice cream. Every corner that I turned was filled with "The Shouts of Reds" coming out of apartment buildings and corner stores. "What the hell?" and "How did that freaking happen [loose translation] followed by "Goal!!! Ohh wait...". I spot a cozy looking plastic-covered hovel with an outside freezer and hear two little old men energetically cheering inside. They see my Devils shirt and give me a jolly loud, "De Han Min Guk!!" to which I give a fist pump and echo. After a few minutes of mutual TV bitching, I'm given the deal of the century on my ice cream and a resounding "De Han Min Guk! Chuca Ham Ne Da!". And I De Han, Chuca, and skip back home, past the unexplainably surly grocer next door.

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