Vacation Day 1

I went to the FC Seoul game on a whim yesterday. It had a five o'clock start, and I only decided the rain was going to hold off at four, so I barely got there in time for the first goal, about four minutes in. By Seoul--the opposition was Daejeon, which languishes in the bottom third of the pack and all but mathematically eliminated from the post-season.

FC Seoul remains in first with a 3 - 0 win, and a point lead in the standings over Chonbuk. Suwon Bluewings, last year's champions, are in 10th place, and need a miracle to make the playoffs. The system is kind of weird--#3 plays #6 while #5 plays #4. The winners of those two games play each other to determine who plays #2. Then the winner of that game plays #1 in a two-legged final for the league championship.

Since the game was over by about seven, I sat around outside at the GS 25 store to drink a few beers and watch the crowds. After a while, a pair of old Korean men sat at my table and we shared small talk. I don't mean we discussed the weather, I mean we could only talk a little. My Korean is practically nonexistant and their English was just as difficult to find.

They broke out a bottle of "Korean whiskey" which was actually pretty good, reminiscent of Seagram's 7, and we sang "Edelweiss" and a couple other popular favorites from the last century. Both were beaming--but I think that's the Asian alcohol blush more than anything else.

I woke up a little late today, but that was okay, since this is my first day of a two week vacation I'm taking. Between exams, Chuseok and class trips, we are in a two week stretch where I would have to spend the better part of an hour walking to and from work, in order to spend three hours sitting around--so I'm using seven vacation days to get two full weeks off.