Robin is absolutely going to kill me for calling it soccer, but hey, I am the Soutie, so he could have written this HIS way if he had wanted to. I have decided to be democratic, and combine both "soccer" and "football"... From now on, it will be known as FOOCCER :)
I am taking a step away from the trips, just for one post, to talk about the soccer games in Korea. If you haven't gone before, you should really consider it! Both Robin and I agree, there is nothing like it!
The Korean soccer league is terrible. It is not good soccer, and I think that even Bafana Bafana may stand a chance against some of the teams! The stadiums are not that special. But the big difference between Korean soccer and the rest of the world is the fans. They are the most amazing fans that either of us have ever seen, and they definitely make the game! (Plus, only paying $12 for a front-row ticket is AWESOME)
We have adopted the Suwon Bluewings as our team, because their stadium is close by, and they play a lot of home games. They are ranked 4th out of the Korean league, but they are not too shabby. Robin even asked me to buy him a supporters jersey for his birthday! His blood is definitely blue!
The first game that we went to, we sat in pretty poopie seats, because we got there late. Since then though, we have made sure we sit in the Suwon supporters stands. At the bottom of the stands, there are guys with huge Suwon flags, and up the centre row, a guy with a megaphone and a few guys with drums conduct the team chanting. Everyone knows the words (except the poor foreigners who sing "Suwon blah blah blah, Suwon, Im ni da! Hahaha), and all of the movements for the different songs. Now I know that people are going to wonder how these fans are much more different from others all over the world ~ I'm sure we all know about the Barmy Army~ but the difference is this... The Korean fans scream and chant and sing, even when their team is LOSING, albeit a little less enthusiastic than usual. :)
A couple of weeks ago we went to a game which had to be the most amazing game we had been to so far, and it was definitely the most amazing sports game I have ever been to in my life. It was POURING down with rain, and I was a bit skeptical about how much fun this would be. One of our friends, Andrew, popped into a shop and bought us all rain ponchos. Unfortunately they were made for Koreans, and we ripped them getting them over our giant bodies. Mine could hardly fit my big head in the hood. Anyway, they were better than nothing. The stands were packed - in the dry parts - so we made our way closer to the field, and resigned ourselves to our fates. I have never been so wet in my life. My fingers were all pruney, my clothes were sopping. Robin was weiaring green shoes, and when we got home, he took off his shoes and socks, and his toenails were stained green. It took 3 days for them to return to normal!
The rain, however, was not a dampener, because Suwon, with the help of my boys, Santos and Roger, got a goal within the first 30 seconds. From there on out, there was mayhem in the stadium. The Koreans behind us were teaching us the proper song words (probably so we would stop butchering their songs with "blah blah blah"), and they even translated them so that we knew what they meant in English. Just before half time, the other team equalised, and I was starting to think there was going to be a 1-1 draw. Boy was I wrong. The second half ended after three amazing Suwon goals! 4-1 Suwon! The next thing I knew, we were being sprayed with water fountains, and the crowd was going wild. We got hugged by so many random Korean supporters. We made our way out of the stadium, to find a crowd gathering. The drummers from the centre isle were already there, giving a beat to the songs and chants that the supoorters were singing. All around us, people were shining strobe lights up into their umbrellas, and spinning their umbrellas around. There were babies dressed in bluewings outfits, and toddlers on their dad's shoulders, giving high fives to everyone in the crowd. It was surreal. A real goosebump moment.
We left the stadium feeling high! We were so full of energy, and just overflowing with adrenaline. It was so weird that we could feel so proud of our surrogate team who we have only known for a couple of years. Now, I know that we will probably be tracking the Suwon bluewings' progress. They have lifelong supporters. If you ever have a chance to see our boys play... take it. You will be surprised at how much you will get attached!!!
SUWON BLAH BLAH BLAH,
SUWON IM NI DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
