Hi, folks!

I just sent out a huge email to everyone with that story about the drunk guy who thought we were French, but I didn't send it to you guys because I know you've already heard it. But here's another story that was also in that email, just so you can be caught up...

Anyway, last night was the big Korea-Poland soccer game and a few of us went to this big plaza where about 5000 people had gathered to watch it on a huge screen. There was a little fenced-off sitting area right in front of the TV and even though we got there 2 hours before the game, it was already packed full. People here are nuts over soccer. No way were we getting in there. But one of the Korean guys who was with us had an idea about how to get in there. He told the security guard that we were foreign tourists who had travelled all the way to Seoul to watch the game, and could he please let us go in there? And he did!! I tell you, half the people look at us like freaks and half treat us like royalty.

In case you don't know, Korea won 2-0. It was their first World Cup win ever and you can imagine that everyone was going bonkers. Lots of screaming teenage girls and guys were actually crying, it was that emotional for them. Unfortunately my camera ran out of film but I got a few good pictures of the crowd and the festivities. After the game, people were literally running through the streets, singing and cheering and waving the flag. I had never witnessed an outpouring of pure joy like I saw last night.

Since you all have asked, it's worth mentioning that after the game I did have a bit of an encounter with some of the lovely women of Korea. Well, some of the lovely drunk women of Korea. As I think I mentioned before, I don't think that picking up girls is all that common in the "hofs" and besides, most don't even speak English. Last night, though, we were in a bar after the game and these three girls were sitting at the table next to ours. One of the guys I was with is tall and bald and one of the girls kept asking him questions... in Korean. Of course, he doesn't SPEAK Korean so we had to have one of our buddies translate.

Well, she was really drunk and her friends were trying to get her back to their table so she wouldn't make an ass of herself. I later found out that that sort of thing is *extremely* uncommon and is generally frowned upon, so her friends were really apologetic. I, of course, found it to be hilarious. The guy she was targetting was really embarassed, though, and he actually left the bar. So she turned her attention to me. I don't even know what the hell she was saying to me but it was pretty funny to see how drunk this chick was.

Eventually, I was persuaded to sit at their table and my friends were actually going to leave me there! Back home, I probably would have said "okay" but Korean guys HATE it when foreigners try to pick up Korean women and there was no WAY I was walking out of there with a Korean girl on a night of emotion and drunkenness like that one. A few guys were sort of lurking around near us anyway and so I decided it was time to go.

So that's my first encounter. BTW, you guys heard a MUCH more detailed version than everyone else got. That's what you get when you're nice enough to email me back so quickly!

Chris