Korean 2022 World Cup bid pros and cons

Having been a football fan for over twenty five years I have been following the World Cup bidding process carefully. Being from England, naturally I hope we get win the right to hold the 2018 cup. Recent events mean though that the chances of winning are not high with Spain/Portugal and Russia seen as more likely to be successful. As long as the vote is a fair one I think people can cope with not winning especially when the attention of the Government should be on more pressing matters.

South Korea, as well as Australia, Qatar, Japan and the United States are all bidding to be hosts, but for the 2022 World Cup. Bearing in mind last weeks events on Yeonpyeong island and the ongoing uncertainty on the peninsula I find these quotes interesting from bid team member Hyo Jin Ahn, "I don't think this incident will make a negative impact on our bid,". For what it is worth I have always thought Korea had no chance of hosting the tournament but hope to be proved wrong, having lived here a fair while and being married to a Korean, etc, etc.

Some things in South Korea's favour - The stadiums are already here. They are of a very high quality and the bid would only need to build one more, in Incheon which is already in construction whilst increasing capacity in six more. The transport infrastructure as proved in 2002 should be able to handle things. In particular, Incheon airport is fantastic and a gateway to Asia and Europe. 2002 is still fresh in many peoples memory and although the tournament was low on quality (not the fault of neither Korea or Japan), overall it was a success. South Korea is Asia's best team and now enjoys a higher world wide profile with the likes of Park Ji Sung and Lee Chong Young and others playing successfully overseas - this is not an 'unknown' football nation. Clutching at straws here but the 'bid for peninsula peace' may entice some to go vote for it - but that hasn't helped Korea's bids for the Winter Olympics so far.

Some things not in South Korea's favour - They only recently co-hosted a tournament (2002) so perhaps it is not Asia's turn. The recent Korean F1 Grand Prix was not a total success. This may have little bearing on the bid but press coverage was critical in some nations. If the 2018 bid goes to an 'established' nation such as Spain/Portugal or England then Fifa will possibly be more inclined to hand 2022 to a 'new' nation such as Australia or Qatar in a bid to create a legacy somewhere. On the legacy theme, what has been the legacy for 2002? Many World Cup stadiums are white elephants i.e. Daegu where I live. The K-league may be improving but attendances overall aren't so great and this will always be a baseball nation. If there aren't enough hotels in England, something their bid was criticised for then are there enough quality hotels here? Remember Korea only co-hosted 2002 so dealing with so many travellers represents a problem for all host nations. Kick off times here are not agreeable with Europe (too early and not at 'prime time') which would possibly reduce television income. And of course what happened on Yeonpyeong island is impossible to be out of peoples minds - what incredibly bad timing for South Korea. Unsubstantiated rumours persist that China is going to bid for 2026 which would only happen if 2022 does not go to Asia.

Bearing all these in mind I expect Korea to be eliminated in either the first or second round of voting. The vote for the 2018 and 2020 bids is held on Tuesday, December 2nd. Good luck to South Korea and England this week because we both need it.

Long day at work

Yesterday, full of ups and downs and some in between. Starting with taekwondo where we continue to practice for the test on the 26th. After our session I went home to finish my bi-monthly student reports. These are easy to do as they are filled out on-line and don't usually involve any typing. I've managed to finish mine four days before their due date so I can now have a work free weekend.

Unfortunately I didn't have much time to myself in the afternoon because there was a work meeting for the foreign teachers. This was pretty straight forward but I think it was a good idea for this to take place as we have a new teacher at our branch and it's always good to brush up things. It lasted an hour and it highlighted a few things I was doing wrong but also reminded me that mainly, I am doing what they are asking me to.

After that there was hardly any preparation for my days classes but my first class was being observed my foreign manager (basically my boss - my branch manager is not really my boss). I got to choose the class being evaluated and chose my first and they didn't let me down. I think things went well, I did what she wanted to hear and am expecting a decent write-up. I'll be shocked if it's ultra critical.

And then onto the rest of the day. Elementary school kid numbers were down on the day as many were preparing for Fridays big school test. This meant that things were more relaxed and I actually got to play a few games with some kids. I had only two Middle school classes and numbers were down greatly due to two reasons, firstly because they are studying for exams again and some have class exemption and secondly because of the World Cup game against Argentina. On occasions like this with four and three students in class I play a straight bat and go through all the material in class as normal. The kids don't want to be there and I don't want to be either and from experience, doing the work ends up being 'less painful' as a lesson than playing a game that they are 'too good for'.

Classes were punctured with screams of joy and encouragement as people in the neighbourhood watched the game and cheered on Korea. Those kids who missed class and got to watch the game might well have wished they didn't as Argentina won 4-1. As they bell to end the last class sounded many of us gathered round a PC to watch a stream of the game. We managed to watch the last twenty minutes which was all Argentina. At work yesterday most of my Korean co-workers were decked out in red to support their nation. The atmosphere was really good in the teachers room.

Prior to the World Cup starting I had mixed feelings about how well I wanted Korea to do. Now I really want them to go as far as they can because of my wife. She has really enjoyed watching the games. It would be great for her to see her team to win some more games.

However, I can't help think that some Koreans (I don't mean my co-workers here) set themselves up for a fall. I feel that at times expectations are a little too high. People can become overly optimistic based not on reality but on misguided hope and in the face of evident facts. Hope is an essential quality to have as a human being but realism is important too. They still regularly show the games on TV from the 2002 World Cup where Korea made the semi-finals. I think this raises expectations a little too much.

Highs here can sometimes be too high and lows too low but perhaps this can be said of most nations. They do support their country fervently and that's something very positive I find. I hope people here are not too deflated, pick themselves up and get ready for their next game as they still have a great chance to qualify for the next round.

Regardless of Korea's feelings on the outcome the result means the World Cup is now alive after a lacklustre start. I am hopeing for more goals and good attacking play from here on in - though not from England. Korea play Nigeria next week in a 3:30am kick off. I will probably stay up and watch it, as it is now and will be for weeks to come. sleeping at night is a little tricky in this humidity.

Different sides of the fence

Tomorrow South Korea play Argentina in their second World Cup game. Like last Saturdays match, the kick off is 8:30pm local time. Great for many people, especially children who should be able to watch then. However, my academy's classes finish at 10pm. This means that a swathe of our students will be in class and won't be able to see the game. No big deal? Wrong, to me it is a big deal.

Yesterday I had a gentle disagreement with my friend and co-worker, about the fact that I think our students should be allowed to stay away from class should they choose to and to watch the game at home. If they want to come in, then fine. I am not arguing that I should be allowed to go home early but they should be given a choice and not be punished for not coming to class (those who don't come to a class have to spend time in the retest room basically substituting the time they would have spent in class).

One thing to consider is this. The students who would be in the final two classes are Middle school students. At the best of times they are often surly, sullen and miserable about being in the classroom. Right now they are studying for important school tests and starting from this week some, then eventually all of them will have retest exemption. That means that they won't be punished for not coming to class so they can stay home and study - some are forced to come by their parents though. Does anyone think our classes will be great ones tomorrow? I will be amazed if my classes are productive or have a positive atmosphere.

Here is where I stand, I think this is a matter of National importance. World Cups come around only once every four years and help bring a country together. This is important for a country like South Korea that is ultra patriotic and likes to feel good about itself and is constantly trying to portray a positive image of itself to other countries. When Kim Yu-Nah skated in the Olympics a nation stopped to watch, what use is it to have these kids excluded from following their team? Yes I am a sports fan but World Cups are not just about sports fans, they are about everyone in the country. Again, I am not arguing that I should get time off work, just that these kids should not be forced into coming for just these two classes. Do they really need to come in tomorrow? Just my thoughts.

World Cup fever in Korea

After a slow build up here World Cup fever finally hit South Korea. Yesterday saw Korea play and beat Greece convincingly, 2-0. I watched the game at home with my wife. We stocked up on beer and fried chicken and sat down to enjoy.

My wife doesn't really care about sport but I twisted her arm to try and get her involved and she ended up loving watching the game. Koreans really do go full out when supporting their side and proudly display their colour (red) in force with people wearing t-shirts or waving banners/plastic banging things.

Before the game we were downtown and it was pretty hectic in the build up but I am glad we didn't watch the game on a big screen somewhere. I did that in 2006 and wanted a more intimate atmosphere this time. I don't know if Korea will get out of the group stages but now they have a good chance. Expectations though are probably too high with the team here. I hope they progress as it will make the tournament experience much greater for me.

On Friday I made a point of asking every student in my classes who was going to win the World Cup. Some didn't take it seriously and 95% said Korea. When I asked them why they said "Because I am Korean". My students don't yet understand the difference between what they think is going to happen and what they want to, or they just ignore it. The annoying thing was that when one student said Korean, the others automatically followed suit. I thought I was in communist China or even North Korea for a moment. As always a group mentality prevails here.

I am happy to say that my youngest group of kids took it the most seriously and gave answers as diverse as Spain, Argentina, The Netherlands, and Brazil. My experience and conclusion (not based on my scratch survery) after over four years here is that Koreans in general don't like sport but like to be associated with victory/success/glory and the average person here has little or no knowledge of sport outside baseball. When they have a player or athelte that is famous/successful then they follow this person, i.e. Kim Yu-Na the wonderful skater. There is no culture of sport here but things are slowly changing and I guess it takes success to start the ball rolling but this nation is very different from Europe.

Regarding England, what a dreadful start and not just the appalling goal for the USA. The whole performance was demoralising. Such a contrast to the vibrant Koreans

Korean World Cup slogan revealed

Continuing to butcher the language. Why are these things never checked?

North Korea finds perfect Summer match

Being a football fan living in Korea and also from a Commonwealth country, todays news that North Korea will train in Zimbabwe before heading to this Summers World Cup in South Africa sparked my interest. I've been keeping as up to date as I can with stories of the North Korean football team are doing and from time to time wonder how their participation will covered by the Media here in the South. They will almost certainly win no matches and are unlikely to score any goals - they are grouped with Brazil, Portugal and The Ivory Coast - but this is the first World Cup since 1966. Both regimes leave a nasty taste in your mouth but for different reasons. North Korea and Zimbabwe, a perfect match it would seem.