The tickets have arrived

I got home from Seoul last night to a message from my mum telling me that the tickets have arrived at her house in England. I guess that it would be more exciting if I could actually see them- so hope to catch her on the webcam later. Apparantely it is my job to make sure that she remembers where she has put them otherwise I am going nowhere!

And what was I doing in Seoul in the middle of the week? Well, we had three days off this week to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Because the holidays come off the lunar calendar they can often fall in the middle of the week, so we were off Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (today). Most of the population of Korea will have got into a car, on a bus or train and headed off to their family homes for a few days indulgence and ancester honouring. Many of the foreigners, however, embarked on an epic voyage to their nearest watering hole. I went to Seoul on Tuesday and spent most of the night dancing in Itaewon- after losing at Jenga and Connect Four and managing to not make too much of a show of myself in the International Drinking game.

Getting up on Wednesday was a struggle- I was aching all over from the dancing, I am not as young as I used to be. But I dragged myself to the COEX shopping mall with Renee and Margo. The subway was nice and empty and even the mall seemed to be rather roomy for a change when we first arrived. But we found where all the people were when we tried to go and watch a movie. Ah well.

We saw a few funny things- such as a stall full of clothes for dogs:

including hanboks, traditional dress, for dogs

there were also lots of people in traditional dress for the holidays which made for a colourful day

After our time in the mall I had to trek back across town to meet up with some other friends. Rather than a traditional day of tidying our family tombs and drinking soju, we were meeting to do that other popular Korean past time- watching the soccer!

This was my first trip to the Seoul World Cup stadium and the first time that I have been to see a football game since the heady days of the 2002 World Cup. Back in those days it was hot so I really was't prepared for the temperatures last night and seemed to be the only person in the stadium not wrapped in a blanket. A friend bought me a headscarf to keep my ears warm and there was a lot of jumping around during the match to keep the cold away. Another mate also lent me the corner of her blanket when it started to get colder.

It was a very exciting match. It brought back a lot of memories of 2002 as well. I wished that the old crowd was with me. But they weren't. Korea romped home with a 2-0 victory over Kuwait- the atomosphere was incredible. As I was fighting my way through the crowds to get back to the subway I was glad that the home team had won.

There was a lot of singing and throwing of toilet paper. When I took my coat off on the bus on the way back to Gangneung I had to laugh as a bunch of newspaper confetti fell out of the hood. Today I am taking it easy. Relax and mentally prepare myself for working tomorrow.

Happy New Year and welcome to the year of the Rooster!