Ahh Finally, Some Footy and Fake North Koreans

Yep, it's called football around here...as it is everywhere else in the world, except for the U.S. - the great sport of soccer.

Thus far, the most popular sporting event in the world - the World Cup - has been quite interesting. Japan beat Camaroon, Portugal and Ivory Coast tied, Germany whomped on the Aussies, Slovenia is in 1st place in the U.S.'s group, and Brazil barely beat N. Korea. Speaking of N. Korea, apparently there were a couple hundred super dedicated fans supporting them at their game in South Africa against Brazil yesterday. But guess what? Word on the street is that they were not North Korean at all, instead they were Chinese actors who were hired by a North Korean Sports Committee to attend all of the North Korean games!

I read that very few people, essentially no one, in North Korea can actually afford to get to South Africa for any matches, nor can they even get a visa to leave their beloved country, and since the Chinese team didn't make the tournament, Chinese people have put forth their best effort to cheer on all of the other 'Asian' teams (Japan, N.Korea, and S.Korea) - talk about international relations! And Americans wonder why soccer is so great :-) ...maybe if we played more soccer, more countries would like us.

With the World Cup happening all over TV screens every time I turn around (even in McDonald's restaurants), it's been tough not being able to play some soccer around here.

But that's all about to change :-) ...AJ (an intern I recently met) and I are heading out to the Jing'An district to play with some French guys from Next Step Connections tonight at 8pm. It costs $7 USD per player to rent out the field, an easy price to pay, because I'm very excited to finally get to play!

I'll let you know how it goes!!

--

PMM