................Taking Flight...............: World Cup Friendly

I met Kwang Min in Hapjeong to go to a restaurant, Charley’s Philly Cheesestake for lunch. It was pretty good. We split a sandwich and fries and each got a lemonade (reviews said it was the best lemonade in Seoul). Well, the lemonade was good, but I don’t know if I’d say it was the best in Seoul. I still prefer the lemonade at the fair (fresh lemons with ice and a little bit of sugar…) After lunch we went to “Gasan Digital Complex” where there are outlet stores. I was in search of new running shoes. We looked in a few places and I was about to give up hope. We were leaving and Kwang Min spotted a Puma store. We went to it and they had a pair of shoes I liked and fit well. Finally! New running shoes! (Now I’ll have to go running-no excuses!) I also looked a little bit at winter coats but didn’t buy anything. I’m starting to get worried about the cooler weather and need to beef up my winter wardrobe a bit.

After shopping, Kwang Min and I returned to Hongdae area. We walked around and saw a little restaurant that had “rice burgers” it was like kimbap in a patty form—rice in a ‘bun shape’ and then we got tuna and mayo as our filling. It was yummy. We also got some fruit juice—so delicious! I walked to World Cup Stadium from Hapjeong then to meet Jacob. Jacob had asked me if I wanted to go to the Korea vs. Brazil World Cup Friendly game. Um…YES! Our soccer captain, John, had an extra ticket and Jacob suggested asking me. So, Jacob and I met and walked around to look for a place to have dinner. It was quite crowded so we left the stadium area and went out on the street to look for food. We couldn’t really find anything, but finally ended up getting fried chicken to go. We had to wait almost 30 minutes for the food to be ready, but were entertained by some cute little girls (sisters) running around playing in front of the restaurant.

We headed back to the stadium and ate our chicken there. Then we waited for John to arrive with our tickets. He had a GOAL event (he works for GOAL--the adoptee organization) that went until 7; the game started at 8. It was 7:45 by the time John arrived and I was getting nervous. We ran inside and then couldn't find our gate to go in. We finally made it into the stadium just as they were finishing the national anthem and got to our seats as the teams were finishing their team huddle. Phew, just in time for kick off. Our seats were good--behind the Korean goal (first half the Korean goalie was in front of us and the second half, Korea was shooting towards us). The game was pretty good, but Korea lost 0-2. Actually Jacob was rooting for Brazil and even wore a Brazil jersey! Traitor. After the game, Jacob and I walked along the stream next to the stadium. It actually leads all the way back to my subway station. We chatted a bit and then I walked the rest of the way home.