World Cup 2010 - Thanks for a happy June

My desktop wallpaper of June, courtesy of Naver

So we're out. We made it to top 16, but Uruguay, or should I say Luis Suarez, made us bid farewell to World Cup 2010. Such a disappointment. Not only for the team, but for the whole nation that was in absolute festival mood.

Of course the tournament lasts till July, but the other team in red that I was rooting for, England, got trashed by Germany (with probably one of the most controversial judgement mishaps in World Cup history), so my interest is running thin.

June was bliss, though. I realized how important looking forward to things are, whatever the consequences might be. Hoping for things, dreaming for things.
And obviously I wasn't the only one who felt this; the whole nation was in an economical, political and social rut, needing something, anything to uplift our spirits so the World Cup was just what we needed.

Korean portal site Naver, updated their main page logo banner almost every single day according to the dreams and hopes we had, ending with poignant thanks to the Taeguk Warriors and the memories they have given us. (We Koreans are a sappy, sentimental bunch.)

Naver wasn't the only one playing around with logos:

This month for us, love was indeed football.

How many hardcore fans actually wore red underwear, I wonder?

Almost everyone had the red t-shirt, of course.

Or other paraphenalia.

Many rewatched highlight scenes on touch screen media poles in metro stations,


or participated in an event endorsed by a celebrity. (Yoo Jae Seok in this one.)

I know I'm not the only one who drooled over our footballers on storefronts.

It's quite likely that shop and building owners were most lenient about graffiti this month.

Some fans went to the max, creating mindboggling works of cute. Like the husband and wife duo "Ramble couple" who made a World Cup themed lunchbox. The rest of the photos (and other recipes) are on their blog: http://blog.naver.com/autolian

I wonder if they took down the special "rooting zones" set up by big corporate sponsors like SK Telecom, now that we're not in it anymore.

"Once again, Dae~ Han Min Guk!" T-stadium in Myeongdong.

Completely red building, big screen display.

The steel frame structure was covered in red by shiny discs linked together, with cheering messages written by fans.

I wrote one, too. "Always rooting for you!"

Panorama clip:

Going home after the final game. Almost two in the morning. The city of Seoul ran their public transportation system several hours longer than usual (it was a Saturday) to accomodate the fans who were cheering in public places. This is Samseong station, line 2.

I had to change to a bus after the subway. It was drizzling. A young couple was desperately trying to catch a taxi; they were halfway out in the deserted street. Had we won, I don't think they would have looked so forlorn.

Don't want to end on a sad note, cause "we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun!" - that sort of thing. We're still damn proud of our players and their efforts; we have supported them, support them, will support them no matter what. (If you have been in Korea during a World Cup year you know that's not hyperbole.)

Last World Cup related photo will be red devil masks of my favorite cutie Lee Chung Yong and the brilliant Park Ji Sung.

And so life goes on.

World Cup 2010 - Promotion Mania

Support banner in front of the World Trade Center complex COEX

Bear with me. As long as Korea is still in this, I'm going to be talking about the World Cup. Since our final match of the first round is coming up with our team's future uncertain, I'm posting the remainder of my photos to be on the safe side.
Should we pass this round, I assure you there still would be endless things to post about, so even if you're not a football fan, especially if you're not a football fan, just bear with me. It's not as if I talk about actual football, anyway.

I think this is the only official mascot - i.e. non-Red Devil - promotion I've seen. Entry of COEX Mall from the metro station. Talking about the metro, there are a lot of promotions being done in the stations. The following ads featuring figure skating Olympic gold medalist Yuna Kim and the K-pop group Big Bang are plastered everywhere. In Red Devil attire, of course.

The Seoul Metro are also promoting the use of the trains as transportation to outdoor cheering locations on their bulletin boards.

World Cup related promotion has got to be the easiest thing ever, for you can link it to almost anything and everything. Like cosmetics. If you're going to cheer outside, you definitely need sunscreen. If you buy one, you get one free - we call those promotions "1+1".

You're going to make appointments, share your feelings about the match; the telecommunications companies are definitely going to join in the hoopla. KT is promoting a "national cheering campaign" and their official web site blasts a World Cup cheering song in the intro page.

Convenience stores have a variety of goods - promotion jackpot.

Fast-food joints offer special sets and packs, like a 1+1 shrimp burger promotion at Lotteria.

UNO is offering gifts with a roulette game:

Room service "cheering" set at the Park Hyatt includes balloon sticks, aka thunder sticks.

The most common promotional item is the t-shirt. I have no idea how the companies are going to deal with leftover stock, as the slogans change with every World Cup year. There are companies that have printed generic phrases on their t-shirts which I think is a smart option. Especially for the non-clothing related companies who just created shirts for the occasion, like character shop Dalki:

Many sportswear brands have high profile K-pop idols for their main models. Spris features 2PM:

SPAO feature Super Junior. They also have Girls' Generation (SNSD) but I only took a photo of the boys. Heh.

Basic House has Kim Hyun Joong of SS501 as their posterboy:

BSX has several big guns on their roster: Big Bang (who were in the promotions with Yuna, way above), heartthrob actor So Jisub, and hiphop guru Tiger JK. They wrapped their whole flagship store:

Then there are the brands who participate in the promotions, without spending ridiculous amounts of money on celebrity models:

I got my red t-shirt from peter & paul at the COEX mall:

And one of the funniest promotions I've seen: 50% off on red lingerie.

Plushies get in the mood. Quite hilarious, because Rilakkuma is a Japanese character.

The final match with Nigeria is up in a few hours. I'm thankful I work from home. Can't imagine how difficult it would be for the people who stay up to watch the match (which starts at 3:30 am) to go to work tomorrow. I predict there will be a lot of dozing off in meetings, although I'm quite sure it will be forgiven.

End of Winter, Start of Spring?

Lights at Gwanghwamun Plaza

People in the western world, what was the groundhog's verdict?

Is everyone in the northern hemisphere as sick of winter as I am? Odd, for winter was my favourite season as a kid. It still was when I was in uni as well, come to think of it. I loved strolling along the deserted city streets with my walkman blasting my music of the mo' (yes, I'm of that generation) and breathing in the crisp chill air.
I started dreading ole man winter when my circulation started not to be so cooperative. Durrr, as soon as the north winds saunter merrily down south into the peninsula, I can feel the cold seep into every single cell of my body, even those of which I'm not aware. In short, I frickin' freeze in the winter. (Thermal underwear is my best friend for practically half of the year.)

February 4th is "Ipchoon" (입춘), literally the 'start of spring', according to the lunar calendar. That's tomorrow. And it's still minus 10something degrees celsius here. SPRING? Really?
February is my least favorite month of the year. November is right up there as well but December makes up a lot for it with the holidays, whereas March doesn't really manage to cover the absolute blahness of February.
I think they made February short for a reason. A test of patience, this month is. If it were any longer I'm sure a lot of people, yours truly included, will just go bonkers at the tenacious dreariness of the non-dying winter.
(Obviously they stuck in Valentine's Day to spice the month up a bit but it being an exclusive holiday rather than an inclusive one - what are you supposed to do if you don't have a significant other? - it's not that effective.)

The Lunar New Year holidays have fallen in February this year so there is at least something to look forward to but I honestly can't wait until this month, or to be more exact, this winter to be over.

No more ranting. Let's talk happy. Bright lights are happy.
Posting photos that I never got around posting about, from the Seoul Light Festival to holiday lights in downtown.

Gwanghwamun Plaza at dusk. A far view of the installation of Nam June Paik's video art "Fractal Turtleship". It was placed in front of Admiral Yi Sun Shin's statue during the Light Festival, an apt spot, as the Admiral led his naval troops at the helm of the Turtleship.

Took a video clip from the outside through the glass; the inside was far too crowded to get a clear shot during the guided tour.

Back to Ipchoon. The tradition is to put calligraphy writings of good luck on the front door, the usual shortened version being Ipchoon Daegil (입춘대길) - "Great Fortune on the Start of Spring". Usually written in Chinese characters rather than Hanguel, you rarely see them now but you might glimpse them on the doors of traditional houses (hanok, 한옥) in less urban neighborhoods.

Photo from encyber.com