gross.

It thunderstormed last night in Daegu for I'm pretty sure the first time since I've been here. I had my window open, because who doesn't love the sound of a thunderstorm. 20 minutes later, after the stormed had died down and I kept the window open simply for the breeze, I heard something. At first it sounded like someone pouring liquid out onto the street. But I quickly realized it was much more disgusting than that when I heard a clearly audible fart and some other sounds I'll leave to the imagination. Yes, I am pretty sure a human was not only peeing right outside my window (luckily I'm on the 2nd floor) but also defecating. I have now truly seen (heard) it all.

a great weekend

Everyone knows the World Cup started this weekend. South Korea played Greece yesterday, and up until last night I didn't have a clue how big a deal it is for ANY team to make it to the World Cup. But apparently it's a huge deal :)

I went to Duryu Park in Daegu to watch the game on a giant outdoor screen with some friends of mine. I honestly thought it'd be a small smattering of people, on blankets, watching the game. I had no idea that thousands of Korean fanatics would be littering the entire open area, smashed together, wearing light-up devil horns (yes I bought some of my own to support my 'local' team...) 3 of us weaseled our way into a tiny patch of grass, literally about 3' x 1', careful not to sit on any of the Koreans all around us. After a few moments of uncertainty about whether or not we'd get yelled at for sitting there, we were immediately at ease when the girl behind us invited us to share her mat with her and her boyfriend. Every single person watching this game outside, Korea being the complete underdogs against Greece, was a SUPERFAN. It was the most fun sporting event I have ever been to in my entire life. I'm not even a follower of soccer, but being there, in that atmosphere with cheering, chanting Koreans made me hope so badly that they would win. They scored 2 goals, both of which were amazing. After each goal was scored the entire crowd got to their feet, hugged their neighbor, did high-5s everywhere, and clanked their bottles of beer and soju together in jubilation. It was truly a unique experience that I am very thankful I got to be a part of. (Korea won, 2-0 against Greece... and let me tell you, Greece was playing DIRTY!)

I really wanted to watch the England/ America game also, but being on the other side of the world, it wasn't showing here until 3:30am! Needless to say I definitely did not stay up for it, and had to hear today how that game panned out.

After the game we all got dinner together downtown, where the streets were just lined with people celebrating EVERYWHERE. Everyone was yelling "De han min guk" which is the long version of 'Hanguk' (Korea). So we were yelling it down the streets too, even though we're obviously not Korean! It was such a cool experience. Everyone was so happy and united, as sports commonly brings people together, if only for a few weeks every 4 years!

After the game and dinner downtown I took a cab home. Everything was normal, just a regular old cab ride home, until I was less than a block away from my apartment. I'm about to tell the cab driver to stop so I can get out, but just before I can I see a man lying literally in the MIDDLE of the street. I yelled "YOGI-YO!" (Here, please) This man needs help!!!! I won't lie, I thought he was dead. The cab driver looked around nervously, took my money quickly out of my hand (not even the full amount of the fare, he just wanted to get out of there, and FAST). I ran out of the cab and over to the man, whom I was uncertain as to whether he was alive or dead. After yelling at him a few times, and trying to shake him awake, I noticed he was actually breathing. For some reason I have a fear that I am going to come across a dead body one day, I have no idea why. But I thought this was that day. After a few minutes a man came by on a scooter. I flagged him down, and it was evident what I needed help with. After some pantomiming back and forth, we agreed the best thing to do first would be to extract him from the center of the road. I got the man's feet, and scooter man grabbed him under the arms. He wasn't heavy, but it was extremely awkward to lift him, and I simply didn't have the strength to even get him up on the curb onto the sidewalk. So we ended up basically dragging him to the side of the road, next to the curb, between cars. We patted his pockets looking for a cell phone so we could call someone, but his phone had a password lock on it, so we couldn't use it. Scooter man decided he would call the police and let them deal with it, and I wasn't about to just leave this man there with no one to help him, so I stuck around. Eventually the cops showed up, and they sat the poor man up, and pounded on his back until he indicated that he is, in fact, alive. The cops were just making jokes about it, saying he drank too much soju (Korean rice wine). He could have had a concussion (from falling in the street) or alcohol poisoning! Or both! Who knows, but no one took it seriously but me, and they just let him stumble away after he finally came to. Then the cops got back into their car, waved goodbye to me, and went on their way. I was appalled by the acceptance of this severe public intoxication. If I didn't come home right when I did, any car could have run him over. It was scary and disturbing :(

Today I took part in a scavenger hunt, which definitely deserves its own blog. I want to get a copy of the ridiculous list of 100 tasks we had to complete so everyone can get a full understanding of a scavenger hunt in Korea. This weekend, with the exception of the scariness of last night's possible dead man, was an extremely fun one.

And just cutting to the chase, my team won the scavenger hunt :) (which means we won a free night in a suite in the nicest hotel in Daegu!) YAY! I promise to post soon full details of the hunt. But right now I'm headed to bed!