Due to the time difference, the Superbowl was actually playing on Monday morning in Korea. Mark and I decided to trek over to the more Americanized area of Korea (Itaewon) in hopes of catching the game on the big screen.
We found a bar online that opened early for the game called 3 Alley Pub. It seemed to be owned by an American who married a Korean lady.
It was kind of weird walking into the bar because it was filled with Americans. I haven't seem this many people Caucasian people gathered in one place since we left DC's airport!
I just snapped a couple pictures of the bar to give you an idea of what it was like. Pretty much set up exactly like a hoosier American bar (complete with the hoosiers).
Sadly, though most people in the Bar seemed to be rooting for Arizona, Kurt Warner and the Cardinals did not win. At least it was a close and exciting game.
I was a little disappointed that the station seemed to be a military station and we didn't see any of the much discussed Superbowl commercials. Instead I saw a lot of PSA's about volunteering while in the military and Obama speeches thanking everyone for their hard work and dedication. I guess I will have to catch the commercials online. Any particularly good ones I should make sure to find?
Oh, one last story that must be told after all of Mark's crazy cultural stories. After the game, Mark and I kind of had a funny (albeit slightly pathetic) experience. An older man sitting at the bar seemed to have had 5 or 6 beers too many. Well, as we were walking out, he asked Mark, "Is she your girlfriend.... or wife?" I spoke up (in what I think is pretty darn good English) and said, "I'm his wife." He then pointed to me and said extremely slowly and loudly "IS THIS A NEW EXPERIENCE FOR YOU?" We replied that we're from St. Louis and are Kurt Warner fans.... Blank stare in return.... At that point we tried to explain that I'm adopted and actually FROM America, but to no avail. We then decided to just give up and walked out.
5 comments:
I love that Kim is the one who got screamed at this time. What a role reversal! And I wasn't really paying attention to the SB commercials but I know some people thought they weren't that great this year. Glad you guys had a fun weekend!
This is a great blog. I'm really enjoying it. Kim, do Korean bars not look like American hoosier bars, minus the hoosiers? Maybe I missed the "Korean bar" post? *smiles*
I didn't hear anyone talking about any particularly good commercials this year. The ones I saw were pretty dumb - even the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale ones - you could tell they were just trying to follow up on the success of previous Clydesdale commercials.
This link has most of the commercials - assuming you can access this link without a subscription.
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-SUPERBOWL09.html
Very funny. I'm really enjoying reading about your adventures, and hope that once you guys start your "real" job, the posts keep coming.
A question popped into my mind when reading this, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but Kim, what do your birth father and brother call you? Is it Kim or your Korean name (and I'd spell it but don't want to butcher it and offend you.)
Just curious! Be sure to soak up lots of stuff, because next year (or whenever you get back) I plan on using you two as my guest speakers for a couple weeks on Asian culture while I take a nap in the back of the classroom!
Kay: Bars in Korea are much different than American bars. They are set up more like restaurants (though there are definitely hoosier-like characters here too). Public drunkenness is socially acceptable and there are some who take full advantage of that.
Erin: My brother calls me Kimberly to my face, but they call me Han Won (my Korean name) when they talk about me. And I'll let you know what we'll charge for guest appearances. ;)
Kim -- best super bowl commercial ever (from e-Trade). Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5431p7gxWOM
:) btw, love your new haircut!
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