Soccer

Saturday afternoon I got the chance to play an organized sport for the first time since being in Korea- Soccer. If one of the Koreans I was playing with saw this post, the word "soccer" would make them upset. I sent an email saying that I had played "soccer" in high school and got a reply asking me not to use the word again, as the Koreans (like the rest of the world) refer to the sport as "football."

I went to the Eunamm High School football fields to play a friendly afternoon scrimmage with my Kotra co-workers. Kotra has an official team called "Kotra FC." When I arrived at the fields, many members of Kotra FC were there, along with a batch of uniforms that were modeled after the uniforms used by England in the world cup. They were by far the nicest uniform I've ever worn, and when I went to change, I felt like I was getting ready to play in the pros.

We went out onto the field and played several 15 minute games of 8 on 8 football. The the blistering heat reminded me of playing back in Georgia. I had a lot of fun, I was put in at forward because of my speed. I got a few good shots off, but never managed to score. Still, I played well and had assists on both of the goals that my team did score.

Because I played well, Kotra wants me to play forward for them in their next match on October 1st. Kotra is in a Southeast Asian tournament and has made it to the quarterfinals. The October match is against Japan's team. It is hard to overstate the level of rivalry Korea feels towards Japan, so the match is extremely important. My coworkers seem to have put a good bit of faith in me. It's rather bizarre that I've gone from a HS Varsity bench warmer to the big hope of my fellow co-workers in a coming match against Japan. I will certainly be playing hard come October. In the meantime, I need to get in shape, my legs still feel like they've been pumped full of led two days after playing the scrimmage.