I wrapped up today's temp job early (12:30) so that I could hustle over to the disgusting Cheers Bar on George Street to watch the final game of the World Baseball Classic, which was between Korea and Japan. (Think of them as the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees of baseball.) I made it in time for the bottom of the first inning and watched the whole thing (over four hours, I think) while nursing two beers and a grilled chicken burger.
All of my alleged friends had uncorroborated alibis as to why they couldn't make it, so I watched it alone. Alone with a lot of Asians. For a baseball game showing in the middle of the day, a surprising number of people showed up to watch it, and every single one of them was Asian. Occasionally a white person would wander in, look confused, watch one pitch, and then wander back out shaking his head.
(also pictured: more Asians)
It was a great game, but it ended in tragedy for my beloved Korean baseball team with Ichiro bringing home the winning run for the Japanese in extra innings. The section of the pub that I was sitting in was nearly 100% Korean, so that was nice. They would applaud when the team got hits, etc. All in all they were a bit too sedate, though, considering this was the final of the tournament and it was against their most hated rival. Red Sox fans watching a meaningless game against the Kansas City Royals in April are usually more excited.
The Japanese viewers mostly stayed in the pub's upstairs section. You can see a few of them pictured here. They were even less vocal than the Korean fans, though they were more mean-spirited. There was a disconcerting amount of applause coming from upstairs after the Korean shortstop appeared to be concussed as a result of a head-first slide into second. (Well, I guess I cheered in I think it was 2006 when Matsui broke his wrist, so the Japanese and I are now even.)
Anyway, that is all. Korea lost again, but at least they (we!) made it to the finals this year. The next World Baseball Classic is in 2013, and I am psyched.
I haven't been updating much because not much is happening. My daily life here no longer feels dramatic, it just feels like home. I've still yet to have a single bad day in 2009. I think that's about an 83 day streak of days that I've enjoyed this year, and I'm hoping to keep the chain going. Good days and bad days are so subjective, I find that just staying conscious about appreciating the joy of my own pleasant company keeps me going.
There's this great line in the (hilarious) Amanda Palmer song
"Oasis" (link goes to the video) that goes "Oh I've had better days/but I don't care," and it's just kind of a throwaway line, but I think it's so wise. Some days are better and some days are worse, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy them all.
I mean, unless your family just got run over by a cement mixer or something.
