There are a few things you must give up living here as an American expat. Drive-thru Chick-fil-A, for example. And, generally, NFL football is one you need to give up on too, unless you have a very flexible job or an incurable insomnia that strikes in the wee hours of Monday mornings. As the "early" games kickoff here on Monday morning at 3AM and Faith Hill is crooning her "Sunday night" anthem as I'm in the office sipping my first weekday cup of coffee, I really haven't been able to watch anything more than internet recaps when I get home from work on Monday evenings.
This extreme time inconvenience, however, hasn't stopped me from trying to follow the proceedings on the gridiron this fall. In fact, I even in my infinite wisdom decided to join a fantasy football league this year with friends from business school, playing for the first time in many years. I had once played fantasy long ago, but got too emotionally wrapped up in it and obsessed over my players' stats every Sunday. I figured I could not possibly obsess over a team in Asia when I couldn't watch the games, though didn't consider that this lack of viewing time may actually impede my ability to know who the good players were...
Playoffs are different though -- the NFL actually plays sometimes on Saturday! And as my Green Bay Packers drew the Saturday night time slot in consecutive weeks, I actually had a chance to watch them play live Sunday morning in Korea! Courtesy of a projector and a Slingbox, a group of my colleagues and I have actually been able to watch some of the games here during the month of January.
Sadly, my Packers lost to a strong San Francisco 49ers team this past weekend, but I briefly relished the opportunity to sit back on a sofa, drink beer (although it was Cass), eat Doritos (which do sell in Korea) and obsess uselessly over my favorite football team like a true American!
Now back to having true cultural experiences of Korea... ^_^
P.S. I finished 7th in my fantasy league, out of 12 teams
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| More of a "wine and cheese" crowd this past Sunday |
This extreme time inconvenience, however, hasn't stopped me from trying to follow the proceedings on the gridiron this fall. In fact, I even in my infinite wisdom decided to join a fantasy football league this year with friends from business school, playing for the first time in many years. I had once played fantasy long ago, but got too emotionally wrapped up in it and obsessed over my players' stats every Sunday. I figured I could not possibly obsess over a team in Asia when I couldn't watch the games, though didn't consider that this lack of viewing time may actually impede my ability to know who the good players were...
Playoffs are different though -- the NFL actually plays sometimes on Saturday! And as my Green Bay Packers drew the Saturday night time slot in consecutive weeks, I actually had a chance to watch them play live Sunday morning in Korea! Courtesy of a projector and a Slingbox, a group of my colleagues and I have actually been able to watch some of the games here during the month of January.
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| That's me in the Aaron Rodgers jersey (photo courtesy John V.) |
Sadly, my Packers lost to a strong San Francisco 49ers team this past weekend, but I briefly relished the opportunity to sit back on a sofa, drink beer (although it was Cass), eat Doritos (which do sell in Korea) and obsess uselessly over my favorite football team like a true American!
Now back to having true cultural experiences of Korea... ^_^
P.S. I finished 7th in my fantasy league, out of 12 teams
That's some big screen you got there. At least you were still able to watch your favorite team in a game you want. Maybe we could follow each other on Bloglovin and/or GFC?
ReplyDeletePlease leave me a comment on my blog and I will follow you!
http://kstylick.blogspot.com
Im in Seoul right now. Any ideas where I could watch the saturday's game on sunday morning?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Good question Olivier! I actually have never watched an American football game live in a pub in Seoul, but your best bet would almost certainly be near Itaewon station. Try Hollywood Grill, Sam Ryan's, or Rocky Mountain Tavern.
DeleteMight be worth scouting out on Saturday afternoon as I don't know whether these places will actually be open on Sunday morning. Seoul is a 24-hour city but pubs do occasionally close for a few hours!
Good luck.
Hollywood Grill (123-33 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul): http://hiexpat.com/seoul-restaurants/hollywood-grill
Sam Ryan's (116-15 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul): http://samryans.com/
Rocky Mountain Tavern (736-21 Hannam-Dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul): http://www.rockymountaintavern.com/