I am hoping to put here gobs of information about the countries themselves, travel information, and all the other stuff that isn't team-fangroup-info related.
I am going to start with Korea, since that is where the US is going to be playing. I may need some help with the Japan info. For now, check out the JAWOK 's page (Japan's Organizing Committee).
VENUES -- Check out the venues via FIFA here or through ESPN's Soccernet.com's Stadium Guide .
Also, for a quick reference as to how to say the different nations in each language, see here for the names in Korean and the names in Japanese .
The flag of the Republic of Korea has sometimes been called The Philosophical
Flag. For more, click here
.
KOWOK (the Korean Organizing Committee for the World Cup) page has lots of tourism information.
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Hangul is the Korean script.
Hangul for soccer is chuk-kku.
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Hangul for beer is maek-jju.
Hangul for beer hall is pi-eo-hol.
Hangul for liquor is sul.
Hangul for Scotch is seu-k'a-ch'i.
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The martial art of Korea is Tae Kwon Do. In Dallas, I recommend
Kim's College of Tae Kwon Do
, founded in 1978 by Grand Master Kwan Kyun Kim.
South Korea held the 1988 Summer Olympics.
In hangul, the USA is called Mi-guk.
I highly recommend SamulNori, a percussion/dance performance of Korean folk art. Literally meaning "to play four things," it is a wonderful expression of percussion -- in varied forms, times and meters. A someone who plays in the Inferno Sambatistas, seeing them recently in Dallas was a wonderful experience. For more, see here .
For more, see Korean Insights , a website designed to share the Korean Culture and Art on the internet.
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In Korean (actually Chinese, not hangul), the word for the number four sounds
like the word for death, 'sa,' and is therefore an unlucky number. Don't expect
to be on the fourth floor of a hotel or a hospital.
Lonely Planet calls the South Korean flag The Philosophical Flag.
According to the book, "Korea," on page 21, Lonely Planet states that:
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The South Koreans may well have the most philosophical flag in the world.
The white background represents both Confucian 'purity' and the buddhist concept
of 'emptiness.'
In the center lies a taegeuk, the Taoist symbol of balance or harmony between opposites. . . . The Korean version is more colourful and divided horizontally, with the top, red half representing yang (heaven, day, male, heat, active, construction, etc.) The blue lower half represents eum (earth, night, female, cold, passive, destruction, etc.) These twin cosmic forces are cycled perpetually.
The three lines at each corner, known as trigrams, were borrowed from the most important ancient book of Chinese thought, the 'Classic of Changes.' The three unbroken bars symbolize heaven-creative, while the opposite three broken bars symbolize earth-receptive. The trigram in the upper right corner is water-treacherous danger, and in the opposite lies fire-loyal love.
Something similar to this flag was created in 1882 by a team
of reformist envoys to Japan, as they realised they had no modern standard
to represent Korea as an equal among nations. The current design was
adopted by the Shanghai-based government-in-exile during the Japanese occupation
of 1910-1945 and became standardised as the national flag of the Republic
of Korea in 1948. It is called the Taegeukgi.
Back
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Tipping is not expected except for at the barber or hair salon.
Blowing your nose in public is considered rude. Really rude. As in, don't do it.
The Korean Memorial Day (June 6) will be celebrated while the World Cup is being held.
Apparently there is one rule that is very clear -- the one who does the inviting for a meal does the paying. Unlike in the West where you can get into open, loud and sometimes angry-sounding arguments about who pays, this is INCREDIBLY inappropriate behavior in Korea -- to the point that the person who did the inviting may not be able to visit that establishment again.
Oh, and bring business cards. According to Lonely Planet, if a Korean doesn't know where you fit into the system, he may basically ignore you. Obviously, this is unlikely -- but according to the book, if you run into that problem, introduce yourself with your business card. Lonely Planet (and other references regarding Korea I have found) suggest that you get some business cards in English on one side and hangul on the other. While most Koreans have studied English, better safe than sorry.
Here are how you say some of the competing countries in Han-gung-mal.
Some are very similar to how you say them in English, and some (like England
-- Yeong-guk) aren't.
| Argentina -- A-reu-hen-t'i-na | Ireland -- A-il-laen-deu | Spain -- Seu-p'e-in |
| Belgium -- Pel-gi-e | Italy -- I-t'ae-ri | Sweden -- Seu-we-den |
| Brazil -- Peu-ra-jil | Japan -- Il'bon | Turkey -- T'eo-eo-k'i |
| China -- Chung-gong | Mexico -- Mek-shi-k'o | United States -- Mi-guk |
| Denmark -- Den-ma-k'eu | Poland -- P'ol-lan-deu | Uruguay -- U-ru-gwa-i |
| Ecuador -- E-k'wa-do-reu | Portugal -- P'o-reu-t'u-gal | |
| England -- Yeong-guk | Saudi Arabia -- Sa-u-di a-ra-bi-a | |
| France -- Pul-lan-seo or P'eu-rang-seu | South Africa -- Nam a-p'eu-re-k'a kong-hwa-guk | |
