korea fighting!

I love my neighborhood. I signed the summer lease for my bedroom in the Allston neighborhood of Boston sight unseen. As it just so happens, I live in a bit of a Korean district.

Hangeul is everywhere--there's half a dozen Korean restaurants, two Korean hair salons, a Korean grocery, and a Korean clinic and acupuncturist all on my block. Oh, and the neighborhood liquor store has soju. On the advice of my friend Eunjoo, I watched the Korea-Uruguay World Cup match last Saturday at Myung Dong 1st Ave down the block. It opened at 9 for the game and quickly filled up with Korea supporters--the Red Devils, as we call ourselves--with even more looking in from outside on the street.

Inside, the place is a great evocation of the Korean drinking scene--the grungy decor of your typical hof, complete with Christmas lights, serving up OB, Hite, anju, and street food fare. The 떡볶이 and 퇴김 that we ordered along with our 맥주 was perfect for the game, when my chopsticks weren't rendered useless by my hands shaking from the intensity of it all. It was a fantastic atmosphere, and a good substitute for being on the streets of Seoul.