USA vs. Korea Olympic Baseball Game

So there I was, finishing up my first class of the day, encouraging my students to practice conversational English by telling me their plans for the night. Several of the students mentioned that they planned to watch the Korea Olympic baseball team on television. "Who are they playing?" I asked. When they informed me that Korea was playing USA I gathered up some friends and we decided to watch the game at a nearby sports bar. We entered the bar in the 5th inning and the US was down 3-1. There were several tables full of Korean businessmen, still wearing dress-shirts and ties, who clearly dashed to the bar right after work to watch the big game. Although it was clear that the Korean spectators were quite interested in the game, they were doing a lot more passive spectating than active cheering. We decided to infuse the bar with a little energy. We began cheering like a bunch of American baseball fanatics over even the simplist of plays, and we stood up and sang "Take me out to the ballgame during the 7th inning stretch. Our plan worked to perfection. Before we knew it, the bar was packed full of Korean men and women who were on the edge of their seats, celebrating every Korean success and groaning over every failure. The US rallied late in the game to take an 8-7 lead into the bottom of the 9th. With two outs in the inning Korea dealt the final blow to win the game in dramatic fashion. Everyone in the bar (except us of course) went nuts! They sang several chants and congratulated us on a game well-played. And, of course, they bought us drinks. To top off the night, a Korean opera singer happened to be sitting a few tables away from us. In his excitement over the Olympic victory, he stood up, made some announcement in Korean to the entire bar and proceeded to sing a Pavorotti-esk opera song at full volume. It was awesome! Life here is just a little different.