Congratulations to Costa Rica!

Here's a little shout out to my student M and his Costa Rican heritage:  congratulations on the Costa Rican team's historic performance at the World Cup!

The valiant Central American nation's football team thrilled its fans when it reached its first World Cup quarter final match with European powerhouse the Netherlands.

I caught the first half of the scoreless draw last night but fell asleep and missed the disappointing penalty shoot-out at the end.

Holland out-shot the Ticos 4-3 to end Costa Rican hopes, but it was a wild ride just same. . .


http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jul/04/world-cup-2014-five-things-costa-rica

World Cup Fever

From his sister's home in Germany, Stefan will be able to watch the Fifa World Cup final group G match between powerful Germany versus up and coming United States as both teams would appear to make it to the next round of 16.

In their first group match, the U.S. beat Ghana in a vengeance match as payback for the latter's rousting of the Americans at the 2010 event in South Africa, and the Americans came very close to besting Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal side last Monday (Tuesday morning at 5.00 a.m. Thai time).

I was able to watch most of that match while readying myself for a visa run to the Thai-Burmese border.   The American side at first were unable to answer the early goal by Portugal's Nani as the match broke for halftime.  But American  midfielder Jermaine Jones evened things up with a goal in the 64th minute.

In the 84th minute, forward Clint Dempsey put the U.S. ahead with a beautiful goal that had me screaming at my TV at 6.40 a.m.  I thought, all you guys have to do is hold on for this victory!

Unfortunately, I was screaming again 11 minutes later when, in the 90th minute plus 5 minutes injury time, Silvester Varela evened the score 2-2, barely a minute before the referee whistled the match to a close.  It was quite a disappointing end to a match that featured a very strong American team.

There have been surprises galore in this year's World Cup finals as some of the "beautiful game's" biggest contenders have been eliminated from the tournament, including former world champions Spain, Italy's famed Azzuri, and now Portugal as well.

Poor England, a perpetual also-ran since it won the World Cup final it hosted in 1966, was shut out of the final 16 with a miserable draw and two losses in group D.

Meanwhile, some of the "minnows" of the sport have delivered major happiness to their supporters with their stunning upsets and ferociously determined play.  These teams include Costa Rica at the top of group D, Chile second in group B,  Algeria also in second in group H, and Greece in second in group C.

Colombian fans are thrilled to see their team topping group C with their best World Cup performance in history.

And Uruguay surprised some with their second place in group D as they eliminated Italy in their final group match.  Unfortunately the celebration was marred by Luis Suarez's biting of Giorgio Chiellini's left shoulder.  It was the third biting incident in Suarez's checkered career, and Fifa has banned him for four months which means he will miss Uruguay's next nine games.

All this--the thrilling matches, the heartbreak, the controversy--is personally reminiscent of the
2010 World Cup which I was able to watch during my seven week tour of Central America in June and July of that year.

And I am reminded also of my experience in 1994 when the United States hosted the World Cup for the first time.

At that time I was living and working in Bangkok, and often I would stay up late--at times until 3.00 or 5.00 a.m.--and go out to watch the matches at the Malaysia Hotel, near my room in the Soi Ngam Dupli neighborhood.

I discovered then that I enjoy watching this level of "soccer" play, even though I was never a huge sports fan.  There is something really compelling about the World Cup.  It's similar to the excitement generated by the Olympics, but I think it's more exciting than the Olympics, and I'm not sure I can explain why.

In 1994 I was proud, too, to see the U.S. make such a good international impression with its outstanding hosting of the event.  That year, the world famous Brazilians came out on top against Roberto Baggio's Italy in an overtime penalty shootout.

This year, the Brazilians are the hosts and they are also the favorites to win their sixth World Cup.

I'm just thrilled to see the U.S. make the top 16 with Germany in their group G.  Can the Americans advance to the next round?

Junta Ends Curfew Just As Niece Arrives for a Visit

Bangkok's military rulers earlier this week eased curfew restrictions in several provinces, including Mae Hong Son, but left the midnight-4 a.m. restriction in the capital, in Chiangmai, and several other areas.

However, in a surprise move, the junta finally scrapped the curfew in all remaining areas effective last night (Friday June 13).

The move comes just in time for the second day of Fifa's World Cup in Brazil.  Thais are pretty crazy for football and will watch as many broadcast matches as possible, but many of the live broadcasts will be late at night.  Last night there were three matches at 10 p.m., 1 a.m., and 4 a.m.

Businesses with big screen HD and plenty of food and drink are expected, as usual, to cash in on the biggest sports event in the world apart from the Olympics.

While the curfew hasn't really cramped my own earlier-to-bed-at-this-age lifestyle, most Thais and farang are sure to welcome the news.  This morning I overheard some Thais talking about how they'd gone out partying in the wee hours.  In fact, they were only just returning home, at 10.30 a.m., to get some sleep.

Meanwhile, I had just slept through the entire canceled curfew following a somewhat difficult motorbike journey yesterday from Pai to Chiangmai.  While I made excellent time in the first hour of my trip, once I passed the provincial border, I started getting hit by intermittent rain.  In fact, the rain forced me to stop half a dozen times in the last 80 km (50 miles) of the trip.  It took me about five hours to cover the entire 80 mile journey.

So I was fairly pleased to be back in Chiangmai today, and thrilled to find out that my Thai "niece" Pepo, daughter of my friend Marc, has arrived for a three-day weekend with her family.  Pepo looks great and seems very happy and content with life.  She was bubbling with enthusiasm about things in general, and she filled me a bit about her PR job with the Bangkok film company.

Her entry level salary is okay, but she also gets paid for overtime.  The catch, however, is that she has to put in a lot of overtime.  In fact, it seems as if she's expected to put in 16 hour days--everyday.

On the bright side her weekends are free, and she has friends to hang out with as she begins to settle into the work life routine.

This morning I ate northern style food (with sticky rice) with Pepo and her sister Miriam.  This kind of food isn't for everybody (for many farang it involves acquiring a taste), but for northern Thais it is an integral part of their culture and home life.

I asked Pepo if she misses northern food in Bangkok.  "For sure!" she said, adding that she's far too busy with work to seek out the cuisine in the capital.

Zo! Making Friends With Bia Hoi

In an effort to shake this nasty jet lag I force myself from air-conditioned comfort last evening to take my first walk around Hanoi's Old Quarter.  About eight blocks from my hotel is the small Hoan Kiem Lake with a beautiful park surrounding it.  This is a pleasant place to observe from a slight distance the early Saturday night traffic of 100cc motorbikes, taxis, and cars in the area.  And on the lakeside promenade are couples and families out to escape the cramped streets of this bustling neighborhood.

Within ten minutes I am approached by a young man who wants to practice his English.  Phuong is 22 years old and recently achieved his degree in automotive technology from Hanoi University.  He is seeking a job in the branch office of a Japanese company which sells spark plugs to local automobile factories all over Southeast Asia.  His job will require some knowledge of both Japanese (he studied it for a year) and English, which he doesn't know very well having studied it for only two months.

Nonetheless we have no problem understanding each other as I pretend to be the company's human resource manager interviewing him for the job.  As far as I'm concerned, this charming fellow is hired!

Soon we are joined by his lifelong friend, Viet ("as in Viet Nam?" I ask.  "Yes!"), who also has his degree from Hanoi University.  They are looking forward to tonight's European Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid (Real will end up creaming Atletico 4-1).

They invite me for a beer, and soon we are seated streetside at a typical bia hoi joint.  Bia hoi is akin to microbrew which I explain to my new friends.  I'm jotting down notes of our conversation and we use my notebook to translate for each other.  Both Phuong and Viet come from the village of Te Xuyen which is about 10 miles from where we sit.  The beer arrives in glasses and is accompanied by boiled peanuts, giant sesame crackers (banh da), and hot sauce for dipping.

"Zo!"  is Vietnamese for "Cheers", "Kampai", Chok Dii" and so forth.  This microbrew is excellent.

We trade email addresses and Phuong whips out his smartphone so I can direct him to some of my music online.  Now we are talking about our families.

I tell the guys that my uncle was in the U.S. Army in Hue in the mid-'60s and that he advised me to take photos of women in ao dai. But after 24 hours here I have yet to see anyone in this lovely local dress.

"Is only for special occasion now" they explain to me.  Oh well. . .

We agree to stay in touch so we can get together again when I return to Hanoi in early July.