i woke up at 6:30a monday morning in anticipation of watching this year's super bowl, which was being played two hours later at 6:30p local time in jacksonville, florida. i've been a super bowl enthusiast since i was nine years old, the first one i ever watched was in 1988. this one was particularly exciting since the philadelphia eagles, my hometown team, were making their first appearance there since 1980. i've never been an eagles fan (i cheer for the dallas cowboys), but my father and most of my friends and family are die-hard. so, for their sake, i was rooting for the eagles to finally win a super bowl.

i called home and got a chance to talk to my dad, who was giddy and sounded like a kid on christmas. to say he was excited would be an understatement. we only got to chat for a minute before i had to get ready to go.

i woke up natalie and adam fifteen minutes before we were supposed to go, and by 7:30a we were out the door. normally, of course we'd have to be at work by 9:30a, but we totally lucked out since the chinese new year is this week we're off until friday. we hopped in a taxi and headed out to itaewon, which we figured would have the game on somewhere since there are so many americans there.

the first place we went to was already to crowded, but luckily adam knew of another place nearby, and after we found it to be open and not to crowded. they were also serving breakfast, which was great.

so, we ended up drinking beer, eating breakfast, and watching the super bowl at 8:30a on a monday morning. it was great. a little while after half time, a korean guy from work named jerry joined us. he's moving to minnesota for college in about a week, so we were trying to get him up to speed on the rules. of course it's kinda hard to catch on to, but i think he basically got the idea, he seemed to enjoy it.

as everyone probably knows by now, the eagles came up short, and the patriots won their third title in four years.

i won't get into the specifics of the game, but i will say that i have the utmost compassion for eagles fans everywhere. like i said, i'm not even a fan of them, but the few times i've rooted for them, it's always been disappointing and frustrating. i can't imagine what it must be like to always be pulling for them and have them manage to flub it up. in the end, the better team won, but the eagles could have won. the opportunities were there, but they simply made too many key mistakes and let those chances slip through their fingers.

well, i suppose there's always next year. just getting to the super bowl is a great accomplishment, but in some ways it's more disappointing to get there and come up short. i'd like to say sorry to everyone back home who was disappointed with the result.

now it's time to start look forward to next season, and i can get back to rooting for the cowboys!