Now, I don't know if this is true but...

Did you guys hear the rumor that North Korea's "fans" at the World Cup are well... not North Koreans...?

There are rumors circulating that, due to North Korea's president, Kim Jong IL's laws permitting most people from leaving the country in most situations, they raffled off over 1,000 tickets to Chinese citizens. Now, like I said, this is just a rumor but, if it is true, my question is... why are they even participating? It's obvious dictator Jong doesn't want his country to be part of the rest of the world... why would they want to be part of the World Cup? This is like a really mean, unlikable kid running for class president.... even if he would do a good job... nobody's really going to root for him. And just like those really mean, unlikable kids, they have one friend who acts as their manager and encourages their bad behaviour who is,in this case, China.

I seriously love the World Cup. I love the energy, the excitement, the game (of course) but I really love the passion everyone feels when they are rooting for their country and I think it would be insane if North Korea's people could not be present to root for their country like everyone else. I have been planning on visiting South Korea within the next couple years, and it's amazing to think that so many of the people that live there were just lucky to be born on the "right side of the fence".

After hearing about this, I decided to look up what one has to do to travel to North Korea. According to the US State Department, you may only go to North Korea as a tourist and you must be in a group. You cannot stay and work. You cannot get a visa to visit North Korea in the US, you have to obtain the visa in Bejing and basically, if you need help, ask Sweden... haha... no, seriously. Maybe it's just part of my mischievous personality, but the fact that I am not particularly wanted in North Korea really makes me want to go. Maybe divvy out a few hugs and show them we're really not all that bad. And what really bothers me is I know the majority of the people in North Korea probably do not think ill of us at all, but as it is for all countries, the people speaking the loudest are heard most often and, in North Korea's case, it is unfortunate who is speaking for them.

Well, maybe one day I will dust off my fanny pack, join a tourist group headed north of the DMZ and see what this mysterious place is all about.