Lloyd Thomas and William Chadwick are currently traveling Korea and Japan with tickets to seven World Cup matches. The two British college students, who say they never missed a game at home, visited Japan first, in early June, to watch England's victorious showdown with the now-eliminated Argentina, and flew into Seoul to see other teams play.

Japanese football fan Tesuji Maeda came to Korea to watch the World Cup matches in Korea because it is cheaper, while Australian Smaltin Deville is spending his precious three-week vacation in Korea for the Cup. They are just some of the many diehard soccer fans staying in The Nest, a boarding house in Jongno, and eight of them gathered in front of TV to watch the Cameroon-Germany match on June 11.

The talk never ended as far as the subject is soccer, each rating teams playing in the group round. Thomas, who came back from the historical Denmark-France match in Incheon earlier, said he was sad the defending champion France failed to advance any further. The three-story boarding house is currently hosting 20 patrons, half of whom are backpackers visiting the country for the World Cup. A six-person- bedroom is priced W18,000 per night per person.

Shouting "Dae-Han-Min-Guk" with perfect pronunciation, four Englishmen boast that they were out in Gwanghwamun, where an enormous cheering crowd gathered for June 10s Korea-USA match to support Team Korea, wearing signature red tee shirts. When Belgian Paulin Berhast asked what it means, William immediately threw the right answer, "the Republic of Korea!" "Korean people are much more passionate than the co-hosting Japanese," continued Chadwick, "it's amazing how Korean people don't pick a fight on supporters of the opponent cheering right next to them," they said.

Thomas suddenly started a controversial discussion as he said he had eaten dog meat the day before. As the others wondered how it tasted, he simply said it is similar to lamb but better. Now the focus moved on to food, while most praised Korea’s traditional grilled ribs and affordable price for quality dishes, Kevin Jones, an Englishman who is currently dee-jaying in Denmark, preferred chicken skewers sold from street carts.

So what do they find less than perfect? A couple of them mentioned the communication problem, but Jones immediately noted that whenever he is looking at a map, people come and offer help. Maeda said he is impressed that volunteer interpreters are offering English, Japanese, Chinese, French and Portuguese services. Sam finds that Korean-only subway route map discourages foreigners from taking the convenient train system.

Mary Marla, an American who is visiting Seoul for a business trip, was awoken by the discussion, but didn't seem too bothered by the soccer craze. "I am not interested in soccer that much, but am having a lot of fun hanging out with soccer fans."

As the evening wears on, the party is heading to bars in the Hongik University neighborhood, one of the Seoul's popular nightspots. "I find Korea's night more attractive. There are so many drunks on the street, but it doesn't matter when you are drunk yourself," said Jones.

Nearby the Guesthouse Korea and Daewon Inn in Gwanghwamun are also filled with World Cup tourists, while nearly 250 budget tourists camp in the Nanji campsite in Hangang Park near Sangam Stadium. (Lee Kyu-hyeon, while@chosun.com )