On normal days, that department head still regularly goes to work at 8 am, meets, signs papers, and answers emails. That office worker still takes her children to school, stops by the afternoon market, and prepares family meals. The technology motorbike taxi driver still drives every ride under the summer sun. Each person lives in a familiar, regular and somewhat monotonous orbit.
But when the World Cup comes, suddenly, those people own a different life. This year, because our country's time zone differs from the host country by nearly half the world, the matches have different time frames, but many top matches still start after midnight.
The man over 50 years old is still excitedly debating tactical formations like a first-year student. A young girl who has never been to Brazil can cry because the samba team is eliminated. An apartment security guard quietly carries a small radio to listen to comments during the night shift.
It's strange, the World Cup makes people live another life without having to leave their current life.
People often joke that the World Cup season is the season of insomnia. But perhaps, it is also the season of an art of living that balances responsibility and passion.
You can stay up until 2 am to watch a semi-final and then wake up at 6 am to take your child to school. Someone can shout hoarsely to cheer for their favorite team the night before, but the next morning they still have time to submit reports on time.
It is a cultural habit to know how to make room for joy without turning away from responsibility. People do not only live to work, but cannot also live to enjoy.
The World Cup is not just about winning or losing on the pitch.
It is an opportunity for middle-aged men to reminisce about their youth. It is an opportunity for fathers and sons to have another topic to stay up together overnight. It is the reason for old friends after many years of not seeing each other to still text each other: "Watch tonight?". It is a moment for a sleeping city to still know that somewhere there are millions of other people awake, together excited, together hopeful, together regretful.
In the modern world, where people constantly talk about productivity, efficiency and pressure of success, perhaps many people underestimate the value of the "other lives" that people need to have.
And that is the most beautiful thing about the World Cup, when every 4 years, it reminds us that, besides daily life with bills, work and responsibilities, each of us deserves a different life, where we can be excited, fascinated, rejuvenated and live our lives to the fullest with joy.
