So much for my light summer

We had our 'program development' meeting today and it has thrown up a lot more work than I had been expecting. From late-August until December we will be teaching DDE2 (Dynamic English 2), which will involve preparing students for either the TOEIC or TOEFL test. I'll be teaching TOEIC. I have done it before so it's no big deal but it throws up a couple of issues. Firstly, we have less than two hours a week from now until August 6th to put together a syllabus and teaching materials for 12 weeks of classes. Undoubtedly we'll go over that in our free time, which equates to unpaid overtime. Wonderful. Secondly, TOEIC is pretty dull to teach. Entertaining our students goes a long way to deciding if we are viewed as good/bad teachers in this job so it's going to take a lot of thought and creativity. I already spent a few hours researching online earlier. Even though I think that it's misguided to teach to a test like this, I'm also kind of looking forward to it.

Later in the day I had an unexpected dinner with Ji and some of her family. I've met her elder brother before but it was my first time to meet her cousin, aunt and grandmother. Of course I always feel bad when I can't communicate with them in Korean. Her aunt says I 'must' learn it in six months. I hope she isn't holding her breath because I've already spent two-and-a-half years living in Korea and I'm still terrible. I really must get back to studying it. I'll try to find a language exchange partner and hit the books for a bit before my MA starts up again in early-September.

I ended up missing Spain V Germany live but I watched a re-run earlier and it was a really tense, intriguing match. I think Spain deserved it but I hope they can find another gear before the final on Sunday night. Strangely enough, Holland are the only team to have gone unbeaten in the tournament. I'm not even going to try to call it. I was fairly convinced that Brazil were going to take the title and, if not, I thought it'd be Argentina. Holland have totally surprised me. I suppose Spain aren't really a major shock but the way in which they have navigated their way through the tournament couldn't have been predicted. Want my prediction? Really? Ok, for what it's worth I think it'll be:

Uruguay 1 Germany 3 on Saturday night

and

Holland 2 Spain 1 on Sunday night

Those are really just plucked out of the air. The longer this World Cup has gone on, the less sure I have been about any of the outcomes. Incidentally, the race is still on for the Golden Boot between Villa, Sneijder (both on 5 goals), Forlan and Klose (both on 4). That'll be interesting to keep an eye on. Otherwise I don't think any real football fans see much at stake in the 3rd/4th place play-off.

My birthday is coming up on Sunday and apparently Ji was trying to organise a bit of a get-together among my friends on Saturday night. I feel kind of bad about it but I asked her to cancel. I really don't like making a fuss about my birthday anymore. I mean, 28 is of no significance at all. I also worry that these things turn into a popularity test. Who can really be bothered going to all these parties? Most of the time people go out of some kind of sense of 'duty' as if it's an obligation. I don't want anyone to feel that way. Because I'm on pills for my knee, I won't even be able to have a drink. I think going out, not being able to have a drink and then going home as all my mates go out for a big night would be kind of depressing to be honest. I appreciate what Ji was trying to do and I feel bad that I'm being a grouch about it but I'm a little surprised that she didn't guess that it wasn't going to be my cup of tea. I'll be happy to stay in with her and give my knee some more much-needed rest.

I was going over songs tonight and came across a cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You' by Pink. It's a song that's close to my heart because I used to sing it with Furey when we were young, ambitious teenagers who really thought we were going to be rock stars. I don't know why I clicked on the link but I was pleasantly surprised. It's a tough, tough song to sing and she rocks it. I think I'm quick to disregard some musicians because of their image or the crappy songs they sing but there's no doubting that that girl has an incredible voice. Check it out for yourself.



A big shout out to Matt who told me how to get videos on here. I wouldn't have predicted that my first would have been Pink but there you go. It's official. My blogging habits are about as easy to call as the 2010 World Cup.

It's getting late and I have a little prep to do for my morning class so I'll sign off here. Thank you to those who have been writing the first ever comments on my blog. Sad and all as it is, I was really excited to see them!