K-League All Stars V FC Barcelona

Well I guess it could have been predicted that this would have been a drab enough affair and that would have been spot on. Although the final score was 5-2 (to Barcelona), don't be fooled into thinking that it was anywhere near a gripping affair. In fairness, the first half wasn't bad. The highlight was a 15-minute cameo from Messi during which he score twice. There had been a lot of aggro behind the scenes regarding whether or not he'd play. Tickets started at W78,000 (€50) so people expected to see him, especially considering that NONE of the Spanish World Cup winners were brought on the trip. As I mentioned previously, we got out tickets for free (and damned good seats they were too) but if I had paid for them, I would have felt pretty robbed. I think we all would have. It's probably not an argument to scrap these kinds of friendlies, but it's certainly a reminder to keep our expectations in check. I also hope that they scrap this 'K-League All Stars' idea. They played like strangers, because they were! It might be a spectacle if it's the best of the K-League versus the best of the J-League (as has happened in the past) but I'm confident that a club like FC Seoul would have had greater incentive to impress than a collection of players together for the first and only time. Manchester United only narrowly defeated FC Seoul 3-2 in a pre-season fixture last season. All round, it was a poorly organised and ill-considered event. Certainly not the advertisement for the K-League that I was hoping for.

Nonetheless, it was a good night out with good friends and I guess that's what it's all about. I'm thinking of going down to Jeonju to watch first-placed FC Seoul take on second-placed (and reigning Champions) Jeonbuk Motors on Sunday night at 8pm. I'm off on three weeks holidays now so I could just stay down on Sunday night and have a bit of a look around for a day or two. The fact that the game is on TV may prove a disincentive to travel. Before that I have a birthday dinner tonight and a leaving do tomorrow. There are a lot of leaving dos these days because a lot of people start new jobs in September (March being the other busy season). It's strange when a good portion of the people you spend a lot of time with just suddenly disappear from your everyday life, but I think I'm used to it by now. On this occasion one of the evacuees is my best friend, the person who convinced me to move to Korea in the first place. That will obviously leave a big hole. Still, you are always meeting new people in a place like this so you're never on your own or anything like that. I know that a lot of the people who are leaving will remain friends far into the future and I'm confident I'll see them again. It will definitely be strange though...

I finished reading 'The 158-pound Marriage' by John Irving earlier in the week. 'The World According to Garp' (by the same author) is one of my favourite books and the two share a lot of features. Irving seems to favour writing about writers and often includes stories within stories. This book also touches on issues of sexuality, marriage and the intricacies of human relationships. The fact that it only took me a couple of days to read speaks volumes. The characters are strong (although some are stronger than others) and the storyline is rich and unpredictable although it plods along at times. My main difficulty was in having conflicting feelings about who I was intended to support/identify with throughout, but that may have been the intention. Although it's not as good as the other two Irving books I've read (the third being 'A Widow for one Year') I would recommend that you take a look, especially if you feel as though you might have unconventional opinions about marriage/relationships, as I suspect I do.

I taught my last class of this session this morning. Well, in fact, I took the students to Ediya and treated them to a coffee. They were a good bunch. It takes a lot of commitment to come to a morning English class every morning during the summer, especially considering that it isn't even accredited this time. They bought a cake for the other teacher and I, a handy little organiser for me (that I definitely will use) and a card. The message is so sweet that I'm going to include it here:

Hi Brian!

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. I'll never forget this summer.

I think that you're so energetic person, in spite of your leg hurts. I'm so lucky that you're my teacher. Thank you for your kind teaching. As long as I study English, I'll remember this experience and cherish it.

I hope your leg will get better soon. Take care and enjoy your time in Korea.

Jin

How cute! And not bad English at all considering the lady who wrote that is in her 40s with two teenage sons and a hell of a lot of other things to keep her busy. It's very nice to be (or at least feel) appreciated and realise that you're making a difference (albeit small) to the lives of those you teach. I'm looking forward to having three weeks off to prepare for a busy upcoming semester with three different courses to teach, the return of my MA and, hopefully, regular gigging again.