"You Very Bad Face"

Koreans, bless them, they're not backwards about coming forwards. If you get to class looking as though you've just been dragged backwards through a rosebush, you can be pretty certain someone will point out that you're looking like crap. "Oh! Brian! You very bad face!" is an old favourite of mine. If I'm feeling particularly tired and make the mistake of being a bit stung, I might say. "Oh, you too", but, generally, I'll just smile and say, 'Thanks!" and leave it at that. It's not that they're being rude, it's just that they're way less fake than we are in Ireland. If you look like shit, they'll tell you. To be honest, I'm starting to be more like that myself and it's refreshing. I generally take it with a pinch of salt, just like I do when they insist I look like some good-looking actor I bear NO resemblance to. It's very flattering, but I don't think James McAvoy would be too happy to be confused with yours truly.

The reason I bring that up today is that my sleeping pattern is truly shot to bits and I write this today having already taught two of my three Wednesday classes on a mere two hours sleep from last night. Somehow, I don't feel too bad at all, but I'm pretty sure it'll hit me in the afternoon just as I'm trying to prepare my classes for tomorrow. Thankfully, I don't teach DDE2 tonight, so I have some extra time to get my thinking cap on and come up with something creative for the start of my TOEIC lessons tomorrow night. I'm also going to head over to Ji's to watch FC Seoul away against Pohang Steelers, which is hopefully showing on TV.

Pohang won the Asian Champion's League last season so, although they are currently only in mid-table in the league, it's not going to be an easy game at all. Following the crushing disappointment of the 4-2 loss away against Suwon last weekend, this is a game we really need to take something from if we are to keep in contact with the top of the league and avoid getting sucked into the battle for the play-offs directly below us. Suwon are on a bit of a push and Ulsan and Busan are still there or thereabouts.

RANKING

TEAM

POINTS

W

D

L

F

A

GD

1	JEJU	37	11	4	3	35	18	17
2	SEONGNAM	36	11	3	4	34	16	18
3	GYEONGNAM	36	10	6	2	28	17	11
4	JEONBUK	34	10	4	4	37	24	13
5	SEOUL	33	11	0	6	31	17	14
6	ULSAN	29	8	5	5	24	23	1
7	BUSAN	26	7	5	6	29	23	6
8	SUWON	26	8	2	8	30	31	-1
9	POHANG	22	5	7	7	28	34	-6
10	INCHEON	19	6	1	10	27	33	-6
11	CHUNNAM	18	4	6	8	30	36	-6
12	GANGWON	16	4	4	10	21	36	-15
13	GWANGJU	15	3	6	8	12	25	-13
14	DAEJEON	13	3	4	11	16	34	-18
15	DAEGU	12	3	3	12	19	34	-15

The K-League is unique in that the league winners, aren't necessarily the league Champions. At the end of the season, the top six go into play-offs to decide who takes top honours. So, although of course I want to see FC Seoul at the summit, the reality is that top-6 might have to do. Considering our amazing unbeaten run at home, surely we can do at least that? Surely... I hope the manager starts with Choi Tae Uk, Lee Seung Ryul, Dejan and Djeparov on the wings and up front tonight, as that's the selection that started the second half at Suwon and looked pretty good. Cross your fingers for us...

Classes all still going well thankfully, in spite of the sleep deprivation. It's nice being back amongst the hustle and bustle of a busy teacher's office and have all the students around the language centre and during breakfast and dinner downstairs. Long may it continue. I'm particularly enjoying teaching on campus; it's always nice to have a new teaching experience and another feather in your cap. My class this morning had five students that I previously taught during DDE1 and they seem like a great group. I have the last of my five General English classes in an hour; that's going to be a lot of mid-term and end-of-term marking...

Ok, I have a few things to sort out before class so I better get on with it. Need to sort out band practice, which is getting increasingly more difficult to do with all our clashing responsibilities. Need to try to learn some Korean if I'm to avoid total gibberish during my class on Friday. Need to play guitar a bit for fear of letting it slip again. Need to hassle my Uni to confirm whether or not they got that heap of cash I wired them and find out when my course actually starts again. Need to keep busy and avoid nodding off during/before class. Have a good day everyone. Zzzzz...