A Sigh of Relief

Well, today marks the end of one of our 'sessions' at work and this particular session has been a frickin' tough one, I can tell you. I taught 61 hours overtime and that doesn't include the extra thought, planning, rethinking, re-planning, marking and reporting that involves! Next block, I won't be teaching Brand English so that means I'll no longer need to be getting up at crazy o' clock in the morning and still be teaching at stupid o' clock at night. In fact, I'll be going from a very tough schedule to a pretty lax one. Very much looking forward to that. All work and no play makes Brian a dull boy and all that. The timing is perfect because I restarted my MA studies last week (although I haven't done much so far) so I need to start devoting a couple of hours a day to that soon.

I'm thinking of doing my dissertation on education for democratic citizenship in International Schools and the lessons that can be learned for national contexts. That, no doubt, sounds very boring but I think it'll be fascinating and, practically speaking, will help me learn more about and network with International Schools as I go on a serious job-hunt for next year. The actual submission date for the dissertation isn't actually until 31st August, 2011, but I have my first assignment for it due on October 31st coming. I'm officially set on trying my best to get a first overall and dropping this, "oh, I don't really mind either way" carry on. The work starts next week, as I don't have any classes to teach really.

More confusion with our 'band that may never be' today. Apparently, Cheon has some dinner he has to attend, so Jeff canceled our rehearsal. Unfortunately, neither Jim nor I got wind of this, and only found out by chance this morning. Nevertheless, the three of us are going to meet up tonight to go over new songs as much as we can without a bassist. On top of that, a few of the dates I was hoping to play next month are already taken (by Jeff's other bands) so, all in all, it might be getting to the point where we have to start looking elsewhere. I can't explain how much I'm missing the buzz of performing, the routine involved, the bonding (that's bondING!), the craic, the seeing people you don't see as often as you'd like, the music, the dancing around like an eejit, the meeting new people, etc., etc., etc.... It seems like I've been saying we'll be up and running 'soon' for an absolute eternity. If 'soon' isn't November, it might be time to seriously consider our other options. Poor old Jim and I are chomping at the bit!

Tomorrow, we're heading to Ulsan for a bit of a boys night out and the crucial encounter between Ulsan Hyundai and FC Seoul on Sunday afternoon. I just this second found out that Stephen might not be going, to keep the recent trend of 'people-saying-they're-going-to-do-something-but-not-doing-it-in-the-end' going on strong. I know I'm guilty of it myself from time to time but keeping the lines of communication open would be nice. Frustrating. Either way, I'm going to head down. Big game for us and will be nice to get out of Seoul and do something completely different for the weekend. Being off next week, I'll be able to stay out on Sunday night guilt-free and watch the Merseyside Derby. I should go sort out my crappy fantasy football team for the weekend...

I was chatting to my Dad yesterday to wish him luck for a job interview he had (I still don't know how it actually went). He's hoping to become a driving instructor, and we all think he'd be really good at it. Amazingly, he has been in his current job (as a tour bus driver) for 13 years now... He reckons he might have met as many as 10,000 people in that time, all over the British Isles. At his age, no-one wants him to be away from home, trekking all over the place, doing crazy hours, taking flak from passengers anytime anything (even beyond his control) goes wrong. I really, really hope he gets the job. He's a great driver, intelligent, good with people, and a calming influence. Cross your fingers or pray to whatever or whoever or wherever it is you believe in people, will you? I can't wait to get back home in December and catch up with my old Daddy-o and Mammy-o. Not for too long though, of course...

Big old Friday feeling in my guts today. Started the day with coffee with my Brand English class to mark the end of the session, did a bit of marking, met up with two of my favourite students for another coffee, finished my marking, had a tough but fun language exchange with the ever-wonderful Na Ra, and now I'm here sharing it all with you and enjoying it all over again! I think there may well be a few drinks tonight at rehearsal and a few more over the course of the weekend. You can't beat the little tingly excited feeling you get thinking about what it might hold in store for you. I don't get it as much as I used to these days. No doubt there will come a time when I can't even remember the sensation, but hopefully there's life in this old dog yet. Have a good one, wherever you are, and I'll catch you up on Monday.