Ch ch ch ch Changes

It has been more than a month since my last post and what a month it has been. Jisan was one of the craziest weekends of my life (who knew that Suede were still so good?) and the bunch of us that went down did a lot of drinking, laughing, and shouting of random obscenities. What could be better? The week that followed was a lot of packing and tying up of loose ends. It was horrible leaving Korea. I loved it there and I have left a lot behind. I want to sit down and write about it properly someday, but I can say for sure that it'll be a long time before I'm 'over' Korea. Thankfully, I'm not too far away...

From Korea it was Barcelona for a major bout of reunions. Charlene and her boyfriend, Stephen, surprised me by showing up on the Friday night and we had a great few days with Rachel, who kindly put us up at her place! There was a bit of a Seoul reunion too, with Kevin, Jo, Jim, and Rhiannon all in town. Way too much to write now at the end of a long day, but it was epic. Barcelona is a must if you're looking for a quirky, laid-back and affordable European city to kill a bit of time in.

Home was great but there just wasn't enough time to fit everything in. Lisa was an angel helping me out with visa issues and the like in Dublin before I surprised Mum and Dad with an unannounced visit that I think my Ma might still be recovering from! Roisin's wedding in Sligo was absolutely brilliant. Definitely made me less cynical about the whole event and I got to catch up with a few old faces, most notably Kirsta who is headed back to Korea for a killer job this year herself. Roisin is one of those special people you meet once in a while and, on the evidence of that weekend, she likes to surround herself with more of the same. The only down side was that Annie didn't make it over. She was in Africa at some meeting. Come on Winterface, sort it out!

Other highlights from home were the long drives around Inishowen, beers with old friends, and an epic late-night jam with the one and only Sean Furey. You can't beat being home. Soon enough though, it was time to hit the road again and pack the bags for China. I haven't been here for two weeks yet but I simply don't know where to start in telling you all about the place, the job, the people, the quirks, the stories... Considering the fact that I've been up since 6am, it's 9:35pm now, and I have it all to do again tomorrow, perhaps it'd be better to leave it for another day. I just wanted to check in, say hi, and get the old blog back in action.

Move Along Now

Holy crap guys (and girls.... in Seoul.... and the surrounding areas)! Some nice weather we've been getting, eh? Always makes me think of how my students screw up their faces when I answer in reply to their query that the weather in Ireland is pretty rainy... a lot of the time... Oh my God! How awful! Yeah - it's never anything as bad as this nonsense, (mainly) ladies. I can barely believe I'm saying this, but I'd actually love to be getting drenched in one of those deceptively wetting drizzles on my way down to Moville. I can barely even leave the house here today - and my ceiling is leaking!! Scary times. Stay safe out there!

T minus nine days for me already. Throw in Jisan this weekend (if the weather let's up, WHICH IT WILL!!) and I'm running round like a headless chicken trying to do all those things you need to do when you're leaving a country PLUS arranging a Chinese work visa PLUS finishing off a dissertation. Fun times abound. Actually, they do. I've been getting a bit emotional with my 'last this' and 'last that' these days but it's much better to be mourning the end of a brilliant chapter of your life than willing away each agonising minute that remains. I actually need to run right now. Korea people: stay safe. Moville people: enjoy this new festival, whatever it is. Everyone else: I love you in my own special way UNLESS I don't really know you and you're just reading to judge, criticise, and make yourself feel better about your own shitty life. Only kidding! Kind of... To sum up, I hope you're all really well, or really shitty. Night!

Oh! Annie has started up her blog again. If you don't know who Annie is then take a look and prepare to be entertained and impressed by her self-assured bitchiness. If you do know who Annie is, then you probably know what to expect!

Is This It? This Is It!

I've been on the receiving end of some gentle chiding recently on the old 'last gig ever' front. My first 'last ever gig' in Korea was in.... December 2007, or thereabouts. Yep - that's more than three-and-a-half years ago... Then there was our 'last-ever' with John and Kev, 'last-ever' with Jim, 'last-ever' UR Seoul, 'last-ever' Dead End Friends, 'last-ever' random gig, 'last-ever' at this/that venue... you get the picture. Of course, an element of it is trying to twist people's arm to come out. The whole 'pushing' part of being in bands is often pretty annoying (for you and me both!), but most of the time people seem to have fun, so I feel good about it more often than I feel bad. The real crux of the matter, though, is that I honestly never know that this or that gig won't actually end up being my last gig! I didn't really have any intention of returning to live in Korea when I left for South America in 2007 (I had been planning China as my next step, just as I am now). We had no idea how we could cope with the departures of Kev, John and Jim, before we were lucky enough to link up with other musicians who enabled us to keep the whole experience going that little bit longer...

I think the same can be said for any of us, in anything we do. I doubt FC Seoul's Ou Gyoung Jun had much of an idea that he was more than likely playing his last-ever game of professional football, as he started in our 1-0 League Cup defeat away to Gyeongnam on June 29th - although he may have had an inkling... I'm not going to go down morbid alley on a Friday night but we never know when we wake up in the morning whether or not this could be the last day in which we take a walk in our favourite park, listen to or favourite song, hold our favourite person's hand, or sing some of the best songs ever written with awesome musicians and wiggle around in front of an unsuspecting public!

This gig at Club FF tomorrow night will almost certainly be my last in Korea. Yes, of course it's not impossible that I might link up with someone in a future weekend trip to Seoul from Nanjing. Yes, I might end up hating my life in China and be back in a few months with my tail between my legs. Who knows? Still, the way I see it, I'm going to go into anything I love doing, with the thought that it just might be my last chance, and try to squeeze every last ounce of enjoyment out of the experience. If I don't see you at my latest 'last-gig', I'll see you a the next one...

Edge Of Your Seat Stuff

I know that sweeping statements such as this always end up attracting the ire of at least someone but, I'll tell you what, if you're a football fan living in Korea and you don't go watch and support a local team, then you're not really a football fan. Following FC Seoul over the past few years has been one of the very best aspects of my life in this country and, judging by the members at www.rokfootball.com, and the dedication of the guys responsible for the ever-informative K-League podcast, I know for sure that I'm not alone in that. Over the years, our constantly-changing group of friends (including a few ever-presents), have had some good chats, rows, debates, beers, sessions, witnessed good goals, bad goals, crazy decisions, frustrating misjudgements, and enjoyed every minute of it. Well, most of them.

With my time in the country coming to an end, I've been determined to catch as many matches (home and away) as possible, and have been rewarded with some thrilling encounters and memorable experiences! Since the Gangwon match (I wrote about that previously) I've been to three matches (only missing our second string bow out 1-0 away to Gyeongnam in the League Cup), witnessing six goals for, five against, and a possible 5 league points (from a possible 9) to elevate us for the first time this season into the vital top six play-off spots. Mind you, considering the fact that only three points separate 6th from 13th, there's still a hell of a lot of football to be played this season.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of non-football-related talking points in the K-League these days too. The biggest by far is the current match-fixing scandal engulfing the country's top flight. At present, only two FC Seoul players have been indicted, and neither of them were with the club last season. One of them, Ou Kyoung Ju, was on-loan at Daejeon - one of the teams who have been hit hardest by the recent allegations. At only 23, and having spent his teens as a promising young man learning his trade with Metz in France, this looks a pretty idiotic way to end his career, if that's what it turns out to be. With each passing week the scandal seems to be growing in size and scope, further tarnishing the league's image at home and abroad. The spectacle of team captains reading a prepared speech promising not to cheat before each game is not something any of us want to see continuing indefinitely...

The other problem, although it is merely bubbling under the surface at present, is the growing tendency of some fans to get caught up in a bit of crowd trouble! Embarrassingly, this seems to be connected to FC Seoul more than most others - at least recently. I headed down to Jeonju with a friend the weekend before last for a thrilling and eventful 2-2 with high-flying Jeonbuk Motors. It was my first time to travel with one of the supporters' buses and it was a great experience. Everyone was so helpful and friendly; I got dragged down the back of the bus for soju with a bunch of ajoshis; everyone was keen to make sure we didn't get lost and always knew what was going on. It was Korean hospitality at it's finest. Incredibly, it all turned into a bit of a sour experience when we got trapped inside the stadium for an hour-and-a-half after the full-time whistle due to rioting Jeonbuk fans, baying for our blood outside! It had it all: pitch invasion; bottle-throwing (even a bit of shoe-throwing...); kids crying; attacking the bus; shouting abuse; they even tried to drive us off the road!! I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it; in Korea or anywhere else. Bizarrely, it has barely been spoken of since, and appears to have been brushed under the carpet. Let's hope it doesn't trip us up again any time soon.

Back to matters on the pitch, FC Seoul travel to second-placed Pohang Steelers on Sunday for a 7pm kick-off. I hope to travel with the supporters again, hopefully avoiding the threat of actual bodily harm this time around... Burndog has bravely predicted a 1-0 win for the Seoulites. As much as I'd love for him to be right (and he often is!), I'd say that a draw is probably the best we can hope for against Asamoah and co. No matter what happens, I'm certain there'll be more nail-biting and random expletives out of me before the 90 minutes are up. Seoul saranghae!

Time Flies

Wow I really hadn't realised it had been so long since I last blogged. Since the trips to Busan and Gangneung, what have I been up to? Let's see... not doing enough work on my dissertation... teaching an intensive summer course for a couple of weeks... plenty of FC Seoul matches... band practice and a couple of gigs... my kids' classes... 'other' classes... went to see Super8... river city... COEX for Jonathan's birthday... my first football riot... listening to Matt's K-League podcast... finally saw The King's Speech... got round to seeing The Fighter... broke AND fixed my camera... got shouted at by my lovely boss over something ridiculous in front of my co-workers... watched the British Grand Prix... started trying to get rid of my stuff and ready for China... had a birthday... aaaaaaand... lots of being rained upon. Well that's pretty much all I can think of right now! Isn't it all fascinating? This post is just to get me back into the habit. I'll fill in the blanks tomorrow - especially on the gigging and FC Seoul fronts! Hope you're well, don't be a stranger!

Oh! Final gig in Korea is this Saturday night. You can find the details here. Peace out!

Every Day Should Be A Holiday

Since I last posted, I have been taking advantage of a bit of a lull in our summer teaching schedule by taking trips to Busan (midweek) and Gangneung (weekend) to take in FC Seoul's victories over Busan Kyotong and Gangwon FC. The midweek trip was probably a bit nuts because I was teaching on Tuesday and Thursday so didn't really have a lot of time to take in what was only a FA Cup last-16 encounter with a little-known team from the N-League. Still, I'm really glad I decided to head down, even if I was a teeny tiny bit late for my first kids' class on Thursday... Bad Brian!

I stayed in a pretty nice motel in Chinatown, right near the KTX station, knowing that I'd need to be up and out pretty promptly the next morning. It was only a few subway stops away

from Jagalchi fish market, so I decided to go for a nosey. The place is immense and it's great being able to see the process of catch, sort, sell and eat all within a feet of each other! I felt a bit funny about doing the old point-to-my-dinner routine, but I forced myself and was pretty happy with the result!

Busan Sport's Complex was only a few more stations along the same line, and I was sure to get there in plenty of time to catch the build-up. I wound up talking to a guy who works for the PR Department of the club, and I had a great chat with him about the team. He's really keen to get more foreigners coming along because he thinks that if we're popular with foreigners, the general public at large will follow. I'm not quite sure where he's got that from, but I enjoyed telling him some of the things we find different from football back home, and I think he got what I was saying. I'm really happy to have a good contact at the club who I can get team news from because, as I was telling him, a lot of the time you're pretty much in the dark unless you understand Korean well.

The match was a big disappointment. We started with a strong team, but Busan were lively, and we just couldn't get it together. They were denied what turned out to be a stone-wall penalty and, later in the first half, Djeparov curled home a great free-kick, which turned out to be the winner. The problem was that it should never have been a free in the first place. I was hoping that we would go on to maul them in the second half but, if anything, we were lucky not to concede. The players were pretty disgruntled after the match and didn't appear to have as much time for the fans as usual. When you consider the trek those 40-50 fans made, that's pretty unacceptable.

On Saturday, I headed east to Gangneung. We got in kind of late on Friday night (express bus from Express Bus Terminal took around 3 hours and cost W20,000), and took a taxi to Gyeongpodae beach, where we shacked up at a motel right on the beach for W40,000. Next day we had a bit of quality beach time, rented bikes to cycle round Gyeongpodea Lake, and got a taxi to Gangneung Sport's Complex in plenty of time for the 'big match'. There was a much bigger turn out of Seoul fans (maybe 300?), and Gangwon had a decent crowd as well. Seoul started with what I consider to be their strongest eleven with Kim Yong Dae - Lee Gyo Ro - Park Yong Ho - Adi - Hyun Young Min - Ko Yo Han - Ko Myung Jin - Ha Dae Sung - Djeparov - Molina - Dejan. We started out well (Molina probably should have scored after about 20 seconds) and deservedly went ahead through a wondrous Ha Dae Sung volley following a cleared corner. It really is one of the best goals I've ever seen, certainly live. Somehow we started making Gangwon look like a decent side after that, but Molina finished well on the stroke of half-time to put us 2-0 up, and the second half was a procession. That puts us up to ninth, and a win at home against Incheon this weekend could elevate us into the play-off positions!

Having sampled Gangneung's night-life (Warehouse - token foreign bar full of pissed up waegooks) and watched the sun rise over Gyeongpodea, we took the bus 40 minutes out of town to Unification Park, on Sunday. This place is NOT designed for visitors who don't have their own transport! When we finally got there, it was pretty impressive. There's a huge South Korean decommissioned warship, which was used in World War Two and up to as recently as 1999. You could go on deck and wander around the rooms inside. They also had some military displays, including one of the recent North Korean shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. It's easy to forget how current the threat really is. They also had a simple wooden boat on display that was built and used by 11 North Korean defectors only last year. Last but not least was a captured North Korean submarine. Apparently, 26 North Korean spies tried to infiltrate the country just off the coast from where the park now stands. We were able to walk through, and how they managed to get 26 people in there, I'll never know. It's a well put together (although very one-sided) display, and worth a look if you find yourself on the beautiful east coast of Korea!

I'm going to stick around Seoul this weekend. Saturday will (or should) involve some dissertation writing, FC Seoul V Incheon United, and probably a night out with the boys. The rest of the week will be pretty busy because we are teaching an intensive DDE course, but I much prefer teaching during the day than at night, so you won't hear me complaining for once!

I was catching up with Gary Pot last night and realised it has been a while since I spoke to some of my best old buddy old pals. If that's you, drop me a line! I booked my flight to Barcelona on August 5th and to Dublin on the 10th. I'm hoping to catch a Derry match that weekend and will be in Sligo for Roisin's wedding on Saturday, 13th. I don't fly to Nanjing until the 19th, so fingers crossed I'll get to see most of you. Hope everyone is doing well!

Round Round Get Around

The summer is here! Light teaching schedule (aside from eight crazy days, but that's not now, so I'm not going to think about it), warm weather, events left, right and centre, and something like a puny seven weeks left of my life in Korea. I actually had my medical for my Chinese working visa yesterday and I wasn't nearly as much of a baby about giving blood (or having blood taken!) as I usually am. Perhaps I might even be considered a 'man' by my 29th birthday, although I wouldn't count on it. Anyway, the Chinese authorities are pretty nuts with the old health requirements. I had to be tested for AIDS, syphilis and something else I hadn't even heard of. Fair enough, I guess. However, there's also a questionnaire where I have to own up if I've had such extreme disorders as 'mental confusion' (who hasn't?), 'plague' or 'leprosy'. The doctor then has to sign off that I haven't shown any signs of 'yellow fever', 'cholera' or 'polio'. Ah no lads, you're safe enough on those fronts. I think I need to tell them that I'm going there to teach, not live out the final few weeks of my rapidly diminishing life! Results back on Friday. Fingers crossed I'm all clear and that I can get on with the rest of the laborious visa process.

I'm trying to make the most of my remaining time on the ROK. I wouldn't bet much money on getting another gig on the go. Jeff is out of the country for the rest of the month and that would only give us a few weeks to train up a new drummer and get the show back on the road, only for me to up sticks in early-August anyhow. More likely is that I'll front a couple of shows as a Muse cover with Cheon's Korean band. I'd love the buzz of a show at FF one more time, but with so many other things to fit in before I hit the road, I'm not going to push it or lose much sleep over the issue either way.

This weekend I'm going to go over to Gangneung to enjoy the weather (not TOO hot... yet...), get a bit of beach time in, and (you've guessed it), watch Gangwon FC entertain the not-so-mighty-these-days FC Seoul. We earned a valuable point at home last weekend against high-flying Pohang Steelers, but appear to have lost the head of steam that came with the arrival of caretaker boss, Choi Young Soo. It was a very entertaining match with a HUGE attendance (the sponsors put on some sort of feeble promotion and the families lapped it up), but we have lost the air of invincibility we once had at home. We're still just four-points off the play-off positions, but it's getting pretty congested in there and we need to get a bit of a run together soon. Thank the good-but-non-existent lord for Dejan and Adi, who really do look out of place at times, such is the performance gap between them on their good days, and some of their team-mates on their bad days.

Some have used the word 'obsessive' to describe my relationship with the 'Soul of Seoul - FC Seoul' of late, and I guess I'm not helping my cause by planning to travel the 330km to Busan tomorrow to watch a last-16 FA Cup encounter with Busan Kyotang of the Korean National League. The way I see it is that I only have kids' classes this week (Tuesday and Thursday), that the weather is lovely, that it's something completely different, and that Adi promised to give me his shirt!! I'm going to go down by KTX early in the morning, check out the fish markets, bring a book to the beach for a few hours, take in the match, celebrate a thumping victory (tempting fate there...), love motel it up like the classy gent I am, and catch an early train back for my Thursday kids' class. Hopefully it all goes smoothly and I'll have a nice blog to write up about it all on Friday.

Random snippet from the match last Saturday: my ex-girlfriend's best friend was there totally unexpectedly doing interviews for Reuters about the recent match-fixing scandal in Korean football. Obviously it was nice giving an interview, but it was a really weird feeling too. Personally, you never know what the friends of your ex now think of you, right? Way more importantly, it's an issue that at least one player has chosen to take his own life over, and who knows how big or far-reaching it'll turn out to be? As I said in the interview, it's sad that people around the world may now only associate the K-League with cheating, as opposed to the standard of football and the quality of players that it has exported. For example, Jung Jo Gook and Park Ju Young were both at Sangam last weekend, paying tribute to their former employers and admirers during the Ligue 1 closed-season. As a fan of Korea and Korean football, I hope the authorities deal with the issue thoroughly and professionally and put measures in place to prevent a repeat.

I hope you're getting on well, whoever you are, wherever you are, and in whatever it is that you're doing.

What's Going On?

Well it has been a while since I posted so here goes with a bit of a digest of the last few weeks. Jim has hit the road. His last gig at RMT got the turn-out he deserves (err, it was big, just to clarify...) and we had a Sunday down in Seongnam watching FC Seoul lose 2-0 before meeting Adi in Itaewon later in the night. Not a bad send-off! It might turn out to have been my last gig in Korea too, because finding a suitable drummer or getting the Muse cover band up and running is going to be tough to do before I leave at the start of August. Less than two months left in Korea... I can hardly get my head around that.

I was horribly ill Monday and Tuesday, which set me up nicely for my exam on Wednesday. I was so out of it that I sat the whole thing with my t-shirt inside-out, so I have no idea what kind of result to expect. It was a bit of a strange exam in that it really was about my overall progress with the dissertation. The question was about how my literature review had influenced my research questions, and how my methodology was going to go about addressing the research objectives. In a way, there's no tricking a question like that; either you know what you're talking about, or you don't. I guess I'll find out which category I fall under when the results come. It's nice to have it out of the way. I have to submit my 20,000 word dissertation at the end of August, and that could well spell the end of my formal schooling!

A few of us headed to Muuido last weekend because we had the Monday off for Memorial Day, so it seemed like a good idea to take advantage! Muuido was pleasantly surprising. It was much more beautiful than I had expected, it wasn't too busy, we got a nice simple little pension to sleep in, and it was generally a really good laugh. It was also a hell of a lot more sensible than previous weekends, which I REALLY needed. The tide there goes out by what must be a mile and you can walk right out in the clouds, which come rolling in towards evening. The ferry ride over is really, really short but it's something I always enjoy. Reminds me of childhood holidays in Co. Down way back in the day.

Talking of family holidays, it turns out that Dad can't get the time off work so we won't all be meeting in Barcelona in August, as had been hoped. I think I'm going to go over anyway because Rachel will be there and it's somewhere I've always wanted to visit. My summer schedule at work is pretty light (lots of four-day weekends), so I'm planning loads of trips, including to Jeju-do, which I have somehow never made it to in my time here. Mudfest? Maybe. Jisan? Yes! Looking forward to seeing The Music and The Arctic Monkeys especially. I think it was around this time last year that I popped my knee and saw all my summer plans fly out the window. I'm back playing football again (as badly as ever), so cross your fingers I don't experience a repeat!

My sister, Charlene, has had a bit of an epic time recently. She was out in Bucharest recently doing her first film role and she came back and straight into huge auditions with the National Theatre and The Abbey. Hopefully things are falling into place for her. Thomas and I did drama together as teenagers and we were talking about it a lot on Muuido, about those who chose to pursue it further in life and how they're all doing. You have to take your hat off to them because it's a life of uncertainty for most and a tough, tough job in so many ways. I think I'm glad I'm a teacher, but obviously it'd be nice to have those real rushes in life that performing brings from time to time. Ok, I'm rambling so going to sign of and go prep my kids' classes. Hope you're all doing well.

Lads On Tour

I'm writing this, as I should be finishing up the research methods section of the old dissertation. The power of procrastination has pushed me to clean my bathroom, download this and that on my computer (whoever heard of cloud files? What an idea...), upload photos, start getting stuff sorted for my Chinese 'foreign expert' visa, check flights for my epic Seoul > Barcelona > Ireland > Nanjing August foray, and write up set-lists for the couple of drummers who are interested in jumping into Jimbo's seat when he hits the road at the end of the month. In spite of the fact that I have only a week-and-a-half left until my final exam, there's no sign of the fear. I kind of need it at this stage.

Still, there's always time for a bit of 'lads on tour' action. Tomorrow, a half-dozen of us are heading down to Daejeon for a bit of craic before Jim's last weekend. The last time the six of us went out together... well... I can't really say what happened. It's not that I'm holding back, I just honestly can't really say. My personal rule for this trip is a self-imposed ban on soju (for me: the lads can do whatever they want!), so hopefully that'll keep things under control to some extent at least.

I'm not 100% happy about missing FC Seoul V Daejeon at Seoul World Cup Stadium tomorrow night, but I'll be watching it on the box. Wednesday past was another good night for the boys. Despite fielding an under-strength side, we hammered National League side, Yongin City, 4-0. Caretaker boss Choi Young Soo seems fairly adept at rotating the squad during a very busy May for the club. Dejan came off the bench to fire home a couple, Adi scored a bit of a jammy dodger, and the other was from a debutant, Choi something-or-other. A win against lowly Daegu could put us into the top-six (play-off positions). Surely they'll give Choi Young Soo the nod to carry on - at least until the end of the season... Since taking over from the shambolic Hwangbo Kwan, it has been six matches, five victories, and just the one draw (away from home in the Champion's League, falling victim to a last-minute equaliser). With Derry City defying the odds and pushing Shamrock Rovers at the top of the league, and Man Utd stuttering their way to a record 19th top flight league crown, my football supporter star is on the rise again.

There were a couple of other things I was going to mention but a few of the girls from the office at work just walked in to the coffee shop, so I should probably look busy and get back to my chapter. Have a good weekend!

Calm Down

It's been a bit busy recently with probably going out and doing too much, keeping up with work and my dissertation, but not really enough being sensible at all. We finished another DDE session on Tuesday night so I have a fairly quiet rest of the week - time to get plenty of that dissertation done before the research methods exam on June 1st. Confusingly, it's worth 60% of my final dissertation mark, so I'm sure 'the fear' will kick in soon.

Doing lots of reminiscing recently because Jim, another of my best friends in Korea (as well as our drummer), is leaving at the end of the month. We had our final FF gig together last Saturday, a venue that really means a lot to us (mainly as U R Seoul) over the years. I was there on my very first night out in Korea in December 2006 with Rob - yet another ROK hopper! I remember thinking how much I'd love to rock that stage, and we're really lucky in that we've been fortunate enough to have done so many times over the years. I hope I get another chance, but obviously it'll never be quite the same.

Other blasts from the past these days: great emails from Gallagher and Risky; a wedding invitation from Roisin (August 13th - Ill be there!); coming across loads of cards from Ji I had almost forgotten about; lunch with my old Korean teacher; and a Korean FA Cup match tonight against Yongin reminding me of being there this time last year (or longer?) scraping a win over 'a little town called Mokpo' with Rob. Will be in China before I know it. Better prepare myself!

Off to World Cup Stadium for Seoul V Yongin (FA Cup 3rd round), so this is short n' sweet today. Great win for the boys at the weekend over Gyeongnam (Dejan, Ko Yo Han(2)) putting us up to 7th in the K-League and continuing Choi Young Soo's undefeated reign as caretaker manager so far. Get in!

Living For The Weekend

Oh yes that was a great couple of days! Friday was a fun Hongdae night that ended up with a bit of wee hours noraebang action, with Thomas hilariously just stopping any song he didn't like the sound of. A few hours later and it was off to Children's Grand Park to enjoy the beautiful spring weather and be hit in the face by about a dozen out-of-control balloons that people seemed intent on terrorising me with. A bit of an unpredictable turn of events led to us getting the KTX to Daegu for the night, before heading over to Sangju by bus in the morning.

Sangju was exactly what I had hoped it would be: really small, really friendly, a totally different vibe from any other Korean city I've been to. People were really keen to stop us on the street and, somewhat bizarrely, thank us for coming to Sangju. A bunch of teenagers were also convinced that I was FC Seoul's very own Dejan, and I was in no rush to set them straight. Fame, by any means, please.

We had a bit of time before the match so we went to the stadium to get our tickets just as the FC Seoul team bus was arriving. I, predictably, got pretty excited and was absolutely over the moon when Adi recognised me and came over to shake my hand! Great stuff. In the hour or so before kick-off we strolled around witnessing the cities idiosyncrasies, including a huge band-stand full of dancing, singing, God-fearing worshippers giving it all they had. Pretty random, but I guess there isn't much to do in those parts! With the surrounding countryside, the clear water of the river running through it, and the relative calm and slow pace of life, Sangju struck me as a pretty nice place to grow up.

The match was simply brilliant - for the neutral! Three times FC Seoul led, and three times a very technical and incisive Sangju side pinned us back. Dejan has rediscovered his scoring touch and claimed a hat-trick, even though his third was more-or-less an own-goal that he can't have got more than a toe-nail to. Still, Choi Young Soo is showing signs of some top-class managerial judgement, and when substitute Hyun Young Min curled home a right-footed free-kick with only minutes to go to put us 4-3 ahead, he went absolutely berserk with the players on the touchline. That's the kind of passion fans love to see, and long may it continue. Winning 4-3 away to Sangju we are now back within touching distance of the top six in the league, inflicting the army side's first defeat of the season in impressive style. We are still very porous at the back, and certainly lack the composure we'll need to close matches out against more physical sides, but things have definitely taken a giant leap in the right direction.

My aims for this week: steady progress on the dissertation; keeping on top of things at work; getting enough sleep, food, exercise; and readying myself for another big weekend. On Friday night we're heading out to Bucheon to play what could be our last ever show at The Park. On Saturday night we have a similar situation with a show at Club FF with Sticky Fingers. If I'm still standing, we'll be heading to Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sunday for the visit of Gyeongnam, who have shown some form so far this season. Lots going on. Just realised my last weekend in Korea coincides with Jisan Valley Rock Festival at the end of July. After that I'll be flying to Barcelona for a family holiday in August, before heading out to China to start my new job later in the month. The dissertation is due at the end of all that somewhere. Somehow, everything always ends up getting done.

Congratulations to a few of my friends who have received numerous pieces of good news over the past week or so. It seemed for a while there that everyone was just breaking up with girlfriends/boyfriends, so it's nice that things have become a bit more positive for my extended family and group of friends. I hope the week is going really well so far!

It's Always Sunny When You Study

Think about it: whenever you cast your mind back to writing essays/getting ready for exams, how's the weather outside? I don't care if you're from Ireland, Canada, Korea, or wherever, I'll bet it was sunny - in your mind at least. I've been trawling through the research methods chapter of my dissertation today and, you've guessed it, the weather is beautiful outside. Children are playing in the river six floors down, people are texting me telling me to come join them for outdoor beers/cinco de mayo/whatever fun they're engaged in, having a life whilst I'm cooped up wrestling with this monster! So here I am, giving myself a bit of a break, thinking back to better times not that long ago.

Only a couple of weeks ago I was on holiday in Singapore and Malaysia with a girl from work called Christine. It was a really good trip especially because it was full of 'firsts'; my first time snorkeling, my first night safari, my first time riding a scooter, first time having my ears candled, first time having a tour of a Mosque, first time visiting a rubber plantation, and my first time being robbed on holiday... I'm not going to bore you with the details of everything we saw/did, but it was a great trip and I would recommend Malaysia to anyone. It's not the cheapest destination in the vicinity, but we met so many nice people, spent time on a beautiful beach which we had pretty much all to ourselves, experienced the beauty of Melaka, and the humdrum of Kuala Lumpur. Singapore was... just ok. I think you have to go just for the experience (and to hear the fusion of English, Malay and Cantonese), but it's a very plastic place with so many tourist traps and gimmicks; none more than the 'night safari' offered at the Singapore Zoo. We had a good time, but we made the right decision in only staying for three days.

A huge part of travelling is who you travel with, and I've certainly had my problems in that respect in the past. Considering the amount of times people have pissed me off on holiday, the safe bet is that it's me who's just bad at travelling with people. Funnily enough, even though I have only been working with Christine since March and we are very different people, we actually bounced off each other really well. She is very similar to me in that she wants to keep active and see plenty without going overboard and turning the trip into... a job! We did have a few drinks pretty much every day that we were away, but it was all pretty civilized - most of the time! I still haven't uploaded my pictures (which are pretty much all of Christine, as hers are pretty much all of me!) but, with this dissertation hanging over my head, I'm sure to use it as a delaying tactic sooner or later.

It looks as though my next holiday will be with the family in Barcelona in August. I had been hoping to get over there anyhow because Kev and Jo are working there at the moment and my sister, Rachel, will be there too; so this is just perfect. It'll be our first family trip together since... I actually can't even remember! Speaking of family, my sister Charlene is now officially a movie star! Ok, not quite, but she has got her first film role since graduating from LAMDA last year. It has taken a bit longer than she would have hoped, but it's a start, and no-one has a better temperament to handle what could be a bumpy road ahead than Charlene. Emma and Rachel are both nearing the end of exam periods at the moment and I am, as always, extremely proud of the lot of them.

Time to get back to the grindstone. I hope you're all having a good day be it enjoying the sunshine in Korea, voting for AV in the UK (don't tell me you can't understand it...), reacquainting yourself with our staple diet of rain in Ireland, or eating Skippy in Oz. You know who you are...

Back On Track - Or Getting There

Just a brief one because it's late and I have a full day of dissertation writing tomorrow that I want to be fresh for. Children's Day will be taking over Korea in the morning, so we have the day off as all the kids in the country will be out somewhere being spoiled rotten. Most teachers here are out tonight and plenty will be around and about enjoying the freedom tomorrow; I've heard wake-boarding, museum hopping, hiking, etc. For my sins, I'll be sat at home trying to write a draft chapter three and getting myself in better shape for my exam on June 1st. I was just thinking earlier of all the little things I have had to give up over the four years I have been chipping away at this MA. Most irritating of all (not just for me) was not being able to have a few beers on an idyllic little island off the coast of Venezuela with Annie a few years ago because I had an essay to write the next day. I guess I should knuckle down over the coming weeks and months to actually ensure that it all ends up counting for something.

I actually had a great day today. The weather has been lovely so I went for a bit of a cycle along the wee nearby river, and the knee has been feeling fine. We had a pretty funny meeting at work that served to remind me how lucky I am to be moving onwards and (hopefully) upwards in August. I faxed through a pile of documents to Nanjing Foreign Language High School earlier, and should be receiving my full, signed contract, from DHL next week. Exciting times! My DDE classes at night have been going well, and I rushed upstairs straight after to watch FC Seoul V Al Ain in the AFC Champion's League.

Time for a little context: caretaker coach, Choi Young Soo, led Seoul to a 2-1 win against last year's runners-up, Jeju United, last Saturday evening. Having gone behind, we showed real strength of character to restore some hope, with Park Yong Ho and Ko Myung Jin scoring two decent goals. It was a nervy enough performance, but a win is a win, and the 37-year-old former assistant manager took some brave decisions. The major downside was that Kim Yong Dae, Korea's No. 2 goalkeeper these days, took a nasty blow to the face and had to be replaced by the untested Yoo Sang Hoon. The youngster looked a bit erratic, but also showed some good reactions to keep us ahead as the match wore on.

Back to tonight, I had a bit of a scare when the UAE station I found streaming online appeared to show the score as 1-0 to the visitors. However, when Dejan headed home smartly on 40 minutes, it changed to 2-0... so I realised they just posted the score in a way I wasn't accustomed to! Although we looked really shoddy at the back, and would have been punished by better sides, we did show a lot of promise going forward. Dejan slotted home a gorgeous through-ball from a returning Lee Gyu Ro on 73, and it was all but over as a contest. Interestingly, Han Il Goo was chosen between the sticks, and looked like a disaster waiting to happen, frankly speaking.

What I like about this manager is that he appears to be taking some brave decisions and is bringing back players who had been somewhat discarded by Hwangbo Kwan. I'm thinking of Park Yong Ho, Ko Myung Jin, Lee Gyu Ro, and, most notably, Lee Seung Ryeol (who was back in the first eleven tonight). I'm heading down to Sangju this weekend to watch the unbeaten army side containing two current FC Seoul players who we look to be really missing this season in Choi Hyo Jin and Kim Chi Woo. I'm looking forward to visiting a new area (I expect it to be a big change from regular Korean cities I've visited) and I'm hopeful that Choi Young Soo can keep his little winning streak going. Let's just hope it isn't just beginner's luck...

A final shout out to The Outside View podcast, because I still listen every week but have neglected to mention for a while. You could also do worse than 'like' the K-League page on facebook, which is regularly informative and helpful. Lot's of procrastinating to do tomorrow, so expect a post!

I'm Still Alive

Sorry about the internet-silence, but I was away on holidays from 15th-25th (blog to come later when I get a chance to upload pics and sit down to think it all through properly) and I have been tied up with other things since I got back. I have barely any teaching hours, but they have a habit of sucking up the rest of the day. That and facebook. I'm starting to kind of resent and despise facebook! What an eater of time it is... So anyways, today I just wanted to remind some people that I exist, and just generally talk about some of what has been going on of late. As Matt reminded me yesterday at work, everyone is the star of their own story...

The number one priority in my life these days SHOULD be my dissertation. I have an exam coming up on June 1st that is worth 60% of my dissertation grade, which in turn is worth a third of my final MA grade. So, it's pretty important! The problem is that I am the kind of student that has spurts of enthusiasm where I get way more done than I'm required to, followed by troughs of activity during which time I can't motivate myself to do much of worth at all. And go on, guess which one I'm in at the minute?? Either way, I've got to snap out of it as soon as possible or I'll be throwing away a few years worth of fairly consistent effort and sacrifices, as well as the thousands of pounds it has cost me... Money: the great motivator.

Work is fine these days but my mind has already switched to my new job in Nanjing, starting at the end of August. I will be extremely sad leaving Korea, the people I've met, students, the band, FC Seoul, the food, the lifestyle, etc., but I'm looking forward to what looks like a proper job that actually sets me up for what I really want to do with my life. Hopefully, I'm headed for a future of working in International Schools, being an effective teacher for teenagers in countries all over the world, really getting to know the country I'm living in, a couple of years here, a couple there, enough time off to visit home regularly and fit in plenty of travelling. Doesn't sound bad, does it? Cue Brian getting run over by a bus tomorrow!

What's coming up? Well, as you asked, we have rehearsal tomorrow in preparation for a Dead End Friends gig tomorrow night at Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon with long-time friends of the band, Feed The Boats, who are coming up with a bunch of mates all the way from Gwangju. They're a great band, sporting a new drummer whom I remember seeing in a different band way back in 2007, and being mightily impressed with. If you're around Seoul this weekend and you want to hear some live rock, you know what to do.

Sandwiched between the music tomorrow will be our trip to Sangam World Cup Stadium to watch the visit of Jeju United to FC Seoul. Jeju were K-League runners-up last season, and have had a solid start again this term. Seoul have been simply horrific of late, to the extent that Hwangbo Kwon did the decent thing and stood down earlier this week. Former Seoul striker Choi Young Soo has been put in temporary charge, and hopefully things can only get better... If they get worse, I'm going to be pretty grumpy for the gig...

Here Goes

This blogging thing is really dying a death these days; it seems to be dropping down to just one a week without my even noticing! All my efforts to get myself into a better routine keep falling foul of a plethora of other little things that keep popping up out of nowhere. So, here we go with a very general round-up of what's been going on, what's happening, and what's yet to come.

We've been gigging a lot these days with Dead End Friends. Last weekend we had another tidy show at Woodstock on Friday night and another rowdy one at Rocky Mountain Tavern in aid of Camarata Music Company. It was a fun night of music but we were left a little bemused after finding out that we weren't playing for quite the cause we had thought we were. They played up the whole "musical instruments and lessons for underprivileged kids" version, while it has since emerged that the event was mainly to raise money for the company to put on shows. I guess a cause is a cause, but usually if foreigners become involved in things like this in Korea (music, theatre, sports, etc), they tend to bear the brunt of the expenses themselves. I wonder if they're planning a benefit concert to raise money for us to release a CD...

Inspired as I am (not) by my fellow countrymen Bono and Bob Geldoff, we're taking part in another benefit show this weekend; but for an undeniably worthy cause this time. We'll be bringing the rock (ugh I just don't feel comfortable saying stuff like that...) to Roofers in Itaewon to play at a fundraiser for the recent disaster in Japan, on Friday night. One of the organisers is going out with one of my co-workers and seems like a really active and driven person, so we're glad to be able to offer something constructive. If you are around Itaewon this weekend, come out and support the cause. We'll be playing last and the rest of the line-up certainly brings the word eclectic to mind. I'm interested to see how it all works out.

On Saturday, I'm going to head down to Busan with a friend to have a look around the landmarks, get a night out on the tiles, and go watch Busan I'Park entertain the mighty FC Seoul on Sunday. No doubt reinvigorated by my rousing blog last week, things have turned around slightly for us over the past week. Saturday saw us seal a huge home win (3-1) over Jeonbuk Motors, with Dejan (twice) and Molina scoring impressive goals. It wasn't always as convincing as the scoreline might suggest, with Lee Dong Gook briefly bringing it back to 2-1 with an 81st-minute strike. I must also mention the bizarre introduction of Lee Seung Ryeol on 81 minutes (just before their goal) and his subsequent withdrawal only four minutes later. Ok, the manager may have wanted to shore things up by bringing on an extra defender, but surely he could have looked beyond the player he had just brought on! Lee didn't look pleased, and who could blame him? I consider him one of our most naturally-talented players, but Kwan obviously doesn't fancy him...

A positive week continued with a 1-1 Champions' League draw away against Nagoya Grampus, continuing our fine form in that competition. Interestingly, it was the same starting eleven that had defeated Jeonbuk, so perhaps he is now a little clearer on his best eleven (even though it certainly doesn't correspond with mine). We'll be hoping to build that consistency against Busan, who have only picked up one point from four K-League fixtures so far. Their manager, Ahn Ik-Soo was assistant coach at FC Seoul last season, and obviously has a lot of pressure on him if he is to avoid the fate of Gangwon's Choi Soon Ho, who resigned this week following four opening defeats and no goals scored. A big win, and the disappointing start to the season will begin to feel like nothing more than a blip. Djeparov was back pulling the strings this week; Ha Dae Sung and Choi Tae Wook still to return.

Aaaaaand the rest of life... I remembered mother's day but forgot to do anything about it, due to a busy day of Noraebanging (google it, it's not as dirty as it sounds...). Dissertation? Slowly but surely. My sister's manic last-minute rush to submit hers has reminded me of the importance of keeping on top of things: exam June 1st; submission August 31st; still time to play with. Work? Going ok but I did have a bit of a nightmare class this week that certainly checked my self-made image of myself as god's gift to teaching. Ok, I'm not that bad... but not far off at times. I lost sleep over those guys, trying to put my finger on what I was doing wrong. Let's hope I don't have that again for a while, because I really can't deal with it. Job situation? Still favouring Nanjing, and hoping to put pen to paper (you'd swear I was a Premiership footballer) before I go on holiday (Singapore and Malaysia) next week. Anything else? I can't think right now. Over and out for tonight, have a great weekend everyone!

One Of Those...

Attention all haters: this is a football blog! I repeat, THIS IS A FOOTBALL BLOG!!! So there you go. It has been too long, it has to be done, it stops me from getting bogged down in anything too deep and meaningful. Like it, or lump it.

I did, indeed, stay up until nigh on 6am last night to watch Ireland's 3-2 home defeat at the hands of World Cup semi-finalists, Uruguay. It was late, I was wrecked, but it was a cracking match. Come on Trap! That's the way we want to see Ireland play! Ok, we lost and, although we were really nervy against Macedonia, we did at least win that one. I get it. The result is more important than the performance, etc. BUT, like most Ireland fans, I really believe we can play like we did against Uruguay and win, more often than not. Ten of the players who started for the visitors in the World Cup semis were on show last night. In sharp contrast, we had a very experimental line-up in action, including an entirely second-string back five (which showed).

In saying that, there are a lot of things that our veteran Italian maestro does get right, and the media get wrong. Here's just a sample:

1. Not playing Ciaran Clark against Macedonia. Ok, Kilbane is about 90 now and plying his trade in the third-tier of English football with Huddersfield Town. However, Clark was all at sea last night. Kilbane has been there, done that - Clark's time will come, but last weekend was still too soon.

2. Sticking with Shane Long. Long has been a virtual ever-present in Trapattoni's squads, often chosen ahead of more popular alternatives such as Stokes, Walters, or Best, in the past. Now with Keane increasingly unavailable, Long looks a key part of our system, and a threat should either Doyle or our all-time record goal-scorer be unavailable.

3. Favouring Green over Gibson. I might get stick for this, but I think it's time to face facts about Gibson. He clearly has potential. He clearly has more in his locker than Green. He clearly plays at a higher level (even though his first-team chances at Old Trafford are extremely limited). The problem is, that when he plays for Ireland, he gives possession away so cheaply, so often. Green doesn't do very much of anything, which I think is the lesser of two evils.

I guess to sum up, what I'm saying is that, although Trapattoni is often chastised for his selection of the same players, his conservatism, his stubbornness in refusing to do what the majority of Irish fans and media would prefer, he gets it right a fair amount of the time (with hindsight). He sees these guys in action, he has a clear vision of how he wants them to play, and he still manages to surprise us from time to time. The frustrating part is that when we see Ireland playing confident, attacking football, it reminds us that we are capable of it, and makes us wish we could see it more often...

From the Republic of Ireland, to my beloved FC Seoul. On Saturday at 5pm (hopefully with my replacement season ticket in hand), I'll be at Sangam World Cup Stadium for our latest K-League encounter with 2009 league champions, Jeonbuk Motors. Quick recap: 3 leagues games in; one point; one goal (an o.g.); FC Seoul lying 15th in a 16-team division. A friend recently asked me what happened, so here's my diagnosis, my own humble opinion:

1. Hwangbo Kwan. Having romped to the title last season under Nelo Vingada, the club, in it's infinite wisdom, appears to have made a financial decision to bring in an inexperienced former international (he scored a screamer against Spain in 1990, don't you know?), whose only previous managerial experience has been at Japanese J-League Division 2 side, Oita Trinita. Before moving to the K-League champions, he managed them to a 15th place finish - out of 19 teams. They had just been relegated from J1 the season before...

So far at Seoul he has looked indecisive, unsure of his best eleven, has shown faith in some of our more shocking fringe-players, and managed to look utterly ridiculous in his FC Seoul scarf and drooping stance as each match has worn on. Despite the fact that he has some of the league's most talented players at his disposal (Dejan, Adi, Lee Seung Ryeol, etc.), he hasn't shown that he is able to switch things around once it's clear that his ill-considered 'Plan A' is falling to pieces.

Some might point to two good results in the AFC Champion's League, but in the 3-0 home win against Hangzhou Greentown, it looked more a matter of them being rubbish, than us being great. Had they taken a few of their opportunities at 1-0, it could have been a very different story.

2. Missing players. Yes, we have a strong squad in comparison to some of our rivals (with the exception of Suwon who appear to have frightening strength in depth this season), but we are DEFINITELY missing three key players at the moment. Djeparov played our first two K-League matches, but was missing as we were hammered away at Chunnam before the international break. Against Daejeon, he was our one shining light: always looking for the ball; popping up all over the pitch; creative searching balls that some of his team-mates simply don't have the football brain to anticipate; and even getting into goalscoring positions (his finishing not being his strong point, however). Added to that, we are without Choi Tae Wook, who owned the right wing following his signature during last season. His current stand-in, Kim Tae Hwan, has been a disgrace to the shirt in the matches in which I have seen him 'play'. Strong words, I know... Last but not least, there's no Ha Dae Sung, our Paul Scholes-eque terrier in midfield. Choi Hyun Dae has improved from last season in that position, but we need that battling, goalscoring threat back, and soon.

One could also point to the fact that we have lost Choi Hyo Jin (my favourite FC Seoul player last season) and Kim Chi Woo to Sangju Sangmu (for their military service). It's not just the novelty of playing in a new city in front of big crowds that sees them perched at the top of the K-League, although I don't expect it to last.

3. A dispirited and isolated Dejan. There have been rumours that he's not getting on with new signing, Molina, who apparently thinks he's too greedy (which may be partly true). Whether or not that's true, the Montenegran marksman has cut a forlorn figure up front, without the support of a credible attacking partner, and clearly lacking the conviction that had us expecting those 30 yards screamers from him last season. He's a proven goalscorer in the K-League, but his record up until then was a lot less convincing. Let's hope that this is just a blip because, with Molina having failed to settle thus far, it's not clear where else the goals are going to come from.

But you know what? It's not all that bad! We are still the reigning champions. Yes, we lost our opener at home, but that was to Suwon, who look fairly strong this season (but lacking in consistency). And although we have only picked up one point from a possible nine so far, no other team has looked utterly convincing. Sure, Jeonbuk have looked decent. Yes, it is worrying to see Jeju starting so ominously, and quietly, well. Of course, Derek Asamoah adds a whole new dimension to Pohang. I can't argue either, that Suwon have brought in a lot of quality, and were by far the better team against us in our league opener. Still, a win against Jeonbuk on Saturday and a few other results go our way, confidence will be back. Maybe the manager just needs time to settle? Stamp his authority and system on the team? A goal for Dejan and they could start flowing. Molina could show us the form that made him such a feared opponent when he was at Seongnam. We get our injured players back, momentum behind us, all we need is a place in those coveted top six positions.

It hasn't been the greatest of starts, but after what we witnessed from Seoul last season, it certainly isn't time to throw in the towel... not just yet.

OK

Hope you are well as you read this, wherever you are today! Nothing hugely special to say. Some big things have changed but it's too soon to be chatting about it so I'll skirt the issue for now. Keep it general: work, the weekend, the craic, the future.

Work is fine, good even. My classes are going well and my kids' classes produced a hell of a lot of high-quality written work in advance of their parents coming in to watch them on Thursday. I don't mind observations at all anymore. One parent last time around seemed to think it was a chance for him to ask questions about his own English in the middle of his son's class, but I'm sure that was just a one-off...

The weekend was actually pretty good, considering. We had a mammoth rehearsal on Saturday to really tighten the set up and our gig that night was very assured. It wasn't he craziest show ever or anything like that, but it just felt really comfortable and I was probably as happy with it as I have been with any gig for a long time. A few of our really loyal friends (Ian, Jonathan, Byounghi, etc.) came along so it was generally a fun night with good people. I watched the Ireland match with Tom and Gerry (yes, really) and the less said about that frustrating mess of a match, the better.

Stephen and I had a bit of an unplanned day and night on Sunday which threatened to get a bit out of hand but turned out just to be good fun. With a holiday coming up (Singapore and Malaysia April 15th-25th), the move to China (or somewhere) looming, our 'Dead End Friends' days numbered, and a generally brighter disposition, I'm hopeful that just good fun will be on the menu for the foreseeable.

Let's hope it can start off this weekend. FC Seoul have a chance to get things back on track with a home fixture against Jeonbuk on Saturday. Later that night, we'll be headlining at a charity event in Rocky Mountain Tavern, Itaewon. I'm totally distracted by the Ireland V Uruguay friendly so I'll sign off for now, and get back on it later in the week. Uruguay just went one up... Ugly stuff...

Surreality

The old blogging has died down a bit, hasn't it? I would love to say that this is because I have been incredibly productive and busy with other things but - that would be a lie... I haven't really been on it at all recently but I'm definitely not still in the murky depths of a couple of weeks ago. That wasn't fun at all. So to recap on life of late: I did indeed get offered the English job with Dipont Education at Nanjing Foreign Language High School in China. It looks like a really attractive deal, will involve prepping very high level students for A-Levels and SATs with a view to studying abroad; usually in the UK or US (although the UK is looking a lot tougher as a destination for foreign students these days). It's international education, secondary level, a good benefits package, not too far from Korea for visits, and it has opportunities for progression within the company. I need a few crucial questions answered but, at this point in time, it looks a better option than Cairo English School or anything else than has been in the offing. I'm hoping to get it all sorted out soon so that I can focus on my dissertation again, which has taken a back seat in recent weeks. Departure from Korea in August looking very, very likely now.

St. Patrick's Day started off with a very late poker night last Wednesday, Irish trad session with Tommy and a few others at Shamrock n' Roll on Thursday, Friday night gig following on from the fantastic 'Fotla' at Club FF's 'Go Green' party, a brief visit to the Irish festival in Insadong on Saturday before our gig at RMT that night. Around 6-ish I started getting calls and texts going on about something to do with Slash and his band being in Seoul for a gig this weekend and possibly being around RMT that night. I was too tired and busy getting into the spirit of the day to really think about it. As it turned out, his drummer, Brent Fitz, was there when we arrived. The band were introduced to him on our break, and he asked to come up and do a couple of numbers! Having said he could play "anything", there then ensued a pretty funny "not that one" saga before we agreed that we'd call him up for 'Paint It Black'. Jim was incredibly cool about it, because he is a great person, to put it simply.

The gig was scrappy (technical hitches, drunkenness abounded, energy was low) but no-one seemed to mind or notice. The atmosphere was great (we always get a good crowd at RMT, no matter what), and we were enjoying ourselves. A few co-workers were there, which was very nice of them, but made me a bit paranoid. I don't think I'm exactly their favorite co-worker and being on-stage is just asking for judgement and condemnation. Still - something you have to get over if you choose to be in a band! When the time came to call Brent up, I wasn't at all sure what to say. Cheese it up? Play it cool? Make a big deal of it? I probably did some kind of awkward mixture of the three. He was a cool guy and it was very, very hard not to just forget the words and stare at him as he played. It's the first time any of us had played with a professional, touring musician (although all that kinda stuff is old hat to Jimbo). He wound up staying on for 'Otherside' as well and threw a few really nice compliments our way as he went off. Definitely something for the grandkids, even though I think a lot of the crowd barely noticed. It was cool for us though. Very.

He actually got a few of us on the guest-list for the show the next day, but I was absolutely sapped when I woke up on Sunday, so I gave it a miss. Watched Chunnam V FC Seoul on the telly but I'm not going to start on that one right now. Have been playing catch up in a lot of ways this week but really on top of my classes, and feeling as though I'm on the verge of becoming a fully-functional human being again soon! Gig at Woodstock coming up this weekend. Bearing last week in mind, you never know what the night will bring...

Opportunities

Really upbeat today. Did an interview this morning, really just for the sake of it, which turned out really well. It was with Dipont Education for an international school in China, which I had already all but written off in my mind behind the option of going to Cairo (which I have, in theory at least, accepted). As a result, I wasn't at all nervous and was really frank in explaining the incredible irregularity of my qualifications and teaching experience. Teenagers in England > elementary school kids in Korea > adults in Buenos Aires > adults in Korea > Uni students and kids in Korea. It doesn't exactly look as though it has been rationally thought through by someone who has a clear view of the desired trajectory of his career. So I just explained that I felt too young to settle down to a teaching career at 23 and wanted to work in different teaching environments whilst studying towards my MA, which is the truth! That conversation led to me telling her that, eventually, I want to be a Social Studies/History teacher, which in turn led to her lining me up for an A-Level History & ESL position at Nanjing Foreign Language School. It's by no means a done deal (both sides have things to look into) but it looks a great option if it comes through. A path back into the kind of teaching I really want to be doing, a lot earlier than I had anticipated.

So I'm in good form today because my mood is almost 100% influenced by events that happen to me rather than by my own self-control. Blue skies and snow out my window. Lots of work to get through with my students in our last two classes tonight and tomorrow because I was only about 50% all there the first week of the course this time around. Big, big, big celebrations in store for St. Patrick's Day (otherwise known as St. Patrick's Weekend over here). Will dash out of work on Friday to headline the Friday night at FF's 'Go Green' party and, if I pace myself, we'll be hosting the St. Patrick's Day party at Rocky Mountain Tavern on Saturday night. That's a big 'if'...

Events

There's been a lot going on of late in my little life: some of it serious enough; some of it not at all. For tonight, I'm just going to bring you all up to speed on the more trivial elements. I don't want to be getting too heavy on here at 1.25am!

Catherine and I headed down to Daejeon last Saturday for the Daejeon Citizen V FC Seoul match and, later, for a friend's birthday. The weather is really weird in Korea these days. The start of the match was pretty hot, but by 5pm it was shiver-inducing frostiness once again. You just don't know were you stand! I loved the whole experience of visiting another away World Cup Stadium, hanging out with 'Cath', the atmosphere in a bigger-than-expected crowd (they reckon over 30,000 but I'd be pretty skeptical about that), and the beautiful sunny day. The match, or rather, the FC Seoul performance, left a lot to be desired. Wagner put Daejeon ahead on 14 minutes following an unforgivable miscued header in a suicidal position from Lee Gyo Ro - not his only blunder of the match either. We somewhat fortuitously equalised on 37 minutes when a Djeparov free-kick from the right was nodded into his own goal by Hwang Jae Hyun, although Daejeon keeper Choi Eun Seong should probably have done better.

As the temperature plummeted in the second half, Seoul began to carve out a few half chances, without really looking all that threatening. The longer the match wore on, it became fairly obvious that Daejeon were happy enough with a draw, and it was all away pressure without much end product. The hugely ineffective Molina was guilty of a particularly glaring miss, as was Server Djeparov, whom I can pardon a little more easily as he was by some distance our most influential player. Kim Tae Hwan put on the most frustrating of crap, pathetic displays on the right wing. No vision, no idea where to run, no guts, no stomach for a fight, and no respect for his superiors when he inexplicably chastised Djeparov having not read a delightful through-ball from the Uzbek captain. The guy is so far below the required standard, but it looks as though he'll feature under Hwangbo Kwan, who has had a pretty shaky start as manager thus far.

In football, the chance to turn things around with a positive result usually comes around quickly enough. FC Seoul did so earlier tonight with a convincing 3-0 home victory over Hangzhou Greentown of China in the AFC Champion's League. Dejan, former Metz trainee Ou Kyoung Jin, and Molina all chipped in for what is undoubtedly a great result to make it two wins from two in the competition so far. I have looked over the starting line up a few times and still can't make head nor tail of it. Molina was dropped to the bench (he came on to score) and Djeparov didn't feature at all but I'm not sure if they were rested or injured or what. I get the impression that the manager has no idea yet about his preferred starting eleven, and I hope he can figure it out before we lose touch with the top teams in the K-League! Saturday sees us travel to Chunnam Dragons, who haven't looked like pushovers at all in their opening two matches. I'll be taking time out of my St. Patrick's Day festivities to watch it on TV. Defeat would mean one point from a possible nine and leave us languishing at the foot of the table. A win, on the other hand, will be 'proof' that we're starting to find our feet and are still one of the teams to beat this season. All the more harrowing is the sight of Suwon Bluewings perched at the top of the league... Cmon Seoul...

That's the football rant out of my system for the week. Normal service resumes tomorrow - whatever that is.

Last Weekend

Figuratively speaking, I have had my head up my backside all week so I'm only getting around to ranting about all the shoddy football and other events from last weekend. Honestly, I think any team I even thought about liking lost. Derry City went down to an 88th minute sucker punch at home against Sligo Rovers, having missed a penalty (and easy rebound) through new-signing Eamon Zayed in the first half. FC Seoul looked a shadow of the side that looked so great at home last season as they lost their opener 2-0. Unforgivably, it was against arch-rivals Suwon Bluewings. They looked great. Please, no... There aren't many positives to take from that one: Molina was anonymous; the tactics were shot; team selection nonsensical... I can only hope and pray (but to whom?) that we come out with something more positive from our travels to Daejeon Citizen this Saturday. To rub salt in the wounds, Liverpool trounced Man Utd 3-1 at Anfield late on Sunday night. In the eternal words of Peter Cunnah, "things can only get better."

Lots of crap has been going on behind the scenes in life these days but nothing that I can really talk about on here. What I will say is that it may be time to rethink our faith in Seoul as a 'safe' city. A friend got into a taxi in Itaewon on Saturday night only to be robbed at knife-point by someone who had stolen a taxi and later withdrew a significant chunk of cash from her account. She'll get it back, but that's hardly the point. Of course people should be vigilant wherever we live, but I know that we Seoulites often take our personal safety for granted, and maybe lower our guard more than we should. Needless to say, take care...

In the ensuing days, I somehow lost my FC Seoul season ticket (after one use - although I can get it reissued though) and had a big scare when my hotmail account blocked my access. Where do you think all my MA research data is? You got it. Thankfully, I got it sorted and have learned my lesson. The result being is that I no longer think the universe is conspiring against me this week (month and year) so I'm going to quit whining and get on with living.

I'm going to wrap it up here but not before I add another chunk from my old Bebo blog. In a poignant example of the cyclical nature of life, this one is around the time of a break-up about a month after I moved to Seoul. It also really pissed off an ex, as I recall, but I'll post it again - what the hell!? This entry DEFINITELY sounds at least a little gay but, hey, I did write it.

New Year Seoul Blues!!	1/3/07
	Well the New Year hasn't really started as I'd hoped as things have come to a pretty sad conclusion with Becs. I never knew it was such a popular season for it! But I'll be trying to take positives from it like every other shit thing that ever happens. Part of me has been thinking about calling it a day here but having just talked to Rob (expected back here end Feb) I'll prob rough it out. I can see myself having great craic here given time. The events of the last few days came as a massive shock but we're all still friends, etc. I'm also getting a taste of my own medicine and understand a lot of things about the past much better now. Why can't we still be friends Louise? Oh, this is why. Yeah I see it now. Better late than never. No one has died though and I get her reasons. So the story now is that I'm 24, outgoing, hot (hehe) and single in Seoul. Although it isn't really what I want right this sec, it doesn't sound so bad on paper does it? New Years Eve was shit enough because of the timing but also fun in ways. It was random. I preferred last New Years much more (take note tootsythumbs, lol). I'm not back in work til next Monday but rather than mope around I'm trying my very best to explore, socialise, feel good again. I hope all is well with you lot. Do stay in touch, it's always great to hear from you. Someone tell Furey I'll make him listen to SCLUB7 if he doesn't at least email. Tell Jay to join this thing too the postman Pat wannabe. Hope your New Years was...better than mines, lol. All the best, Brian (still smiling)

Blast From The Past - From Yours Truly

I'm in shitty form these days so there's no point blogging with nothing positive to say. However, I just remembered that I used to blog on Bebo (remember that?) absolutely years ago. So, what I'm going to do is post a few of my early entries here and let you compare the tone of 23-year-old Brian and 28-year-old Brian. How did that happen...? Make of it what you will. It starts off during my PGCE, and the last post is from my early days in Korea, many moons ago. Don't I sound happy?

Drink free zone4/29/06 Well, not had a drink for THREE WEEKS. That may not sound like much to you but, for those of you who know me best, it's a long time!! Must say it's bloody good too, believe it or not. I still go out, I still do the whole socialising thing BUT when I wake up in the morning there is the lack of that strange throbbing sensation (keep the thoughts clean...) in the head that used to mysteriously affect me following a night on the piss. There tends also to be a bit more cash in the pockets as, surprisingly, we non-drinkers (ah the irony) tend to not drink Coca-Cola at the same frequency as beer (or vodka, sambuca, whiskey, tequila, all of the above...). Seriously speaking I feel amazing. I recommend it. The only major flaw is that people constantly seem to feel that I would like to be reminded that I'm not drinking (alcohol) on nights out. It also seems to put people on edge. BUT interestingly no-one notices I'm not drinking until I tell them so. I'm not famed for being shy and retiring. I think I'm going to keep it up a while longer. It would be nice to just maybe have the odd beer or two on a night out, but I know myself too well. One becomes ten - simple as. Anyways, just thought I'd share my little social experiment with you all. We have Ofsted in school this week and I have my last (hopefully) Uni observation on Thursday so its going to be a busy one. Picked up a good quote from school; "Worry is like riding on a rocking horse. You can do it all day, but it won't get you anywhere!" Thought it was cool. Anyways, do be in touch,

take care,

Brian

	Drink free bullshit...	7/19/06
	Just to confirm the obvious - I am no longer drink free. Two months was cool. Life is better with a bit of booze - double JD and coke anyone? x

Seoul-tastic 12/3/06 Well I've been here four days now and it feels like I've done a million things already. First off I better say that I love it! My flat is ok, rough n' ready like but does the trick. It's a good size too. The school is really nice and the teaching is far from rocket science, although some of the younger kids are annoying I must say. The other teachers are dead on but as I'm the only foreign teacher I guess the conversation is limited, lol. We all headed out for dinner last Friday night and it was awesome - karaoke bar afterwards too was sweet!! My bosses couldn't really be more helpful if they tried. Met up with Rob that night too and spent a good chunk of the weekend laughing as a result. If he comes to Seoul in March as he is planning then it will be an amazing year. Found the biggest market area I've ever seen in my life today and bought two pairs of shoes for about 11 stg, lol. Have already earned more than I've spent and that's impressive considering I've been buying one-off essentials like CD players, etc. Could save a fortune here this year and feeling rich for the first time in my life! Anyway, just to let you all know I'm alive and feeling good. Keep in touch! Happy Christmas! 12/23/06 23/12/06 Things have settled down nicely here. The teaching is mainly easy to be honest. There aren't many jobs I've done that involve an hour in the morning, a four hour break and then three hours in the eve. But that's my story Mon, Wed and Fri so it's pretty sweet. Plenty of time to read, catch up with people at home, eat, etc. So yeah, the job is sweet. I get on really well with a girl at work and we hang out quite a bit. Other than that I occasionally frequent the least Irish 'Irish' bar I've ever been to in my life in Itaewon (the English speaking area). Have met some sound people, some right eejits. So much the same as home really on that score. Last weekend I met some people who live quite close to me and they are a very sound bunch. Few English, Canadian, etc. Get on well with them so head out with them quite a bit and will be spending Xmas, New Years, etc with them. Social side of things is pretty good here. Watching the cash a bit as my first pay doesn't arrive until Jan 5th but after that I'll be laughing hopefully. Of course some days everyone suffers from the 'Seoul blues' where everything just gets on top of you a little bit but I've only had two days like that so far so I can't complain. Plus it was mainly drink-induced, lol. Being so far from Becca is far from ideal too but we keep in touch as much as we can and I think most of the time we're dealing with it quite well. Tonight I'm heading out with Eunice (korean work-mate) to Suyu then meeting Alex (London lad), etc. in Itaewon to head out. Nights out here last until 6am at least, as that's when the subways re-open. It's a whole new lesson on 'pacing yourself' for me, lol. Being here for Christmas will be very strange. Of course I'd love to be in Cooley but so many people here are in the same boat so I'm sure we'll make the best of it. Be sure to keep in touch. Most people I expected to are but some (Furey!!) aren't doing as well. My number is 010 6870 2470 if anyone feels so inclined over the Christmas I'm sure that'd be nice. Hope you're all well and have a great festive period, Brian