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!