LBH is something I heard pretty early in my time in Korea from a Canadian friend who has long since moved on to bigger and better things. We were talking about the kind of foreigners you sometimes come across working here. Oh, I had no idea how accurate it was then as I do now. LBH? LBH = 'Losers Back Home'. In general, I've been pretty fortunate with the people I have worked with here, particularly in my first year when I was the only foreign teacher at my academy! But, there's no doubt, you see them around. Regularly on their own at Seoul Pub in the wee hours on a Saturday night. Constantly the first to pipe up and share their 'knowledge' of the sun, moon, stars or everything at any given opportunity. The only people who ever say anything negative (to our faces) at gigs, in the mistaken belief that criticizing makes it sound as though they know what they're talking about. All over the message boards on Dave's. Facebook's most vociferous, even though they seem as timid as a mouse when you occasionally meet them in person. Commonly to be seen on the arm of some beautiful Korean girl who, for some reason, can't see how much of an asshole her boyfriend is. Oh, if you live/have lived in Korea, you know who I'm talking about.
The reason I bring it up now is that the only real complaint I ever have about life in Korea is complaining foreigners. I know, the irony isn't lost on me, don't worry. At times, it actually infuriates me. The absolute worst thing is foreigners complaining about the Koreans offering their services but not speaking English well enough for their liking. WE LIVE IN KOREA! THEY SPEAK KOREAN HERE!! Often, the person who says this has lived here for a fair few years, but (like myself) hasn't bothered to learn the local language to the point where they can do all their dealings through it. Another is people complaining about the amount of work they have to do or unfair expectations from their employers. No doubt, some people are royally screwed over here. I can't argue with that. But I have some strong opinions about the qualifications necessary to teach here. If I had a child and found out that his/her teacher had, for example, a 2:2 degree in a subject unrelated to what they teach, well, I wouldn't be happy. Would you? Nor do I buy the TEFL/CELTA argument. Having done my PGCE, TEFL and CELTA, I can tell you that the latter two only really need to be completed, they're not exactly taxing. They don't necessarily improve you as a teacher. A year-long PGCE doesn't even slightly prepare you for the range of scenarios you might have to deal with in the classroom. There's no way a 100-hour (or similar) certificate can claim to do more than serve as a very small first step. For those reasons, I think teachers here should count ourselves very lucky to have been able to get jobs that are, in general, straight-forward, relatively well-paid and fairly secure. That's not me saying that teachers with fewer qualifications can't be good, or that those with more qualifications necessarily are.
Some people here have legitimate gripes, I don't mind them. It's the majority who are basically complaining rather than facing up to their own inadequacies that do, sometimes, really bother me. Please let me NEVER turn into that. Living in Korea has paid for my MA, my trips over the past 4/5 years, given me teaching experiences beyond those I could have had in England, given me the opportunity to sing with great musicians and introduced me to a lot of people I know I'll know for years to come. I could complain, I sometimes do (and will), but we shouldn't. I think it's totally disrespectful to the place we live and the people who live here. Rant over.
Haven't been blogging due to a heavy workload and what I think I can accurately refer to as sleep-deprivation over the past few days. I, perhaps unwisely, got up at 3.30am on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning to watch Ireland labour to a 3-1 win at home to Andorra. Brownie points if you even know where Andorra is. McGeady was better than I have ever seen him for Ireland (which isn't saying much) but the cautious Trapattoni approach can be SO frustrating to watch. Nevertheless, we are top of the group after two games (20% of the campaign already). After we have welcomed Russia and visited Slovakia (their conquerors last week in Moscow) next month, we'll have a much better idea where we stand. I loved my time in Poland last December. How sweet it would be to go back to watch Ireland there in 2012.
Like I said, work is tough these days but I'm enjoying it. I'm probably putting more time into preparing the lessons than I need to but the classes are going really well and, to be honest, I love the satisfaction of creating a lesson from scratch with an end goal in mind and watching it all fall into place the way I wanted. That doesn't always happen, but when it does, it feels good. Some of my students are so earnest and hard-working that they make me want to prepare even more so that I can squeeze everything I can out of them. Sometimes that has resulted in me pushing them too hard, but I guess you have to learn from that. I have the added pressure (in my own mind, at least) of sharing my DDE2 classes with probably the best teacher here. I know I need to be at the races to avoid looking anything other than rubbish in the eyes of the students in comparison to him. Reading back, I see I need to get a bit of balance back into my life too. What would Tom Hodgkinson say!?
On that note, I'm looking forward to tomorrow, Friday, hopefully meeting my friend's girlfriend, dinner with friends at Hollywoods on Saturday, free tickets (I hope) to FC Seoul V Daegu at 7, and whatever happens after that... No band practice this weekend due to unforeseen circumstances but here's one of the songs we're planning on covering at our earliest convenience. Classic...
Showing posts with label European Championships 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label European Championships 2012. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Monday, 6 September 2010
It's a Skill...
....mastered by me. Really, it takes a special kind of person to stay in on a Friday night, few quiet beers, bit of footy streaming live online... and still manage to not make it to bed (a mere 6 feet away) until nigh-on 8am. It might say something about our screen-obsessed internet-based generation, but I actually had a pretty nice night sat in on my lonesome. The couple of hours between the end of class and midnight flew as they always do before Stephen and I messaged frantically trying to find a good stream of Armenia V Ireland.
We struck gold about twenty-minutes into the game (myp2p.eu is the way to go) and witnessed the rest of the first half, largely dominated by Ireland but with no cutting edge. We were both starting to get a bit panicky before Keith Fahey (whose arrival at the expense of Duffers I roundly criticised...) finished a decent move to put us ahead. That was the signal for us to start pressing the self-destruct button and, towards the end of the match, we looked as though we had confused Armenia with Brazil. Still, we held on. 1-0 away from home against an awkward opponent is a good start. Perhaps we could have done it in more style, but that may be me getting above my station. Bring on Andorra tonight at the Aviva - I'll be setting the alarm clock for 3.30am, let's see how successful that'll be...
After the Ireland game was Wales away to Montenegro, who opted NOT to select (my hero) Dejan, who played for FC Seoul the next night. Still, they managed a 1-0 home win to put pressure on Toshack's position as manager. I wonder how much longer the little fledgling nation-state will be under-estimated? Then, it was Scotland struggling to a draw away against Lithuania and Northern Ireland grabbing an unlikely win in Slovenia, who were at the World Cup this summer! That led to England's hammering Bulgaria 4-0, and the inane criticisms in the British media, which drove me to email bbc radio 5live more than once during the night! How you can win 4-0 against decent opposition and still continue to be ripped apart by the very same media that tipped you for World Cup honors mere months ago, is beyond me.
Needless to say, I didn't have the early start and productive Saturday that I had anticipated when I struggled to fight the temptation to join Thomas in Itaewon the night before. In fact, I just about had enough time to get ready and eat before I had to leave for Sangam World Cup Stadium for FC Seoul V Gwangju. We had a bit of a scare on the way when it seemed that the game may have kicked off at 7pm, rather than 8pm, which we thought. Helpfully, one of the information lines said 7pm, while the other said 8... Turned out 8 was the way to go. I met Ji, Jim and Stephen at the stadium. FC Seoul were a bit shaky at times but ran out 3-0 winners with a simple free-kick from Kim Jin-Gyu, a decent finish from Dejan and a beautiful and instinctive lob over the keeper from Choi Hyo Jin, who is fast becoming my favourite FC Seoul player. Don't tell Dejan... After the match we headed to Itaewon, then Hongdae... I think I might just be too old to enjoy nights out the way I used to. It was fine, but very chilled. Maybe it's just a phase...
We had a pretty good band practice on Sunday but it was mainly just spent going over things we had done in the past, as it had been so long since we had been able to get together. We got our heads together to fix a date for our first full gig at the start of October in Rocky Mountain Tavern, Itaewon. Now we have something to aim for, and a bit of pressure to get the 20+ songs we'll need altogether. We'll need a name by then too... this is really starting to get ridiculous.... Suggestions, please!
Monday was a long, tough day. It's going to be so every week. The General English classes on campus are a challenge because I only see the students once a week so it's tough to build up any kind of a rapport or get a substantial amount of work done. I'd say I was only at 75% for the first half of the day. One of the hardest things about teaching is that you do really have to be on it all the time, or standards start slipping, and you do/say things you wouldn't do if you were at your best. Thankfully, I squeezed in a bit of a nap before my evening classes and was back on form. My TOEIC class are one of the best groups of students I have ever taught, in terms of attitude and application. I really hope I can keep them on that track.
I had a bit of a scare just before my classes last night. During my nap, I was having some fitful nightmare that something was wrong with my Dad. He was trying to wake me up to say 'goodbye' and it was all pretty unpleasant, to be honest, even after I had been awake for a while. By sheer coincidence, my Mum called me to around 6pm. Now, she NEVER calls me mid-week and she KNOWS I teach late classes. Understandably, I answered the phone fearing the worst, only to find out that she was just calling for a chat... All ok in the end, but another reminder of the precarious nature of life in Korea, where one call from home could change everything in a heartbeat. In fact, I guess it's the nature of all our lives, wherever we are.
But let's not end on too grave a note! I just recently found out that we'll be welcoming two old friends to Seoul over the next few weeks. My ex-girlfriend, Annie, should be visiting in early-October, and our ex-bassist, John, will be here for Chuseok a week from Friday. It'll be great to see them both. We might try to play a gig with John, if Jeff is free. It looks as though Annie might be here for our first gig, which would be weird, because she would be the only person there (I think) who was also at the first U R Seoul gig in 2007, other than Jim and I, of course.
Well, that's more than enough for today. I have physiotherapy in an hour and I'll be back tomorrow with a report of Ireland's glorious victory against the might of Andorra tomorrow.
We struck gold about twenty-minutes into the game (myp2p.eu is the way to go) and witnessed the rest of the first half, largely dominated by Ireland but with no cutting edge. We were both starting to get a bit panicky before Keith Fahey (whose arrival at the expense of Duffers I roundly criticised...) finished a decent move to put us ahead. That was the signal for us to start pressing the self-destruct button and, towards the end of the match, we looked as though we had confused Armenia with Brazil. Still, we held on. 1-0 away from home against an awkward opponent is a good start. Perhaps we could have done it in more style, but that may be me getting above my station. Bring on Andorra tonight at the Aviva - I'll be setting the alarm clock for 3.30am, let's see how successful that'll be...
After the Ireland game was Wales away to Montenegro, who opted NOT to select (my hero) Dejan, who played for FC Seoul the next night. Still, they managed a 1-0 home win to put pressure on Toshack's position as manager. I wonder how much longer the little fledgling nation-state will be under-estimated? Then, it was Scotland struggling to a draw away against Lithuania and Northern Ireland grabbing an unlikely win in Slovenia, who were at the World Cup this summer! That led to England's hammering Bulgaria 4-0, and the inane criticisms in the British media, which drove me to email bbc radio 5live more than once during the night! How you can win 4-0 against decent opposition and still continue to be ripped apart by the very same media that tipped you for World Cup honors mere months ago, is beyond me.
Needless to say, I didn't have the early start and productive Saturday that I had anticipated when I struggled to fight the temptation to join Thomas in Itaewon the night before. In fact, I just about had enough time to get ready and eat before I had to leave for Sangam World Cup Stadium for FC Seoul V Gwangju. We had a bit of a scare on the way when it seemed that the game may have kicked off at 7pm, rather than 8pm, which we thought. Helpfully, one of the information lines said 7pm, while the other said 8... Turned out 8 was the way to go. I met Ji, Jim and Stephen at the stadium. FC Seoul were a bit shaky at times but ran out 3-0 winners with a simple free-kick from Kim Jin-Gyu, a decent finish from Dejan and a beautiful and instinctive lob over the keeper from Choi Hyo Jin, who is fast becoming my favourite FC Seoul player. Don't tell Dejan... After the match we headed to Itaewon, then Hongdae... I think I might just be too old to enjoy nights out the way I used to. It was fine, but very chilled. Maybe it's just a phase...
We had a pretty good band practice on Sunday but it was mainly just spent going over things we had done in the past, as it had been so long since we had been able to get together. We got our heads together to fix a date for our first full gig at the start of October in Rocky Mountain Tavern, Itaewon. Now we have something to aim for, and a bit of pressure to get the 20+ songs we'll need altogether. We'll need a name by then too... this is really starting to get ridiculous.... Suggestions, please!
Monday was a long, tough day. It's going to be so every week. The General English classes on campus are a challenge because I only see the students once a week so it's tough to build up any kind of a rapport or get a substantial amount of work done. I'd say I was only at 75% for the first half of the day. One of the hardest things about teaching is that you do really have to be on it all the time, or standards start slipping, and you do/say things you wouldn't do if you were at your best. Thankfully, I squeezed in a bit of a nap before my evening classes and was back on form. My TOEIC class are one of the best groups of students I have ever taught, in terms of attitude and application. I really hope I can keep them on that track.
I had a bit of a scare just before my classes last night. During my nap, I was having some fitful nightmare that something was wrong with my Dad. He was trying to wake me up to say 'goodbye' and it was all pretty unpleasant, to be honest, even after I had been awake for a while. By sheer coincidence, my Mum called me to around 6pm. Now, she NEVER calls me mid-week and she KNOWS I teach late classes. Understandably, I answered the phone fearing the worst, only to find out that she was just calling for a chat... All ok in the end, but another reminder of the precarious nature of life in Korea, where one call from home could change everything in a heartbeat. In fact, I guess it's the nature of all our lives, wherever we are.
But let's not end on too grave a note! I just recently found out that we'll be welcoming two old friends to Seoul over the next few weeks. My ex-girlfriend, Annie, should be visiting in early-October, and our ex-bassist, John, will be here for Chuseok a week from Friday. It'll be great to see them both. We might try to play a gig with John, if Jeff is free. It looks as though Annie might be here for our first gig, which would be weird, because she would be the only person there (I think) who was also at the first U R Seoul gig in 2007, other than Jim and I, of course.
Well, that's more than enough for today. I have physiotherapy in an hour and I'll be back tomorrow with a report of Ireland's glorious victory against the might of Andorra tomorrow.
Friday, 3 September 2010
TFIF
Ok, yeah alright it's Friday night! Even though I'm just sat in with a couple of beers waiting for the Armenia V Ireland match on iraqgoals at midnight, it's still a great feeling to have a tough week out of the way and a couple of days of relative ease to look forward to. And it has been a long, tough week. The amount of lesson-planning is insane and, coupled with two physio sessions a week starting yesterday, it seems a long way until the Christmas holidays in Ireland right now. I'm so deprived of sleep that I actually passed out at my desk yesterday at about 6pm and needed a wake-up call from the office to get me to class at 6.40pm!? Not good. On the plus side, the time I'm putting into planning is really paying off in the lessons. I'm still pretty chirpy about it all at the minute, but let's see how I feel after a few weeks of this carry on. Definitely not what I signed up for.
The trip to the hospital yesterday was pretty encouraging. The doc told me that my knee is progressing and not to worry too much about occasional swelling. I have at least another month in my brace but he wants me to start cycling in the gym in a couple of weeks so I'm definitely getting there. I also had my first of seven proper physio sessions. Hot pack, ultra-sound, electro-pulse therapy, laser treatment, and about an hour of rubbing, prodding, bending and twisting. I was in awe of how much the nurse really knew what she was doing (or seemed to...) and the pain and swelling I had been enduring all week subsided pretty quickly. It also helped that almost everyone I came across spoke pretty decent English and were so reassuring and informative. It's still a major inconvenience, and surgery is still a possibility, but I definitely feel a lot more positive about it all now.
My language-exchange in Myeong Dong earlier today was a little short but sweet today, due to my schedule. I'm glad to say that Na Ra is progressing gradually with her English proficiency, and I think I am gradually becoming less embarrassingly rubbish at Korean. I'm determined not to let it slip and undo all the work I put into it over the summer. The same goes for guitar, which I'm still mucking around with when I can. Apparently we all have to have something to play/sing at home for Christmas so I might be able to accompany myself for the first time in my life. Why I didn't learn guitar earlier, I simply cannot say. It turns out that a Colombian friend of Rachel's will also be spending Christmas with us, so it'll be quite the cosmopolitan celebration up in Cooley. I'll get my musical fix before that at band practice on Sunday with Jim, Jeff and Cheon. It hasn't been easy to arrange with all our different responsibilities with work and other bands, but hopefully this is the start of us getting our act together again. Suggestions on covers are always welcome, as is a band name, which we STILL haven't been able to come up with...
Big weekend of football coming up BUT I'm not going to go into it today. I do want to plug the first K-League podcast which I listened to just minutes ago. It certainly has it's flaws and was very biased and barely acknowledged the existence of FC Seoul (due to the fact it was presented by two Suwon fans, I assume) but it's a brilliant resource for English-speaking K-League fans and I expect it to develop and get better and better. FC Seoul V Gwangju tomorrow night at 8pm, World Cup Stadium, minus our international players. Still, it should be a comfortable home victory. We need it to be. Incidentally, I think I have wangled four free tickets for next week's match against Daegu from a bar owner friend in Itaewon. I'm picking up my fair share of FC Seoul freebies these days!
Right, I'm struggling to stay awake at this point so I'm going to sign off and ready myself for what will hopefully be a great start to Ireland's European Championship 2012 qualifying campaign. I very much doubt that I'll be blogging again before Tuesday (I'm dreading my grueling Monday timetable already) but, in the meantime, let me know if there's anything you'd particularly like me to write about on here. I always have ideas at random times throughout the day but whenever I actually sit down to write, whatever comes out, comes out. Maybe I'm being a bit too 'safe' with my subject matter. Remember, I'm still pretty new to all this. I'll leave you with an incredibly good version of one of the songs our 'as-yet-unnamed' band will be going over on Sunday, I'm sure. Have a great weekend. Make it count.
The trip to the hospital yesterday was pretty encouraging. The doc told me that my knee is progressing and not to worry too much about occasional swelling. I have at least another month in my brace but he wants me to start cycling in the gym in a couple of weeks so I'm definitely getting there. I also had my first of seven proper physio sessions. Hot pack, ultra-sound, electro-pulse therapy, laser treatment, and about an hour of rubbing, prodding, bending and twisting. I was in awe of how much the nurse really knew what she was doing (or seemed to...) and the pain and swelling I had been enduring all week subsided pretty quickly. It also helped that almost everyone I came across spoke pretty decent English and were so reassuring and informative. It's still a major inconvenience, and surgery is still a possibility, but I definitely feel a lot more positive about it all now.
My language-exchange in Myeong Dong earlier today was a little short but sweet today, due to my schedule. I'm glad to say that Na Ra is progressing gradually with her English proficiency, and I think I am gradually becoming less embarrassingly rubbish at Korean. I'm determined not to let it slip and undo all the work I put into it over the summer. The same goes for guitar, which I'm still mucking around with when I can. Apparently we all have to have something to play/sing at home for Christmas so I might be able to accompany myself for the first time in my life. Why I didn't learn guitar earlier, I simply cannot say. It turns out that a Colombian friend of Rachel's will also be spending Christmas with us, so it'll be quite the cosmopolitan celebration up in Cooley. I'll get my musical fix before that at band practice on Sunday with Jim, Jeff and Cheon. It hasn't been easy to arrange with all our different responsibilities with work and other bands, but hopefully this is the start of us getting our act together again. Suggestions on covers are always welcome, as is a band name, which we STILL haven't been able to come up with...
Big weekend of football coming up BUT I'm not going to go into it today. I do want to plug the first K-League podcast which I listened to just minutes ago. It certainly has it's flaws and was very biased and barely acknowledged the existence of FC Seoul (due to the fact it was presented by two Suwon fans, I assume) but it's a brilliant resource for English-speaking K-League fans and I expect it to develop and get better and better. FC Seoul V Gwangju tomorrow night at 8pm, World Cup Stadium, minus our international players. Still, it should be a comfortable home victory. We need it to be. Incidentally, I think I have wangled four free tickets for next week's match against Daegu from a bar owner friend in Itaewon. I'm picking up my fair share of FC Seoul freebies these days!
Right, I'm struggling to stay awake at this point so I'm going to sign off and ready myself for what will hopefully be a great start to Ireland's European Championship 2012 qualifying campaign. I very much doubt that I'll be blogging again before Tuesday (I'm dreading my grueling Monday timetable already) but, in the meantime, let me know if there's anything you'd particularly like me to write about on here. I always have ideas at random times throughout the day but whenever I actually sit down to write, whatever comes out, comes out. Maybe I'm being a bit too 'safe' with my subject matter. Remember, I'm still pretty new to all this. I'll leave you with an incredibly good version of one of the songs our 'as-yet-unnamed' band will be going over on Sunday, I'm sure. Have a great weekend. Make it count.
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Hobble, hobble.
So I haven't really mentioned my dodgy knee for a bit and the reason for this is that, compared with initially, it has not been feeling too bad. Unfortunately, the end of my lazy summer days and my pretty tough schedule so far this week has made it necessary for me to be up on my feet more than my beleaguered ligaments were ready for. Welcome back, swelling. Long time no see, throbbing pain. It's been a while, hobbling. Coincidentally, my next (and I was hoping last) appointment at the hospital is today. If the weather holds up (there is a typhoon in town today but, thankfully, it hasn't been too drastic so far) then I should hear what he has to say and have some idea when I might be able to get back to full mobility. That's the dream! haha.. throbbing...
Yesterday evening, I headed over to Ji's house to chill out with her and with the intention of watching Pohang Steelers V FC Seoul on her TV (I don't have one myself). Infuriatingly, the game wasn't being shown on any of the MANY sports channels here. Apparently, it makes more sense to play the SAME baseball match simultaneously on different channels rather than air a team that attracted 60,000 supporters to a match earlier in the season (albeit on Children's Day and with a promotion, but still). I got to see the goals on the news and watched the extended highlights this morning. I'm delighted to say that we recorded an impressive 4-1 win to move up to third in the table, just a point behind Seongnam, who have played a game more. Importantly, we're also 9 clear of Suwon (evil) in 7th. Hopefully there will be no slip-ups at home against Gwangju on Saturday night at 8pm, Sangam World Cup Stadium.
Dejan was missing for the game because he's off on International duty with Montenegro who face Wales at home on Friday and travel to Bulgaria the following Tuesday. With Switzerland and England also in that group, it's a really tough one. Ireland have a tricky start against Armenia in Yerevan on Friday before what should be a straightforward tie next Tuesday in the new Aviva Stadium against Andorra. We have a fair few injury concerns and Trap is still on the mend, but surely there's a possibility of taking all six points on offer. How sweet that would be...
Schedule still tough as... Had the luxury of a full night's sleep last night but there is SO much preparation and SO many classes that the end never seems in sight no matter how much work I seem to be getting done. Thankfully, they are all going well and I think I know where I'm headed with them all. I'm eager not to let things like guitar, Korean, reading and so on fall by the way side. For now, I'm managing to keep everything in check (and blog regularly, which is a welcome distraction). When the MA recommences in early October, I'm not sure how I'll fit it all in. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it...
Yesterday evening, I headed over to Ji's house to chill out with her and with the intention of watching Pohang Steelers V FC Seoul on her TV (I don't have one myself). Infuriatingly, the game wasn't being shown on any of the MANY sports channels here. Apparently, it makes more sense to play the SAME baseball match simultaneously on different channels rather than air a team that attracted 60,000 supporters to a match earlier in the season (albeit on Children's Day and with a promotion, but still). I got to see the goals on the news and watched the extended highlights this morning. I'm delighted to say that we recorded an impressive 4-1 win to move up to third in the table, just a point behind Seongnam, who have played a game more. Importantly, we're also 9 clear of Suwon (evil) in 7th. Hopefully there will be no slip-ups at home against Gwangju on Saturday night at 8pm, Sangam World Cup Stadium.
Dejan was missing for the game because he's off on International duty with Montenegro who face Wales at home on Friday and travel to Bulgaria the following Tuesday. With Switzerland and England also in that group, it's a really tough one. Ireland have a tricky start against Armenia in Yerevan on Friday before what should be a straightforward tie next Tuesday in the new Aviva Stadium against Andorra. We have a fair few injury concerns and Trap is still on the mend, but surely there's a possibility of taking all six points on offer. How sweet that would be...
Schedule still tough as... Had the luxury of a full night's sleep last night but there is SO much preparation and SO many classes that the end never seems in sight no matter how much work I seem to be getting done. Thankfully, they are all going well and I think I know where I'm headed with them all. I'm eager not to let things like guitar, Korean, reading and so on fall by the way side. For now, I'm managing to keep everything in check (and blog regularly, which is a welcome distraction). When the MA recommences in early October, I'm not sure how I'll fit it all in. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it...
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Lansdowne Aviva...
I stayed up last night to watch the Republic of Ireland's first match at their 'new' Aviva Stadium. In truth, it's a much-upgraded version of their old ground, Lansdowne Road, with a new name. This selling of stadium naming rights is becoming ever more common in football and I can't say that I like it, although I realise that's just the way it is. I hope people will still refer to it as Lansdowne Road and that it can retain the reputation it enjoyed under it's former guise, as a 'tough place to come'.
The first game was a so-called 'glamour-tie' against Argentina (although the use of that term seems somewhat wasted on a bunch of sweaty footballers such as Richard Dunne, Paul Mc Shane and Damien Duff - we're not based with very handsome footballers, we Irish). Without our manager Giovanni Trapattoni (fine Irish name if ever I heard one), who was in hospital having receivedsurgery , we were flattened by 'the Argies' (as Steve Staunton kept excruciatingly calling them on Sky Sports) for the first half and went in one-down at the break. The second-half was a more encouraging display but Argentina were rarely threatened and Robbie Keane cut a frustrated figure at the end of the game in which he earned his 100th cap.
I think that it's important that in Irish football, we remember to know our place. Our history at major championship finals only really stretches from 1988 to 2002 (so far - and we did also qualify for the 1964 European Nation's Cup), and we are a country of a little more than 4-million people, although with an admittedly vast diaspora, bless our little fertile socks. If we are to qualify for the European Championships of 2012 (to be hosted jointly by Poland and Ukraine) it will only be our second qualification for the event. Yet, bizarrely, a nation expects. My hope is always that we manage to bring through at least one or two players of real quality (the likes of Dunne, Given, Duff (who hasn't scored for Ireland for four-and-a-half years..) and Robbie Keane - all sadly nearer the end of their careers than we'd like) and a good number of players who can raise their game on occasion to punch above their weight. At present, we have a good number of the latter, but are beginning to lack in the former. I was heartened to see 19-year-old Greg Cunningham come on to make his debut at left-back (a spot owned by Kevin Kilbane a little longer than is ideal) but he will probably miss out on the 25-man Manchester City squad this season as he is behind Kolarov and Bridge in the pecking order. I still feel as tough we have a decent shot at qualification, but we need one of the likes of Cunningham, Gibson, McCarthy or Sheridan to really make strides over the next season or two. It'd also be nice to see players of the quality of Stephen Ireland and Andy Reid back in a green shirt sooner rather than later. First match of the big campaign will be on September 3rd away against Armenia, a must-win match if ever there was one.
I managed to find a good old Western movie to watch last night; 'Bad Company' (1972) starring a young Jeff Bridges alongside Barry Brown. No doubt you know Jeff Bridges as 'The Dude' in 'The Big Lebowski'. If you ever feel like boring me to death, just sit around quoting that movie at me. Guaranteed success. Perhaps you're less likely to know Barry Brown, the reason being that he committed suicide only 6-years after this starring role. He played a sensitive type in the movie and the following quote shows he was probably much the same in life.
"An overdeveloped imagination is necessary to being a good actor. But left to itself alone in a room, it can take over. It's like a demon that somehow leaps out of you and starts to do things to you."
I did quite a lot of acting as a teenager and young adult and that certainly rings a few bells in the people I saw around me and, especially, those who have gone on to pursue their dreams later in life (my sister being an exception in that she s exceptionally grounded). I was never anywhere near talented enough to consider that, so I was safe in that it was always just a fun and healthy way to enjoy my youth. I guess it seems obvious that some actors are likely to be escaping (or attempting to escape) from themselves, but as a good friend of mine once said, it takes more than changing where you are or what you do to alter who you really are, or determine whether you are happy or sad. Another quote spoke of how Brown only felt truly happy when he was acting. That struck a chord with me but, in my case, it's teaching that brings me that feeling. In the classroom I know the boundaries, the rules, the plan, the procedures. I alone am responsible for determining the outcome through my preparation or how I conduct the class. Alas, that luxury is not afforded us in our daily lives. Or if it is, please tell me how and where!
The first game was a so-called 'glamour-tie' against Argentina (although the use of that term seems somewhat wasted on a bunch of sweaty footballers such as Richard Dunne, Paul Mc Shane and Damien Duff - we're not based with very handsome footballers, we Irish). Without our manager Giovanni Trapattoni (fine Irish name if ever I heard one), who was in hospital having receivedsurgery , we were flattened by 'the Argies' (as Steve Staunton kept excruciatingly calling them on Sky Sports) for the first half and went in one-down at the break. The second-half was a more encouraging display but Argentina were rarely threatened and Robbie Keane cut a frustrated figure at the end of the game in which he earned his 100th cap.
I think that it's important that in Irish football, we remember to know our place. Our history at major championship finals only really stretches from 1988 to 2002 (so far - and we did also qualify for the 1964 European Nation's Cup), and we are a country of a little more than 4-million people, although with an admittedly vast diaspora, bless our little fertile socks. If we are to qualify for the European Championships of 2012 (to be hosted jointly by Poland and Ukraine) it will only be our second qualification for the event. Yet, bizarrely, a nation expects. My hope is always that we manage to bring through at least one or two players of real quality (the likes of Dunne, Given, Duff (who hasn't scored for Ireland for four-and-a-half years..) and Robbie Keane - all sadly nearer the end of their careers than we'd like) and a good number of players who can raise their game on occasion to punch above their weight. At present, we have a good number of the latter, but are beginning to lack in the former. I was heartened to see 19-year-old Greg Cunningham come on to make his debut at left-back (a spot owned by Kevin Kilbane a little longer than is ideal) but he will probably miss out on the 25-man Manchester City squad this season as he is behind Kolarov and Bridge in the pecking order. I still feel as tough we have a decent shot at qualification, but we need one of the likes of Cunningham, Gibson, McCarthy or Sheridan to really make strides over the next season or two. It'd also be nice to see players of the quality of Stephen Ireland and Andy Reid back in a green shirt sooner rather than later. First match of the big campaign will be on September 3rd away against Armenia, a must-win match if ever there was one.
I managed to find a good old Western movie to watch last night; 'Bad Company' (1972) starring a young Jeff Bridges alongside Barry Brown. No doubt you know Jeff Bridges as 'The Dude' in 'The Big Lebowski'. If you ever feel like boring me to death, just sit around quoting that movie at me. Guaranteed success. Perhaps you're less likely to know Barry Brown, the reason being that he committed suicide only 6-years after this starring role. He played a sensitive type in the movie and the following quote shows he was probably much the same in life.
"An overdeveloped imagination is necessary to being a good actor. But left to itself alone in a room, it can take over. It's like a demon that somehow leaps out of you and starts to do things to you."
I did quite a lot of acting as a teenager and young adult and that certainly rings a few bells in the people I saw around me and, especially, those who have gone on to pursue their dreams later in life (my sister being an exception in that she s exceptionally grounded). I was never anywhere near talented enough to consider that, so I was safe in that it was always just a fun and healthy way to enjoy my youth. I guess it seems obvious that some actors are likely to be escaping (or attempting to escape) from themselves, but as a good friend of mine once said, it takes more than changing where you are or what you do to alter who you really are, or determine whether you are happy or sad. Another quote spoke of how Brown only felt truly happy when he was acting. That struck a chord with me but, in my case, it's teaching that brings me that feeling. In the classroom I know the boundaries, the rules, the plan, the procedures. I alone am responsible for determining the outcome through my preparation or how I conduct the class. Alas, that luxury is not afforded us in our daily lives. Or if it is, please tell me how and where!
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