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!

Rubber Soul

Hey there, I hope everyone is doing well. It's cold in Seoul and colder on the British Isles so chances are that if you're reading this blog, you've probably been doing a fair bit of shivering over the past few days. Tough it out, it's December! If, on the other hand, you're visiting from Australia then I hate you and you should feel bad about yourself. Jealous? Me?

I've been having a busy following a predictably packed weekend. Rehearsal was good on Saturday but we had an eerie few minutes towards the end when we realised we were the only people in the whole studio. They wouldn't leave for a bomb shelter without telling the waegooks, would they? Funny how paranoia starts seeping through at times like these... It was Cheon's birthday so we headed to 'El Bliss' right next to FF for a fancypants (thanks for getting that stuck in my head Annie) dinner. It's strange that somewhere so swish and upmarket is right next door to FF, which is... whatever the opposite of swish and upmarket is. The gig that night at Woodstock was, "just a gig" as Jeff put it. We were fairly tight and played well enough without the night being really noteworthy for any reason. The place was pretty much empty when we got there (they'd been having a punk night since 8pm) but a good few of our brilliant friends came along and ensured there was a good atmosphere throughout the gig. I can say without doubt that it's the first time I've been asked to sing 'Gangster's Paradise', repeatedly. I'm from Donegal. We don't have rappers, we have Daniel. Maybe I could do a Daniel rap, or... maybe not.



This weekend we're playing as part of the Rubber Soul event taking place in several venues around Hongdae, as well as in a couple of North American cities. We'll be playing at 11.15pm at Ting Tings in Hongdae, which is just a few doors down from Club FF. I'm looking forward to taking part in such a big night for a good cause. Of course it's always good to play at a new venue too. We were in having a look last week and it looks as though it's going to be pretty nuts if there is a good crowd in. We'll be finishing the live part of the night off following on from Sotto Gamba, who are one of the best band's I've heard in my time in Korea. They have two great vocalists, a 'funky groove', play great original tracks and are great to watch live. Check out their videos on their facebook page here. If you're in Hongdae that night, you could do worse...

Monday was NOT just the same old Monday. I'm not really sure why, but I was full of beans (a word that is making me slightly ill after that video...) all day. The morning classes were great, I did a bit of prep for my Lit Review, got my classes ready and they went really well. No Monday blues, no weekend hangover, no energy dip. I'm sad to say, I can't tell you why. I think it was just a fluke. I even got to catch up with family on skype later in the night. Only a week-and-a-half until I'm back on Irish soil for a couple of weeks. I'm really, really looking forward to it.

Yesterday I spent the whole day writing my draft Literature Review. I made the usual mistake of reading for too long and starting the writing too late, but it is just draft so it doesn't matter too much on this occasion. Now that I'm writing my dissertation, I'm paying much greater attention to small details than I have ever done in the past. Also, reading 'Succeeding with your Master's Dissertation' by John Biggam is really helping to focus my work. Aside from prepping and teaching my two DDE classes last night, writing the review took up my entire day. In saying that, I actually enjoyed it, which is a good sign if I decide to opt for further study once I get this MA out of the way. I know some of you are also working on your dissertation these days. I've said it before, but that Biggam book is a must-read.

And then it was Wednesday. It's another full day of classes, conferences, 'volunteer' supervision and study. The big global event today is, of course, the first leg of the K-League Championship final between Jeju United and FC Seoul on the southern island. There's a nice preview as part of this week's The Outside View podcast here. The good news for us is that Ku Ja Cheol is out injured for Jeju, having been so influential from midfield all season and for Korea U-23s at the Asian Games last month. The bad news for FC Seoul is that I'm going to miss the first half because I have to 'volunteer' to supervise a TOEIC study session. The loss of my support is going to be a big blow (I know), but I'm hopeful they can come away with a draw at least and set things up for a big finish at Sangam World Cup Stadium on Sunday. It's going to be cold, but it's going to be worth it... I'm already dreading three straight hours of oral exams with my General English girls on Monday morning. I know what you're thinking. Shame on you!

If you found the first video offensive, best not click on this one... Have a good day everyone. A special welcome to those visiting from the Korean blog list.

All Work and No Play

....you know the rest. To go on a tangent (if I can go on a tangent on the very first line of my blog), there was a discussion about proverbs on bbc radio 5 live today. Who the hell is Jack and why is he a dull boy? Who is this 'Larry' who's always so infuriatingly happy? Anyway, yeah, I definitely have fallen into the rat trap recently that I'm usually so keen to steer clear of. Go on Bob...



It's only Tuesday and I'm already living for the weekend. I cannot tell you strongly enough that that is not how I want to live my life. A big part of working in Korea is my desire to steer clear of the illusions of career, materialism, competition at work, and having to give due consideration to disgusting expressions such as 'work/life balance'. I don't want there to be a balance, I just want to have a life!

I guess my schedule has been tough since I started back after the summer holidays but it was do-able and I was feeling positive about it all. What has driven me to complain about my job (mere days after having chastised foreigners in Korea for complaining about their jobs...) is that I found out on Monday morning, from students, that I'm actually not off work next week, as I had been told by my boss. It might not seem like a big thing (and it isn't) but it's the principle of it that really bothers me. A co-worker pointed out that last-minute, inexplicably frustrating changes like this are just a part of working in Korea - and he's right. But they don't have to be. The end result is that I'll have lessons next Monday and Friday, pooping on any plans I had to get away for Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). On top of that, I'll have classes on the eighth week of this session (originally supposed to be a holiday) so I don't have any solid time off between now and going home for Christmas. Ok, I know a lot of people have it worse, but it's still frustrating. And needless.

Of course, it's out of the question to really criticize or inquire why you couldn't have found out earlier or why you had to be told by students (making you look as though you don't know what you're doing) or why this directly contradicts what you had been told at an earlier meeting. I nearly did that a bit when I first talked to my boss about it because it was at the end of a long Monday and I was pretty ticked off, but nothing good comes of that approach here. You have to do it because what the boss say, goes, and that's it. At a time of the year when I am, genuinely, working my ass off and cutting no corners in the hope of delivering good lessons consistently, it's tempting to ask yourself why you bother. My two DDE classes last night reminded me of the answer, if I had really even doubted it. When I went back to class to collect my computer at near enough 10pm, about half-a-dozen students were sat there in silence studying their TOEIC textbooks. Absolutely unbelievably. Brilliant. As a teacher, when the powers-that-be fuck you off, you've got to remind yourself that it's the students that you're really doing it for. Ok, no more complaining about work...for now...

FC Seoul Foreigner's Day? Well, you'd have to say that it was a pretty successful day for the club. I am indebted to Matt at Hollywoods in Itaewon for four free tickets to the game. It was bizarre seeing so many foreigners in Sangam World Cup Stadium and, to mark the occasion, the club kept showing reveling non-Koreans on the big screens throughout the game. There was a nice family atmosphere where we were in the East Stand. Check out the highlights of what ended up being a comfortable 4-0 win over Daegu, the highlight being a wonder-strike by the one and only, Dejan. That's eleven goals in our last three games, with only one conceded (against Pohang). K-League fans should also check out the latest (and ever improving) 'The Outside View' podcast, greatly enhanced by Matt Burnett this week, but still a little too Suwon Bluewings flavored for my liking. I can see that it's still a work in progress, and I'm looking forward to following it over the coming weeks and months.

No much more to say today because, these days, I'm eating, sleeping, laying awake in bed thinking about and dreaming about teaching. I kid you not. In fact, my goal for the week is to care less about my job. Thinking about an escape usually does the trick. I was reading about International Schools in Poland last week. Maybe I should toy with the idea of wrapping things up in Korea (for a while) in March, which is much easier said than done...

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.