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.

It's Coming..

It's been ages since I blogged about football so I'm going to rectify that situation today and you can like it or lump it. I got up at stupid o' clock this morning for the Ireland V Wales Nations Cup opener at Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Trapps can be a bit frustrating with his insistence on always sticking with the same conservative line-up even when younger, more exciting players are coming through. Last night, there were three new caps for Marc Wilson, Seamus Coleman and Ciaran Clark; all very encouraging. The match and the result were more than encouraging. 3-0, all good goals, not much bother at the back, and plenty of players staking their claims for future participation.

The one glitch was the news that James McCarthy may have withdrawn from the squad because he's considering switching allegiance to Scotland, the land of his birth. This guy is a real talent, a claim his goals last weekend against Blackburn only provided extra strength to. He has played for Ireland before, but not in a competitive match, so we haven't actually nailed him down to representing us. Although it would be unfair to complain about the results we've achieved under Trappatoni, it's questionable whether or not he has our long-term welfare at the centre of his thoughts. Surely, making sure McCarthy comes on for a couple of minutes at the end of a competitive fixture that's more or less in the bag, is just smart thinking. Considering the fact that we're already without Premiership-level creative midfielders the likes of Andy Reid and Stephen Ireland, we don't need to be losing another that could well feature under our next, (hopefully) more adventurous manager.

Today, the FC Seoul website have presented our fixtures for the 2011 K-League season. First up, we will be welcoming arch-rivals, Suwon Bluewings, to Sangam on Sunday, March 6th. It's obviously a tough start to the season but, given that they have signed a lot of new players and will probably be very competitive this term, I'm glad we're playing them before they'll have had enough time to gel. We have signed a few ourselves (most notably Molina and Kim Dong Jin) but, with Djeparov signing on a permanent basis, it's much the same squad that won the K-League so impressively last season. It'll be my first match as a season-ticket holder, beeping myself through our own gate: no more queuing for tickets for meeeee!!!

The following weekend I'm hoping a few of us will head down to Daejeon for the match against Citizen. We have a good friend working down there so I'm trying to arrange a gig that night and make a real day and night of it; it'll actually be his birthday then too. The weather is getting warmer, our lad's night out is rapidly approaching, K-League around the corner, Derry City starting off our first season back where we belong in early March, already talk of World DJ Festival: it's coming...

Bla

Well here I am, nearly a week back on Irish soil and it's all a bit... underwhelming. Yes, I know, the grass is always greener and yes, I know, I'm so lucky to be home for Christmas. But there is no doubt that Monday-Friday in Cooley is a slow ride. Added to that is all the family 'clutter' I usually forget about during the year which leads to me really looking forward to getting home, unprotected from the upcoming frustration. Every time I come back I suppose a small part of me is wondering, 'is it time to call it a day abroad? Could I live here again?' and the conclusive answer is, 'no!'. As I've said many times before, Ireland is where I would like to bring up my family and I think it's a great place to live. However, for me, an unmarried man in my (mid...) twenties with a lot more I'd like to do and see around the world, I just couldn't hack being back here too long. The majority of the friends that I had growing up around here are elsewhere now, and I'm not even sure what it is that I'd do if I lived in Moville. Even writing the sentence doesn't feel right. Someday, but not now. A great place to live, but not for me.

As for the family 'clutter' I mentioned... We all love our family, right? Of course we do. But that doesn't mean that they don't do about a million things that irritate us to the point where I think they've actually been giving me headaches. When we live at home we build up resistance, coping mechanisms to get us through the day. When we move away, we let our defences drop so that when we visit home again BANG we are vulnerable to the full brunt of all those niggling little peculiarities you will never get your head around, but which will never change. My mother, for example, (cooking me a lovely dinner as I slag her off to the world - how lovely I am) speaks all her thoughts. All the time. You won't see her looking thoughtfully out the window. No. You'll HEAR HER, perhaps, going through her entire day in order to figure out where she left her phone. She is currently commenting on how much of a mess she's making. Oh, and that's another thing, she talks to the dog. Full sentences. If the dog eats from the cat's bowl, she reasons with it. I think I feel a kind of a connection with our dog, Millie, as she stares back dumbfounded.

Nonetheless, I know that if I waste my time at home I'll regret it when I get back and said regret will span the entire year or however long it is before I grace these shores again. At the moment I'm internally vowing not to come home next Christmas. Too much cost, no one seems to give a crap anyhow, nice white sandy South-East Asian beaches trump being snowed in with my TV-addicted parents. Still, I also know that the next week is going to be brilliant when Ji and all my sisters are here and I hopefully get to catch up with more of my old friends. Then all my negativity will go out the window. My main concern right now is getting down to Dublin tomorrow (we Irish don't handle a bit of snow very well) and being at the airport when Ji arrives around 11pm, all being well. Most of my presents are bought, a good portion of my relatives have been visited, there's not much more I can or have to do before the big day. A couple of days in Dublin could be just what the doctor ordered. My bank account, on the other hand, may not agree - hats off to those of you who can afford to live here!

The family jibes - just tongue in cheek I hope you realise! Of course they bug me, as I bug them no doubt. When you consider that I have spent the majority of the last ten years away, what can I expect? In reality, they are essentially having a stranger invade their house for a couple of weeks. They have their version of normality, and I have mine. For a very short period of time once a year or so, we just have to try to meet in the middle.

Home

Well here I am sitting at the very seat and looking out at the very field, town and lough that I talked about in my last entry. The strangest thing about being home is how it feels as though I never actually left. It's almost an entire year since I was here and saw my family in person, but it feels like the most normal everyday occurrence in the world. Some things around the house have changed (the never-ending saga of home improvements) of course, but a whole year of highs and lows in Seoul don't hold as much sway in my mind than the 18+ years spent stumbling up here right now. I think no matter how settled you become somewhere else in the world, there's nowhere that can ever hold the influence over you the way home does. That is, if you're lucky enough to have been somewhere long enough to have been able to have called it home...

The flight was all very nondescript. Not much sleep, some young Korean sport's team being very loud and excitable the whole way to Germany, nearly having my duty free taken from me in Frankfurt because we're apparently not allowed to take any from Korea (I'd check that out if I were you and travelling soon), watching 'Inception' on the plane and not being blown away. My sister Charlene gave me a lovely surprise by coming to the airport in Dublin to meet me. That's twice in a row now (Catherine met me last time I went back to Korea) so I just might start expecting it! Then followed a late but sensible enough night out with Charlene, Lisa and Caomhain (I have given in) near Temple Bar. The DJ's second-last song of the night was this 'epic' that is expected to be the Christmas Number One here. Oh, the pride...:




I'd say that first night back in Dublin showed me the very best and the very worst of socialising in Ireland once again. All the good manners, courtesy, hello, excuse me, and generally being friendly and giving a crap about one another. On the other hand, we saw a fairly nasty scrap between a taxi driver and a lady of real 'class' in the wee hours on the way home. If only there could be a middle ground.

I only got back up home on Sunday night after a nice chilled out day with Charlene near Clontarf. I've been taking a few nice pictures that I'll get up on facebook (and a few here) after the holidays. I read an entire TIME on the bus back to Derry; the 'special timeframes issue' reviewing the key events from the past ten years, which was just brilliant. The strangest thing that struck me was how I generally forget how recent so many everyday things we take for granted actually are. Facebook and Youtube only came into existence in 2004 and 2005 respectively. It really makes you wonder what changes 2010-2020 will bring to our lives, and what we'll look back on and struggle to remember ever having happened.

The last couple of days have been quite chilled out. I've been going for massive long walks and enjoying the relatively mild weather we've been having and trying my best to stay offline and spend as much time as possible with Mum, Dad and Melissa. It's a bit frustrating because, like every other year, they have taken on a big job in the house in the mouth of Christmas so they're actually pretty busy most of the time. I just want them to drop everything and concentrate on me for the short time I'm home! How's that for honesty? My other sisters will be arriving home by Monday and that's when Ji will be here too so I guess that'll be when Christmas really starts. Shame that I'll be on a plane back to Korea just a few days later.

My plan for the next couple of days is to finish up my Christmas shopping (thank you duty free) and start catching up with as many friends and family members as possible. As I'll be in Dublin Saturday-Monday, I have precious little time home and I want to use it as wisely as I can. I have only really been chatting to Rob in any depth so far and he's not even home yet! Mind you, it was great chatting to him and I'm looking forward to catching up with both him and Hee Young on Christmas Day. I doubt many of us here in 2000 would ever have entertained the idea that there would be two Korean girls in the Craig household in 2010. I'm not sure how our neighbour, Willy, is going to cope with it at all!

Perfect Timing

I guess you have to be careful about what you write online but let me just say, I'm glad I'm going home for a couple of weeks tomorrow. My blood was absolutely boiling earlier after a meeting with my boss when the injustice and, for want of a better word, bullshit I have to deal with here from time to time reared it's ugly head once again. Being called disorganised because I ask my boss to do something which will help us all be better organised and being disliked simply because I don't lay back and take it like some other people I could mention. The beauty of it all was that she didn't want to give me my evaluations. Why? Because they were, as usual, well above average and that doesn't fit in with her theory of liking the teachers who simply lick up to her most successfully. Nonsense. The amount of extra work I put in FOR MY STUDENTS that goes totally unnoticed is fine by me. I think it's part of the job. But actually being treated less well because I have the balls to point out when she's wrong and I'm right, that does make you wonder what the point of it all is. Ok maybe I'm being naive, that's the way it is, bosses just like people who nod and smile and don't rock the boat, but I'm going to stick to my guns. Worst case scenario I work somewhere else from March. The beauty of it is that, as I'm a good teacher, there's actually nothing she can do to hurt me. So much for me being careful about what I say on here. One last thing, it was suggested that my top priority should be my job and that I should always be sat in the teacher's office on the off-chance that she wants to tell me that we have a pointless meeting tomorrow morning. Ok, I'm done...

Just finished packing and I have that nagging feeling that I have probably left something really important in my flat. I got some soju, makkeoli, kim, pretty landscape pictures, home made soap (the things students give you...) and Korean sweets to bring back. I was toying with bringing over some Hite D for Rob because I can't remember if it was out when he left, but I'm not sure how much he'd appreciate a can of fizz when I could just buy him a nice.... Smithwicks, or something. I'm not looking forward to the journey but I AM looking forward to meeting Charlene, Lisa and Kev (ok Caomhain...) for a few beers in Dublin and getting back up to Moville on Sunday night. I've brought back a few bits and bobs to study but I'm promising myself that I'm going to take it easy and spend loads of 'quality time' with the family. The chores can hold off until January, and I'm sure they'll be fine.

In a weird way, I'm sad to be leaving Korea for a couple of weeks and missing Christmas dinner at Gerry's with Catherine, Thomas and their gangs. Mind you, I am chuffed at the thought of having a beer with Gerry in Derry and hopefully seeing Rob, Hee Young and Jamie on Christmas Day. Ok, you might be reading this not knowing who any of these people are, but I'm sure the sentiments of getting to see people you haven't seen for what seems like an eternity aren't lost on you (ok I saw Gerry last Sunday, but I've never met him in Derry). I haven't seen my sister Rachel in two years!!!

I'm probably going to be busy for a few days and I'm leaving my laptop here (aaaah!), so next time I blog I'll be in my sitting room at home in Cooley, looking out at a field full of cattle, snow-covered Moville, and Lough Foyle. Weird. Have a great weekend everyone.

Oh - one final thought. The locations of visitors are usually fairly easy to figure out (think Mongolia, Barcelona, Leeds, Australia, Slovenia, Incheon, etc.) but WHO THE HELL do I know in Iceland? Identify yourself, you're doing my head in.

What the be-cheese-us!?

A piece of research I was reading today for my MA (Hugh Starkey: Language Education, Identities and Citizenship: Developing Cosmopolitan Perspectives) spoke of language teachers being pigeon-holed according to their nationality. I'm sure that strikes a chord with other people living somewhere other than where they grew up. "Oh you're from Ireland? Ireland is bankrupt. Irish people love to drink. Irish food is like Korean food (!!??)." etc, etc. "Your friend is English? He must be a gentleman." Need I say more? As a result of this, I keep a weary eye on the news from home. Please don't do anything to embarrass us! The recent story of a judge sending a man on a pilgrimage who shouted abuse at a Garda, for example. That'll sort him out! However, that story almost becomes complimentary when compared to what I heard on bbc 5live earlier. In these times of financial hardship, government unpopularity on an unprecedented scale, rising emigration among the young who can't get qualification-appropriate work at home, and a general sense of apathy, the Irish government have come to an ingenious conclusion. They know just what is needed! Incredibly, Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith has just announced that 1 kilo blocks of cheese will be made available to the needy for free "in time for Christmas". Not only is it internationally embarrassing, it is an insult to the intelligence of people who have had a lot to endure over the last couple of years. I'm certainly not in any rush to get home. Where do I sign that contract extension?

My day started with some proofreading work being thrown on my desk at the last-minute before it was needed. What a shocker. It was actually quite fun because it was an end-of-term course evaluation form for the English Department on campus. Most of it was what you might expect, related to the level of preparedness of the professors, quality of class materials, etc, etc. However, just thrown in there was the question, "Is Confucius Korean?" I'm not quite sure what that has to do with anything... More alarming were the mentions of cheating during exams. "Would you say there was a lot of cheating during the exam?" Possible answers ranged from "a lot" to "not much". I got the impression that a certain amount of cheating was expected, maybe even acceptable. Last week I informed the office that having marked the exams of two of my five classes without anyone getting 100%, there were then FOUR together in the third class. A little suspicious... The girls in the office just had a bit of a giggle. I do sometimes think about the possibility of doing my PhD in Korea in the future. Some of the things I've seen since I started working here make me worry about how highly-regarded such a qualification might be elsewhere in the world.

Before I go, a quick shout out for "The Outside View" podcast, which was absolutely top-notch this week. I'm looking forward to their play-off preview next week and it's great seeing the strides the pod has made recently. I've decided that I'm going to have one focus per week for my blog which I'll be doing a bit of research into with the hope of creating something a bit more substantive once a week, at least. A lot of my co-workers seem to have been speculating about 'fan-death' recently, so I guess that's as good a starting point as anything. Have a good day everyone!

LBH

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...

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.

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.

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...