Lads On Tour

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

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

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

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

Calm Down

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

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

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

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

Living For The Weekend

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's Always Sunny When You Study

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

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

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

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

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

Back On Track - Or Getting There

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm Still Alive

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

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

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

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

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

Here Goes

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

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

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

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

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

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

One Of Those...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OK

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

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

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

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

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

Surreality

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

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

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

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