Move Along Now

Holy crap guys (and girls.... in Seoul.... and the surrounding areas)! Some nice weather we've been getting, eh? Always makes me think of how my students screw up their faces when I answer in reply to their query that the weather in Ireland is pretty rainy... a lot of the time... Oh my God! How awful! Yeah - it's never anything as bad as this nonsense, (mainly) ladies. I can barely believe I'm saying this, but I'd actually love to be getting drenched in one of those deceptively wetting drizzles on my way down to Moville. I can barely even leave the house here today - and my ceiling is leaking!! Scary times. Stay safe out there!

T minus nine days for me already. Throw in Jisan this weekend (if the weather let's up, WHICH IT WILL!!) and I'm running round like a headless chicken trying to do all those things you need to do when you're leaving a country PLUS arranging a Chinese work visa PLUS finishing off a dissertation. Fun times abound. Actually, they do. I've been getting a bit emotional with my 'last this' and 'last that' these days but it's much better to be mourning the end of a brilliant chapter of your life than willing away each agonising minute that remains. I actually need to run right now. Korea people: stay safe. Moville people: enjoy this new festival, whatever it is. Everyone else: I love you in my own special way UNLESS I don't really know you and you're just reading to judge, criticise, and make yourself feel better about your own shitty life. Only kidding! Kind of... To sum up, I hope you're all really well, or really shitty. Night!

Oh! Annie has started up her blog again. If you don't know who Annie is then take a look and prepare to be entertained and impressed by her self-assured bitchiness. If you do know who Annie is, then you probably know what to expect!

Is This It? This Is It!

I've been on the receiving end of some gentle chiding recently on the old 'last gig ever' front. My first 'last ever gig' in Korea was in.... December 2007, or thereabouts. Yep - that's more than three-and-a-half years ago... Then there was our 'last-ever' with John and Kev, 'last-ever' with Jim, 'last-ever' UR Seoul, 'last-ever' Dead End Friends, 'last-ever' random gig, 'last-ever' at this/that venue... you get the picture. Of course, an element of it is trying to twist people's arm to come out. The whole 'pushing' part of being in bands is often pretty annoying (for you and me both!), but most of the time people seem to have fun, so I feel good about it more often than I feel bad. The real crux of the matter, though, is that I honestly never know that this or that gig won't actually end up being my last gig! I didn't really have any intention of returning to live in Korea when I left for South America in 2007 (I had been planning China as my next step, just as I am now). We had no idea how we could cope with the departures of Kev, John and Jim, before we were lucky enough to link up with other musicians who enabled us to keep the whole experience going that little bit longer...

I think the same can be said for any of us, in anything we do. I doubt FC Seoul's Ou Gyoung Jun had much of an idea that he was more than likely playing his last-ever game of professional football, as he started in our 1-0 League Cup defeat away to Gyeongnam on June 29th - although he may have had an inkling... I'm not going to go down morbid alley on a Friday night but we never know when we wake up in the morning whether or not this could be the last day in which we take a walk in our favourite park, listen to or favourite song, hold our favourite person's hand, or sing some of the best songs ever written with awesome musicians and wiggle around in front of an unsuspecting public!

This gig at Club FF tomorrow night will almost certainly be my last in Korea. Yes, of course it's not impossible that I might link up with someone in a future weekend trip to Seoul from Nanjing. Yes, I might end up hating my life in China and be back in a few months with my tail between my legs. Who knows? Still, the way I see it, I'm going to go into anything I love doing, with the thought that it just might be my last chance, and try to squeeze every last ounce of enjoyment out of the experience. If I don't see you at my latest 'last-gig', I'll see you a the next one...

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!