Bump!

Just checking in late on this Monday night with a few words on the weekend, the next few days, next weekend, and the general state of the world! Ok, well, the first few anyhow. I had a really good weekend in spite of the fact that my taxi home on Friday night had a bit of a run-in with a lamp-post. Nothing big (just a bit of sore back) but it was a bit scary at the time. The taxi next to us just veered across us so we had no chance. There was an old drunk guy a few feet from the post who had a close shave, but was oblivious to it all. I have certainly taken a few bumps this past twelve months or so.

It had been a great night because I went to Haebangcheon to see Zee at The Local, to be closely followed by Sticky Fingers unplugged at The Orange Tree. Zee's gig was so nice and intimate. I thought she was pretty good before this night; now I'm blown away. Just her and her guitar, so pure, raw, and right there in front of us. Banter between songs because the place was so small she could just chat away to all of us. Jeff's band just after were equally enjoyable. Seeing musicians stripped down (easy!) and hearing vocalists clearly - it was a great night. So much talent in this city.

We were all out on Saturday night for Catherine and Stephen's birthday at Shamrock n' Roll. It was a good fun night all round. Those two got fairly well on, as one must on your birthday! I headed home early enough (still the wee hours) because I had rehearsal the next day with Cheon's band at the ungodly hour of 2pm on a Sunday! It was a cool rehearsal because it was them playing their original stuff and me finding melodies for it: kind of what I have always wanted. Cheon has sent me the files so I'll spend the next few weeks working on melodies and lyrics, before we attempt to get something recorded. We're also going to tease the Muse cover thing out a bit more; maybe with a Muse-only cover gig once a month or something. They are fun guys to play with.

I'll be meeting Cheon, Jeff and Jim tomorrow night for Dead End Friends' rehearsal in lieu of our gigs this Friday and Saturday in Bucheon and Hongdae. They'll be our first shows since January 15th (in Gwangju) for one reason or another, but we're hoping to play three out of the four weekends in March, including a couple of shows for the St. Patrick's Day celebrations here. Lots to look forward to! My big aim for the next month or so is to get our name out there a bit more. Might start spreading a rumour about one of the lads for a bit of publicity...

I'm off to immigration tomorrow for my visa extension. Six more months at Duksung, at least. Still mulling over Cairo. Indonesia not completely ruled out. Interview coming up for an international school in China (I'm not 100% clear where in China exactly!). I still really like Duksung and my classes here but I still also feel as though I'm stagnating and could do with a change and a better level of teaching. If no suitable international school jobs come through, I'm going to have a look at a few Citizenship jobs back in England. I've been reading some Council of Europe recommendations for citizenship education these days and I'd love to be putting it all into practice.

I highly recommend downloading The Daily Bacon podcast from bbc radio 5live today, if only for his interview with a catty Ruby Wax. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy her cutting him down for his smugness and lazy research, but she also highlights the problems associated with depression and the attached stigma in a forthright and honest way, which actually bordered on blunt. Like her or not, she makes some brilliant points about a condition that affects 1 in 4 people in Britain directly, yet is barely talked about.

Been A While

Well here I am in Starbucks, Itaewon, finally getting around to updating this; the latest self-imposed bain upon my existence! I have been kind of off the radar since last Thursday for one reason or another, but here I am again, much the same as I was last week. Realistically, how much can change in a few days? Quite a bit, probably.

Our big, highly-anticipated (by us) 'lads not on tour' night was a bit of a messy blur last Saturday night. It was definitely fun for a good chunk of the night, before it all went off the rails for me with embarrassing consequences. Soju... Need I say more? Eden is not and never shall be my cup of tea, Sven Vath could have been a song on a CD player somewhere, and I was most comfortable at 'Gerry's' - the first time more than the second, during which time I was, apparently, pretty unresponsive! Still, there's no harm in having a bit of a blow-out once in a while: as long as it is just once in a while.

The working week thus far has been busy, busy, busy. We are back to our DDE intensive classes: six classes a day every day this week, conferences, planning, marking - it doesn't allow much time for much else. Which is unfortunate, because everything else is looming as much as it ever was/is/will be. I still have my 'other commitments', dissertation, songs to be learned, brilliant book to be finished, and band stuff. I'm actually in Itaewon because we were supposed to have practice tonight, but it was called off at short-notice, which happens. We just need a few hours to refresh our set for gigs next weekend at The Park, Bucheon (Friday 25th) and Club FF, Hongdae (Saturday, 26th). Will be great to get back on it and set up a busy March, which I'm hoping will include a gig in Daejeon, and an outdoor slot for the St. Patrick's Day celebrations in central Seoul.

On the job-hunt front, it's still much the same as ever. I'm still proceeding with the application process for Cairo English School, arranging an interview with Mt Zaagkam International School, and applying anywhere else I see fit. I had a bit of an annoying experience with an international school here in Seoul over the last couple of days, but I'll go into that tomorrow. Too tired to deal with details today: I didn't fall asleep until after 4am last night, for no particular reason.

Ireland: keep emailing me the craic about the election. I'm seeing some funny stuff on facebook. Is Enda Kenny really going to...?

Hope you're all having a good week. Back in more depth tomorrow, hopefully.

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.

Tick Tick Tick Tick

Somehow, we only have two days left until our Saturday night show at Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon. We had rehearsal last night, but Cheon (our bassist) didn't make it. He had one of those horrible work dinners that Koreans are often obliged to attend (and get wasted at, whether they like it or not) and just couldn't make it on time. It's hardly ideal, but it happens. I have been known to miss entire rehearsals myself or show up unbelievably late so I certainly can't go casting any stones. The three of us managed to get through quite a lot of material and Cheon tends to know what he's doing anyhow, so it's not a disaster. We have two hours to go over things one more time on Saturday but then it's crunch time. Honestly, I think we're still a week or two away from being 100% ready (if such a state can ever be attained), but we should be tight enough to get by. We needed this date as a deadline to motivate ourselves. We did the same with U R Seoul. Things always seemed to come together. If they don't, we still have to make sure it's a fun night for us and everyone in attendance. I'm a bit nervous and apprehensive, but I really can't wait!

Jim, Darragh and I headed to Shamrock n' Roll to watch as much of FC Seoul's visit to Seongnam as we could before we had to tear ourselves away for band practice. It was a good, strong line-up, which showed that players must have been rested last weekend against Busan with this encounter in mind. Lee Seung Ryeol put us 1-0 early on with a fairly fortuitous but well-worked goal. Unfortunately, the lead didn't last long as Seongnam leveled things before the 20-minute mark. Up step Jeong Jo Gook to stroke home what turned out to be the winner, after excellent link-up play with Choi Tae Wook, who has been sensational for us since his mid-season arrival from Jeonbuk for his second spell with the club (previously from 2000-2003 when we were Anyang LG Cheetahs). Jeong has been stepping up recently and, if we can overcome Daejeon on Sunday at home and clinch top spot, it will be largely down to him and his recent match-winning performances. The match highlights are here (although I'm not sure they're working right now). Huge game on Sunday to book our place in the play-off final on December 1st and 5th. 3pm - Sangam World Cup Stadium.

I have my language-exchange in 5-minutes so no time to chat about the Stoics, Socrates, Seneca and global citizenship, which I was reading about this morning for my MA dissertation. I'll bet you're devastated! I will leave you with my 'fact of the day'. In ancient Greece, small genitals were a plus, being a symbol of manly self-control. Large genitals, on the other hand (!?), were symbolic of weakness and a lack of self-restraint. So, there you go.

Prepared, As Ever!

Well, it's that time of year where for some unknown reason we all think it's totally normal and acceptable to dress up and look ridiculous for no particular reason. I love it! It's always a bad time to be away from home because the celebrations in Derry are hard to beat. Still, we always manage to make a night of it no matter where we are. I have some great memories of Halloween celebrations in Seoul, playing gigs, shocking innocent Koreans in bars who have no idea what's going on, etc. The year Jim and I (dressed as spiderman and 'superhero') walked into a Korean bar in Hongdae for a quiet drink and asked for scissors to cut holes to aid our toilet trips, before being politely asked to leave. Definitely one of my classiest moments.

Last night, we had a Halloween party at work which actually ended up being a whole lot less crap than I had expected it to be. The students had a small budget and about an hour to transform their classroom into a theme of their choice with activities for other classes to take part in during the party time. My homeroom opted for a ghoulish casino (might go some way to explaining my appearance above) and really pulled out all the stops to make it look amazing. I'll put a picture of their work up when I can. The actual casino games took a bit of a back seat to posing for pictures and wandering around the other rooms. It was amazing how great all the classrooms looked considering how little time (and money) they all had to do it in.

About 20 minutes before class ended, they started cleaning up WITHOUT ME HAVING TO EVEN ASK THEM TO! Not a week goes by without a reminder of how different it is teaching in Korea and teaching in England. I don't see myself staying here forever, but I'm certainly going to miss the respectful behavior and positive attitude of students here, as opposed to the teeth-pulling (and sometimes overt verbal abuse) elsewhere. No doubt, teaching here has softened me up a bit, but I'll cross that bridge when and if I come to it.

As usual, it's Halloween (or at least the night we'll be going out to celebrate it) and I have feck all organized to wear. I was some kind of zombie teacher last night so I'll probably go down the lazy route and be a zombie again tonight. Bit of blood, torn clothes, make-up, fuzzy hair... that should do it. I actually gave away my 'priest' costume to a co-worker so I wouldn't be tempted to wear it for the FOURTH time. I definitely would if it was still in my possession. More to the point, I have an assignment due tomorrow that I just can't get into the frame of mind to sit down and actually write. Hence the blogging, the costume planning, the tidying, the doing of the laundry, the calling everyone about tonight's plans, the doing-anything-I-can-think-of-other-than-writing-my-assignment...

Before I go and face the inevitable, a quick plug for my mate's new Irish bar in Hongdae. It's called 'Shamrock n' Roll' and is very close to the little park across from the main gates of Hongik University. We headed there on Wednesday night for their first night of business and were all really impressed. It's a good size, easy on the eye, has a good selection of drinks, easy-going bar staff, big screens, and, well - it's an Irish bar! We're planning on spending some of our time there tonight and, if you're in Seoul, you could do worse than follow suit. Happy Halloween everyone!