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!

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!

InsomniAAAAAA

I'm sure most of you have had those nights... There's no reason why you shouldn't be tired and ready for a good night's rest, you've wound down, headed to bed at a decent time, light's out, eyes shut but... sleep evades you... I was in and out of bed, back and forth to the bathroom, opening windows, closing them again, trying to read, checking emails... until 4am or thereabouts last night! For some reason, there are nights when I just can't switch off. I must have gone over the lyrics of 'Stone Free' (Hendrix) about a million times - and I bet I still muck it up on Saturday. And yes, calling one night of not being able to sleep 'insomnia' might be going a bit far.

I'm just listening to 'The Outside View' (K-League podcast) online now, and it's kind of annoying me today, to be honest. It certainly has it's good points. It has a good layout, some informative features, the hosts are personable and entertaining and it seems to be professionally put together. Unfortunately, too often I don't get much more from it than I could from just looking at the weekly scores, fixtures, league table, reading through people's posts online, etc. Ok, it's not easy to find K-League information in English but surely with so many knowledgeable fans on the forum at rokfootball.com, there's an opportunity to pool that expertise and put it together to benefit fans from all the different teams. I certainly feel as though I know more about Suwon Bluewings, because the guys definitely know their stuff on that front. However, the likes of Gyeongnam and Jeonbuk... still pretty much just names to me. At the minute, it's good but perhaps has the potential to be a lot better. Matt not being there this week didn't help - I'm not sure what the football puns for each of this week's upcoming fixtures were all about... In fairness, it should be said that these guys are putting in their free-time voluntarily and providing a service to the ex-pat community that doesn't exist elsewhere. It's certainly more positive than negative.

Staying with the K-League, FC Seoul play our game-in-hand over Jeju (currently ahead of us top of the league) tonight, away against Seongnam. Winning the match puts us in pole position to the the table and secure our place in the play-off final, with the second leg in Sangam World Cup Stadium. Seongnam have been a traditionally strong team in my time in Korea (owned by the Moonies, but the most successful team in the country in terms of league victories) and are having a strong season again this year. What's making me nervous is that FC Seoul have been missing a few key players of late (Adi, most notably) and our strength in depth is being stretched. However, we have been scoring quite a few from different areas of the pitch and, although not as solid at the back as we had been, are still leaking relatively few goals. In fact, 22-year-old Kim Dong Woo has come in at the back and looked quite assured on the ball, if not as positionally aware as I'd like for a centre-back. I'll be watching the first-half at Gerry's (Shamrock n' Roll in Hongdae) before having to tear myself away to go to band practice at 9. The sacrifices I make for my 'art'...

Fastest Week Everrrr

Wow the days are just flying by these days, it's crazy. I honestly feel as though I just posted something on here yesterday or the day before but I guess it has been a week or so. Not that anyone will have been too distraught, I'm sure! My most time-consuming class finished on Monday night past and I completed all the marking and so on for it today, so things will be much more relaxed for me for the next week-and-a-half or so. Ji is always reminding me how I hate being idle (when I whine about being too busy), but I looooooove having a bit of free time after a busy period. Cycling about in the nice autumn weather, catching up with friends and emails, actually cleaning my room and sorting out my desk at work so I might actually be able to find things when I'm looking for them! The small pleasures...

The reason it has been so busy is that when I'm not busy working, I'm busy playing! Last Friday night we took our homeroom students out for a couple of drinks to mark the end of our session teaching them. I have to say, I was VERY uncomfortable with the idea of taking them out to a bar. The image of one foreign guy in his late-twenties (eugh...) walking in with fourteen female students in their early twenties (or even one of them in her late teens!) just didn't sit well with me. In the end, I decided it would be counter-productive for me to be the only teacher not to take my class out. And, in fairness, it was a pretty civilized night with my lovely homeroom that ended at a sensible time and never got out of hand or uncomfortable in any way. Unlike one or two of the other teachers that stayed out until the wee hours.... Playing with fire... I'll miss that class. I got them all little thank-you cards with notes about their progress and they wrote me a nice little letter full of compliments. A damn sight different to teaching back in England...

We had an epic, monster, triumph of a band practice for four hours on Saturday. In fact, it was a big day all round for us on the band front. Songs are coming together, sounding great, gig dates are being discussed, new members are starting to understand us and each other, and we got a lot out of Cheon and how he sees things over drinks later that night. The fact that Jeff is in about a million other bands is still going to be a problem (we had to go back on plans for a gig penciled in for Friday night because he's already playing twice), but at least Jim and I can see the end (or beginning) in sight. We even have a couple of possible band names in mind. We had 75% agreement on 'For Our Souls' last Saturday, but Jeff was not impressed, to say the least. A blessing in disguise I'm beginning to think.

Football has also been taking up a fair bit of my time. I got up in the wee hours last Friday and again on Tuesday to watch Ireland's European Championship qualifiers at home to Russia (3-2 defeat) and away at Slovakia (1-1). We aren't looking great and will probably now have to set our sights on making the play-off (second place in our group) but at least we're still in it. I still always love the buzz of watching the games live, sometimes even on RTE (Irish TV), even though I'm living so far away. Someday I might even be able to do the same with Derry City FC, who got their title charge back on track last Saturday with a 3-0 home win against old rivals Shelbourne.

We were also at Sangam World Cup Stadium twice in the past week. First for FC Seoul's brilliant, battling 3-2 victory over Gyeongnam FC (highlights here) and again on Tuesday night for the international friendly match between South Korea and Japan, if such a fixture can ever be considered 'friendly'. It was a fairly scrappy 0-0 draw but an amazing atmosphere and the biggest crowd I've seen in my many visits there; I'd guess maybe 65,000. Incredibly, a lot of the seats in our zone appeared to have been sold twice, causing a lot of confusion and aggro, as you'd expect. I also had some dude in front of me telling me to "sssshhhh!" a couple of times, which is fairly incredible when you consider the amount of noise throughout the game. I believe my crime was reading through the squad list with Jimbo, trying to put names to the players on show who we didn't know. We did get a bit of pleasure from shushing him anytime he made a noise, which was usually just booing a Japanese corner-kick or something equally constructive. As Jim noted at the time, I guess he was just a grumpy old git. Being singled out for being foreign (let's face it) does get a bit annoying. Seeing some drunk guy have his head stomped on three times by another old drunk guy last night, and the ignoring/avoiding by passers-by which then ensued (aside from Ji, who called an ambulance, as the guy was flat out and not moving) are all adding to my excitement at getting home for a couple of weeks at Christmas and away from it all. Just for a bit.

Yet again, another day of life has slipped away (not to sound glum or anything...) and it's time to go meet Ji in Suyu for dinner. I don't have a terribly busy day tomorrow so I'll try to catch up on the rest of the week and some other things. Hope everyone's week has been going well. Get your weekly K-League update from "The Outside View" here and I'll chat to you all tomorrow, in the form of a blog...

Bit of a Catch Up

My days have been pretty full recently so I have been neglecting my wee blog, and never did get around to putting up the aforementioned EAL activities follow-up post. I will, perhaps after I get over my recent teaching slump and don't feel like such a hypocrite suggesting approaches to others. Let's get everyone up to date on the 'important' things in life; work, football, music, reading and the old social life.

My ex-girlfriend, Annie, was visiting Korea last weekend. It was the first time I had seen her since we broke up in Buenos Aires in 2008 so there was obviously some trepidation involved. Added to that was the fact that I'm now seeing someone else, and this visit was probably something she'd rather hadn't been happening. All the same, Annie was the same old Annie and it was fun having someone back amongst us who was a big part of our big crazy first year in Korea. Back then, everything was new, we went out far more than we do now, we did things we simply couldn't even consider these days (well, maybe Stephen still has it in him). It was a crazy weekend by recent standards in that we went out on both Friday and Saturday nights as well as having an FC Seoul game to go to on Sunday (with accompanying beers and galbi, of course). I was glad to find that Annie is doing well, that she's happy and that she had a good visit. I'm also glad that everyone I knew back in 2007 has moved on from the people we were back then. Otherwise, we might look like a certain bar-owner in Itaewon by now...

Work has been tough enough of late and, as I mentioned, I've had a few lessons recently that weren't exactly my best. In this job, it's important to get the balance right between keeping the lessons creative and interesting whilst covering the material that is necessary to allow the students to improve and be prepared for their TOEIC Speaking test. That involves constantly coming up with new ideas and approaches to covering, quite often, fairly dry topics. This week, I just haven't had things come together the way I'd like, although I may just be being too self-critical. I don't have night classes on Wednesday so I'm looking forward to a good full night of sleep so I can come at it from a new angle tomorrow. Amazingly, I only have three more classes with my DDE2 girls. Nearly there...

And now to the wonderful world of football... The new 'The Outside View' podcast is up and available here for an overview of the past weekend's K-League action. There was a great crowd in attendance for FC Seoul's 2-0 victory over Incheon United last Sunday. It was a line-up that I have been espousing of late (including all of Lee Seung Ryeol, Choi Tae Wook, Ha Dae Sung, Dejan and Djeparov) and followed a pattern we're becoming accustomed to seeing at home. Lee and Djeparov scored the goals (check out the Djeparov celebration - another reason I'd like to see him score more often) so we remain four points behind Jeju United with a game in hand. This weekend's home encounter against third-placed Gyeongnam is a must-win fixture if we hope to secure the top spot that puts us straight into the play-off finals (with the second leg being played at home). Derry City slipped up away against Wexford Youths to put their promotion hopes into further doubt, whilst Man Utd continue to stumble as Chelsea march forth. My hopes are all pinned on FC Seoul for football glory this season. Come on boys! I'm not forgetting Ireland. It'll be a late Friday night for me coming up with a home tie against Russia and then an away match against Slovakia next Tuesday. Hopefully I can find good online streams for both.

The band is still stuttering along whilst getting there slowly but surely. We had a bit of a communication breakdown with Cheon the Saturday before last, as three of us turned up for rehearsal but he hadn't heard anything about it, apparently. We got some work done but there's only so much you can do at 75% capacity (with me singing bass-lines - not recommended...). We have a monster four-hour session booked in for Saturday and we're hoping that'll put us in a position to play a low-key set at Woodstock (Itaewon) the following Friday night. I hope it comes together because some of the songs we're covering should go down really well, I think.

I started the dissertation section of my MA earlier this week so I won't have much time for 'fun reading' anymore. In saying that, I've been reading 'Hard Times' by Charles Dickens and, although it's not in the same league as 'David Copperfield' I've been enjoying it and finding it interesting how it crosses over with some of the big debates in education. The MA is going to be tough this year, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. Also, if I'm being honest, I now really want to go all out for the 'first'. I'm in a good position and I'd be left kicking myself if I let it slip at this stage. Still not 100% sure what topic I'll write about but I have a few decent ideas in mind...

Oh! You'll be glad to hear that THIS IS THE LAST I'LL EVER MENTION OF 'THE KNEE' ON THIS BLOG!!! Well, I hope so anyhow. I saw the doctor yesterday who gave me the all-clear. One more physio session tomorrow and then I just need to build the leg back up at the gym. There'll be some pain for a few months but, crucially, I won't need surgery. I'm glad that episode is over. Please let me not be speaking too soon! Now I'm looking forward to a few fun activities over the next few weeks; Seoul V Gyeongnam this weekend, boys trip away for the Ulsan match the week after, possibly a Placebo gig on Thursday 21st before the Korean Grand Prix that weekend (assuming the circuit is passed safe before then). I'll get the other EAL ideas up during the rest of the week and reply to comments when I have some spare time. Remainder of the day = General English (second of the day), Writing Lab, Language Exchange, class preparation for tomorrow, and a well-deserved early night.

PS

CATHERINE MC GUINNESS!!!

What a Kerfuffle!

I just came upstairs from preparing my lessons for the day and the general conversation among the other teachers is about our upcoming schedule. How could something so basic be so confusing? Well, believe me, it is. None of us now when each of our different classes end this session (new session starts October 25th), whether we're getting a week off in October or not, whether we invigilate exams, whether or not we WRITE the exams - we are pretty much clueless. It's not because we are are all numb-skulls (honest), but because we simply haven't been given any consistent answers. One person says one thing, the next person the opposite, others come up with some third unconnected possibility. It's tempting to be pissed off, but I'm going to try to see the funny side. We have meetings tomorrow and Thursday so hopefully all will become clear in due course. I had resigned myself to working the entire session, so if it turns out that I might get some unexpected time off, that can only be a good thing. I might even treat myself to a bit of a trip away somewhere, now that I'm not totally skint anymore.

I was back at physio today and, as usual, discussing the meaning of life with the nurse and telling her how normal it is for everyone to feel a bit down sometimes and not to worry. I'll really miss her! She got eyelid surgery and, as expected, it looks horrendous. I, of course, won't be telling her so. She seems happy enough and apparently her sister told her that she, "looks less ugly than before". Blunt enough?

It was a nice feeling being able to cycle over to the hospital and tie my bike up against the horrendous sculpture of a knee joint that I had hobbled or swung by on crutches for what seemed like an eternity not that long ago. The weather is glorious here these days and I doubt many people are appreciating being able to stroll/cycle around in it more than me. I only have two more session left then, hopefully, the doctor will give me the all clear and I can put it all behind me. I won't be in any hurry to start playing football again though. Sorry Traps...

Speaking of football, the latest offering from The Outside View (Korean football podcast) is available today. FC Seoul only managed a 1-1 draw away against Chunnam Dragons last weekend - amazingly, their first league draw of the season. Thankfully, Jeju only managed to draw against Pohang so we are still in decent shape as far as the league table is concerned. I'll be going to Sangam World Cup stadium for the first Sunday match in a long time against Incheon United. Annie will be back (not just for the FC Seoul game apparently...) so it's looking like a busy and, hopefully, fun weekend. I just got a mention on the podcast - nice one Matt! There's a chance Jim or I might have a chance to go on and talk about FC Seoul sometime in the future, which would be a cool experience.

Time is flying away from me today so I'm going to have to wrap this up for now. If you're in Korea right now, I hope you're having a chance to enjoy the weather (and not complaining that it's cold - this isn't cold!!!!). If you're elsewhere and I haven't spoken to you in a while, drop me a line. I try my best to keep on top of emailing and so on but... it seems to slip so easily. I hope everyone is in good form, wherever you are.

All Work and No Play

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



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

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

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

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

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