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...

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!

Frickin Penalties...

If you're in Korea, and you stayed up to watch the Japan match last night, I'm sure you're feeling much the same as me today - tired and dissatisfied! Having pulled themselves back into the contest with a last-gasp equaliser at the end of extra time, they fluffed their chance of progressing to the final of the Asian Cup by missing THREE penalty kicks in the shoot-out. Much has been made of the inexperience of the three penalty takers, but I guess they are always a bit of a lottery. It pains me to say it, but Japan would have been fairly hard done by had they failed to make it through this one. Overall, encouraging tournament because of the number of young players making their mark for the national team such as Ji Dong Won, Son Heung Min, Ku Ja Cheol (their player of the tournament next to the mercurial Park Ji sung in my humble opinion), Lee Yong Rae, Yoon Bit Garam and even Jung Sung Ryeong. Still a bit worrying that they are so intent on walking the ball over the line so often and lack an out-and-out goal-scorer at the very top level.

Cross your fingers for me tomorrow as I conduct my first international school interview. It's for a primary ESL post in Cairo so, although it's not EXACTLY, what I had in mind, it represents a significant opportunity for my to get closer to doing what I really want to do. Such is the nature of a 'career', it appears. The school seems great (an IB World School, well-resourced, in a good location) and Cairo is that bit closer to home than Seoul. I don't quite know how I feel about leaving Korea and everyone and everything I know here behind. A new adventure...

Five minutes til rehearsal for our 'Muse' gig on Saturday. We met up last night and it was already sounding good. The old falsetto came through for me and the guys know their stuff, as I had predicted they would. The old ears took a battering though. I really need to invest in some earplugs... Waffle over! I'll let you know how the interview goes. And if you have any recommendations for what I should do in Shanghai (leaving next Wednesday morning), don't be shy in sharing.

Casting The Net

Hey all. I took your various comments into account (thanks!), got my application together, and emailed Chadwick International yesterday. I'm not expecting to hear anything back from them (I'd imagine most schools will hire staff at the various conferences then see where they're at), but I am hopeful. And, I guess, that hope will grow with the number of schools I chance my arm with. That's why today I applied to five more schools, in: Dubai; Paraguay; Germany; Egypt; and Qatar. It takes a fair while to do a bit of research and tailor the application to the school, but I'm hoping to get another half-dozen out tomorrow and hope that something bites soon.

The more I research International Schools, the more I think of staying where I am for another 18 months+, the more research I do for my dissertation, the greater and more pressing my desire is to get something sorted as soon as possible. I'm sure I would really miss Korea if I left, and all the major ties I have here, but the way I'm thinking these days, I am kind of relishing the thought (at least) of just going somewhere completely new and seeing how it works out. Like I've said, the unfolding of events over the coming weeks and months will probably make the decision for me.

On the music side of things, we're off to Gwangju this weekend to play at the fifth birthday celebration of one of our favorite bars, Speakeasy. I'm really looking forward to it because, not only is it a great wee bar and always a busy night, there are a good few of us going down from Seoul together. We have a bit of a routine from Gwangju from over the years: same way down (good old KTX), pop into the bar to say hi, over to the same hostel, galbi in the same restaurant, back to the the bar to get things started, and keeping it going into the wee hours. Our buddy Richard text me tonight saying he has been hearing good things about us, which was a nice wee boost at the right time. I also got an email tonight from a fellow Seoul musician about a night he's putting together asking me if I'd sing a few numbers. On top of that, Cheon's other band are covering Muse in Hongdae in a couple of weeks with me at the mic. So it's a busy period coming up but with lot's of different things going on, which is just what I need.

Continuing my recent unhealthy interest in great-but-dead lead singers, I was doing a bit of reading and youtube surfing on Thin Lizzy front-man, Phil Lynott, earlier tonight. Yet another musician who died early (at 36) and left behind haunting videos of his final interviews and this, his final TV appearance. Just over 25-years ago. He really was brilliant... Some great haircuts on here too. Enjoy.

Rubber Soul

Hey there, I hope everyone is doing well. It's cold in Seoul and colder on the British Isles so chances are that if you're reading this blog, you've probably been doing a fair bit of shivering over the past few days. Tough it out, it's December! If, on the other hand, you're visiting from Australia then I hate you and you should feel bad about yourself. Jealous? Me?

I've been having a busy following a predictably packed weekend. Rehearsal was good on Saturday but we had an eerie few minutes towards the end when we realised we were the only people in the whole studio. They wouldn't leave for a bomb shelter without telling the waegooks, would they? Funny how paranoia starts seeping through at times like these... It was Cheon's birthday so we headed to 'El Bliss' right next to FF for a fancypants (thanks for getting that stuck in my head Annie) dinner. It's strange that somewhere so swish and upmarket is right next door to FF, which is... whatever the opposite of swish and upmarket is. The gig that night at Woodstock was, "just a gig" as Jeff put it. We were fairly tight and played well enough without the night being really noteworthy for any reason. The place was pretty much empty when we got there (they'd been having a punk night since 8pm) but a good few of our brilliant friends came along and ensured there was a good atmosphere throughout the gig. I can say without doubt that it's the first time I've been asked to sing 'Gangster's Paradise', repeatedly. I'm from Donegal. We don't have rappers, we have Daniel. Maybe I could do a Daniel rap, or... maybe not.



This weekend we're playing as part of the Rubber Soul event taking place in several venues around Hongdae, as well as in a couple of North American cities. We'll be playing at 11.15pm at Ting Tings in Hongdae, which is just a few doors down from Club FF. I'm looking forward to taking part in such a big night for a good cause. Of course it's always good to play at a new venue too. We were in having a look last week and it looks as though it's going to be pretty nuts if there is a good crowd in. We'll be finishing the live part of the night off following on from Sotto Gamba, who are one of the best band's I've heard in my time in Korea. They have two great vocalists, a 'funky groove', play great original tracks and are great to watch live. Check out their videos on their facebook page here. If you're in Hongdae that night, you could do worse...

Monday was NOT just the same old Monday. I'm not really sure why, but I was full of beans (a word that is making me slightly ill after that video...) all day. The morning classes were great, I did a bit of prep for my Lit Review, got my classes ready and they went really well. No Monday blues, no weekend hangover, no energy dip. I'm sad to say, I can't tell you why. I think it was just a fluke. I even got to catch up with family on skype later in the night. Only a week-and-a-half until I'm back on Irish soil for a couple of weeks. I'm really, really looking forward to it.

Yesterday I spent the whole day writing my draft Literature Review. I made the usual mistake of reading for too long and starting the writing too late, but it is just draft so it doesn't matter too much on this occasion. Now that I'm writing my dissertation, I'm paying much greater attention to small details than I have ever done in the past. Also, reading 'Succeeding with your Master's Dissertation' by John Biggam is really helping to focus my work. Aside from prepping and teaching my two DDE classes last night, writing the review took up my entire day. In saying that, I actually enjoyed it, which is a good sign if I decide to opt for further study once I get this MA out of the way. I know some of you are also working on your dissertation these days. I've said it before, but that Biggam book is a must-read.

And then it was Wednesday. It's another full day of classes, conferences, 'volunteer' supervision and study. The big global event today is, of course, the first leg of the K-League Championship final between Jeju United and FC Seoul on the southern island. There's a nice preview as part of this week's The Outside View podcast here. The good news for us is that Ku Ja Cheol is out injured for Jeju, having been so influential from midfield all season and for Korea U-23s at the Asian Games last month. The bad news for FC Seoul is that I'm going to miss the first half because I have to 'volunteer' to supervise a TOEIC study session. The loss of my support is going to be a big blow (I know), but I'm hopeful they can come away with a draw at least and set things up for a big finish at Sangam World Cup Stadium on Sunday. It's going to be cold, but it's going to be worth it... I'm already dreading three straight hours of oral exams with my General English girls on Monday morning. I know what you're thinking. Shame on you!

If you found the first video offensive, best not click on this one... Have a good day everyone. A special welcome to those visiting from the Korean blog list.

Just Couldn't Be Bothered

Alright I haven't blogged all week and I'm forcing myself to now even though I don't have any idea what I'm going to say. This has been one of those weeks where I just couldn't really have been bothered to do very much of anything at all. In saying that, I have somehow managed not to really fall behind on anything (other than this blog - but nothing important!). Monday was... Monday. Tuesday was a second Monday as we headed out for Tommy's birthday the night before. Wednesday was a third Monday because I'm old and it takes me an incredibly long time to get over the weekend, never mind adding an extra night on Monday! I have just about returned to normality today, hence my feeble attempt at giving you an update.

Alright here goes - long and very tiring Saturday. Volunteering at Yongsan International School of Seoul as a judge for their debating competition. Heading over to Hongdae for rehearsal. Managing to keep the energy levels up (drinking Guinness and watching footie at Gerry's takes it out of you). Really really fun gig at FF. High-energy, tight performance, great crowd. It was up there with the good old U R Seoul days, but not quite just yet...

Ok I think it's clear my heart isn't in it today. Could be something to do with the fact that my youngest sister is celebrating her seventeenth birthday. I'm not quite sure how that has happened. I actually remember the day she was born because my Dad, bizarrely, took me out of school early before driving to Letterkenny at about 100 the whole way (exaggeration alert) in the vain hope of being there on time to welcome her into the world. We didn't get there on time (thankfully) but I saw her at only a few minutes old. Obviously I'm very proud of the beautiful, talented, warmhearted young woman she's turning out to be. I can't claim that there isn't a fair dollop of guilt at the recent years of her life that I have effectively missed out on. I'll be glad to get home for a couple of weeks soon, I can tell you that for sure.

I had been hoping to add a video from our FF gig last Saturday but, low and behold, I can't figure out how to. Let me get back to you on that one. Hope you're having a good week and feeling more inspired than I am. I'll try my best to be more interesting tomorrow. No promises...

More Than You Can Chew

I've just been going over songs for Saturday night and, holy crap, some of them are pretty tough. I might just be aiming a bit higher than I can attain in terms of the vocals, at least. It didn't seem so bad in rehearsal so I'm hoping it's just a bit of an off-day... Otherwise, I should get in touch with RMT and make sure they reinforce the windows upstairs! I just sent out invites for the gig on facebook here. The best gigs are always the ones with the biggest crowds, so please get yourself out and support us if you're in the area. I don't usually get nervous before a show, but I definitely will be on Saturday. I can't even think about it for too long... 20 new songs all on the same night... eugh...

We were chatting about 'good and bad things about your country' in class last night, and again this morning. I'm probably not as brave as I should be in covering potentially controversial issues. The students have a tendency to go a bit strong on the positives and turn a bit quiet when we get to the negatives. They usually just need a bit of prodding, but I have to be careful not to be openly criticising the place. For example, one student reckoned she had nothing bad to say about Korea. A few prompts later and she was going on about the binge-drinking, the pushing on the subway, the hierarchical power structures, the concrete jungle, etc. Basically, Koreans dislike the same things that foreigners do, they are just much less vocal about them. It's ok! Talking about the aspects of life in your country that you're not crazy about is not a sign of weakness! Ireland can be a narrow-minded, racist, corrupt, rain-drenched hole, at times. It can also be a great place to grow up, breathtakingly beautiful and full of warm and hospitable people.

One definite positive about Korea at the moment is the weather. Ok, it's a bit chilly but autumn colours are beautiful and it's hasn't yet gotten to the point where you can't go outside without wrapping yourself in the equivalent of a duvet. Predictably, 'Korea's four-seasons' came up as a positive with my pupils last night. Inevitably, it was followed by, "Do you have four seasons in Ireland?" I suspect that if those two sentences don't exist close-by then there's some sort of prison sentence or you lose your Korean passport or something. Yes, there are four seasons in Ireland. They are:

1. Spring
2. Summer
3. Autumn
4. Winter

There are also four seasons in Korea:

1. "Ah the temperature is PERFECT and I better enjoy it because I'm going to be sweating my ass off in about a fortnight"
2. "Wake up, shower, go out, feel exhausted, shower, eat, shower, sleep (if you can get the right balance between air conditioning and sweltering humidity)"
3. "Wow Korea is beautiful, look at all this colour, get out and do as much as you possibly can because we have about a month before de facto hibernation"
4. "Wake up, remind yourself to buy more bedding, freeze, slip on your backside about a dozen times, repeat until April"

Ok I'm not being totally serious but I would LOVE to know where this 'four season' obsession came from. Disclaimer: I love Korea and living here. There's no harm in pointing out a few obvious cons from time to time, though... In order to assuage my guilt at being semi-critical, let me leave you with a photo featuring some 100% Korean autumnal natural beauty - and a snazzy FC Seoul cap!

Well done, well done

Oh yeah Halloween rocks. I'm still wrecked from the weekend but that can only be a good sign, as well as a sign of my old age... We managed to fit in everything we wanted to do, and I even threw together a lazy outfit (see left) at RMT - how last- minute is that! What made the night so good was the company. We were just laughing non-stop all night. With so much going on Monday-Friday (and assignments even to do on the odd Saturday) it's good to have weekends with good people to look forward to. People keep leaving, but I'm lucky to still have a good store of funny friends here.

After a lot of procrastinating, I got my assignment in on Saturday, although I wouldn't say it was the highest standard. I just couldn't switch on properly but it's still very early days and it's probably best to be making my errors now.

No rest for the wicked, even on a Sunday. We were up (relatively) bright and breezy to get over to World Cup Stadium for FC Seoul V Busan. We were missing a few influential players (a busy fixture list these days) so it was a bit more disjointed than it has been of late but we still ran out comfortable 3-1 winners. Goals this week from Jeong Jo Gook, Dejan and Choi Tae Wook. You can watch the highlights here. Wednesday's trip to Seongnam is crucial for us. A win and we are well on course to top the league and go straight into the play-off final (with the second leg at home). Defeat, and we might just have to settle for second and would have to face a semi-final. With Derry City FC returning to the top flight of Irish football on Saturday, I'm hoping for a clean sweep of league victories this season. Maybe that's asking a bit too much.

We had another busy band practice later on Sunday in Haebangcheon. With only days left until our first full gig at Rocky Mountain Tavern (Saturday, November 6th), we're still working at getting songs together and tightening other bits and bobs up. It's tough, but getting there. We're going to need two more rehearsals (so no trip to Seongnam for me on Wednesday) and I'm sure there'll still be some dodgy moments, but hopefully we can pull it off and have a fun night. If you haven't seen it already, our facebook page is here. All support is greatly appreciated!

Another Monday almost done, and not as horrific as they have been in the past. So glad to have nice classes that make work more of a pleasure than a pain. Hope your week is getting off to a good start, wherever in the world you are. I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of our Halloween party at work last Friday.

Must Dash...

Barely any time today (it takes a long time to do feck all). For those of you in Seoul, we have a gig tonight at Woodstock in Itaewon at 11pm for about an hour. Our set will look something like this:

Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
Sunshine of your Love - Cream
Hey Tonight - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Paint it Black - The Rolling Stones
Otherside - Red Hot Chili Peppers
My Iron Lung - Radiohead
Ticket to Ride - The Beatles
Time is Running Out - Muse
Steady as she Goes - The Raconteurs
Hash Pipe - Weezer
Fell in Love with a Girl - The White Stripes

No original materials just yet. You gotta learn how to walk before you can run. Hopefully this marks the beginning of a prolonged period of gigging that runs and runs. Be good to see you there if you're in the area.

That's all for now (I'm already late for late lunch/early dinner with Tommy). Webber fastest in first practice for the Korean Grand Prix on Sunday. I'll try to get online tomorrow for a preview but.. you know the weekend generally goes. If I don't speak to you tomorrow, have a good one everybody!

10,000 hours

I was going over a few old music-related articles I have kicking around my place in the hope of finding inspiration for a REALLY good band name and came across something I used to be quite interested in. I remember reading about Malcolm Gladwell's book 'The Outliers' a couple of years ago that expanded upon the notion that it takes 10,000 hours practice in some certain area to become an 'expert'. It struck me at the time that it was encouraging to think that if I wanted to become say, a skilled guitarist, the only thing that stood in my way was a sustained period of hard graft. Another author I found interesting was Daniel Levitin and his book 'This is Your Brain on Music' which argued (what I had long believed) that musical talent isn't merely innate, but is something that can be significantly improved through targeted and appropriate practice. Great musicians aren't simply born, they have had to put a lot of work into their art. The Beatles and even Stevie Wonder are held up as examples. It also aims to explain why people are attracted to musicians, something I have to be thankful for over the years! Although Levitin is one of those 'pop theorists' that garner a lot of media attention these days by providing quick, easy-to-understand assumed answers to tough questions, taken together, the two provide some thought-provoking concepts.

Think about the things in your life so far that you have spent 10,000 hours doing (keep it clean, Craig!). At 28, I'd need to have been doing these things for an average of an hour a day at least to reach that mark. Does that make me an 'expert' scholar, reader, conversationalist, listener, perhaps even singer? Obviously that's a huge simplification, something both Gladwell and Levitin have been accused of. Surely HOW you practice is as important as HOW LONG you do it for. Just think of those 30+ years experienced teachers you had at school who had simply been doing the wrong thing repeatedly for their entire career. I get the feeling I could continue to mess around on guitar or with my Korean for 10,000 hours the way I currently am without getting significantly better at either. It'd be nice to imagine some mental countdown we could perform for ourselves as we edge closer to expertise (whatever that is), but obviously it isn't quite as simple as that. As far as my band-name-hunting was concerned, the best I came up with was 'These Glorious Illusions' or 'The Dopamine Fiends' so I think 'Dead End Friends' is still the best suggestion on the table.

Not much longer to wait now until I get the chance to do a bit of showing off, ass-shaking, saying lame things over the mic and, of course, singing! For those of you in Seoul at the minute, we'll be playing at Woodstock in Itaewon tomorrow night (Friday, 22nd) from 11pm for about an hour. We just have 11 songs in mind for the set so I have been making sure I know them inside out. No matter, I'm sure I'll muddle something up on the night anyhow. Only a couple of weeks later we'll play our first 'full' gig at Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon (Saturday, November 6th) and I'm going to start booking other gigs right up until New Year's Eve over the next week or so. It has taken us longer than we had hoped to get up and running since U R Seoul's final gig, but hopefully now we're finally back in the game. I certainly hope so. Without a gig, weekends feel a bit empty and pointless to me, if I'm being honest. That might be a bit sad, but things tend to feel very repetitive just going to the same places or doing essentially the same thing (drinking) in vaguely different places. It sometimes gets to the point where you can play too much, but having 2/3 shows a month to look forward to really keeps me in good form. Although it can be a bit guilt-inducing always bugging friends to come to shows, those big nights are genuinely fun all round and bring a wider circle of friends together in one place better than anything else I can think of here. Once we get a name finalised, I'll be setting up a facebook group to help promote gigs, share photos and videos, etc. Please join up and support our new venture.

Predictably, my week off work is absolutely flying by so I better get on and do a bit of work on my dissertation background reading, get ready for my Korean class at 2, go over these song lyrics a few more times, and maybe have one last stab at arranging things for the Korean Grand Prix this Sunday (my attendance looking more doubtful by the day). I had been hoping to write this blog last night, but personal circumstances dictated otherwise. Perhaps I'll go crazy and blog again later today.

Dead End Friends, Ulsan, Week Off & Korean F1 Grand Prix

Last Friday night we got together for another band practice to help edge us that little bit closer to being ready for our first 'big gig'. We had to settle for a bit of a dodgy rehearsal room which had a pretty bad echo and the mics kept cutting out so it wasn't easy to work on anything especially detailed, but it was another step. Afterward, we sorted out a few dates for gigs, rehearsals and even a few band name suggestions. We're going to be playing at Woodstock, Itaewon, this Friday night (October 22nd) at 11pm. If you're in the area, come support us and we'll love you forever. We're that easy. It'll just be an hour set but the idea is to limber us up for our first full gig at Rocky Mountain Tavern, Itaewon, on November 6th. I'll get a facebook group set up to start pestering you all to attend once we have decided on a name. At the moment I'm favoring 'Dead End Friends' but we're not sure yet as a whole. Time is running out for your brilliant suggestions...

On Saturday, Jimbo and I did the 4-hour trek by train to Ulsan. Unfortunately, there's no KTX route from Seoul to Ulsan until next month, so we took a KTX to Daegu then a slow train East to Ulsan. We made a night of it on Saturday. Some of it was probably a bit too odd to mention here but I would recommend Ulsan as a fun night out. I even managed to get Jim, who has been very sensible of late, on the soju. Successful night all round. Weird, but successful.

I wasn't feeling the freshest on Sunday morning but we got ourselves out for the game nonetheless. As we were standing along the road waiting for a taxi in our FC Seoul shirts, some Ulsan fans picked us up to give us a lift to the stadium! Just like home, eh? Pretty damn friendly of them. Especially as we then went on to win 2-1, which was a MASSIVE result. There were probably around 300 FC Seoul fans at the game, which is pretty impressive. They were in fine voice for the full 90 minutes, even though a fair portion appeared to be missing the action in doing so... The goals came from Ha Dae Sung and Choi Tae Wook as part of a battling performance all round. Ulsan looked pretty good, but we had two goals ruled out for very marginal looking offside decisions and were good value for the win overall. With Jeju only drawing at Jeonbuk and us having a game in hand, our away match against them next week is now absolutely huge in deciding who finishes top and goes straight into the play-off final. It looks as though we'll be without Adi (fractured cheekbone), while Lee Seung Ryeol and Kim Chi Woo were also absent on Sunday, but we have to be quietly confident of our chances at this stage.

-2010 RANKING TEAM POINTS W D L F A GD 1 JEJU 54 16 6 3 50 24 26 2 SEOUL 52 17 1 6 50 22 28 3 SEONGNAM 43 12 7 5 38 20 18 4 GYEONGNAM 43 12 7 5 36 25 11 5 JEONBUK 42 12 6 6 45 33 12 6 ULSAN 41 12 5 8 37 29 8 7 SUWON 34 10 4 10 34 38 -4 8 BUSAN 30 7 9 9 34 33 1 9 INCHEON 29 8 5 11 39 43 -4 10 POHANG 27 6 9 9 35 44 -9 11 CHUNNAM 26 6 8 10 36 42 -6 12 GANGWON 21 5 6 14 30 49 -19 13 DAEJEON 21 5 6 13 25 45 -20 14 DAEGU 19 5 4 15 27 46 -19 15 GWANGJU 18 3 9 12 14 37 -23

After the match we were again having problems finding a taxi (the stadium was pretty much in the middle of nowhere) and kind of cheekily asked a couple in a car for 'directions' in the hope that they'd just offer us a lift. They took the bait... They turned out to be really nice and Jimbo and I had a further chance to practice our Korean. It's nice having Jim along for that because his Korean is so much better than mine so I pick up a fair bit from him. The couple spoke some English too. Apparently the man is planning to, "make a baby this year". How romantic.

I'm off work this week so I SHOULD be working on my dissertation and learning song lyrics for Friday night. However, so far I've just been getting up kind of late and doing a lot of reading and generally time has just been flying by. I did go cycling by the Han with Stephanie last night, which was fun and looked beautiful. The Han River at night always reminds you what a nice city we actually live in. I'm having dinner with Ji and her parents tonight. They're in the country for a family wedding and the fact that I 'can't' go has left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. However, I do understand it to an extent and will just have to pretend I don't mind, which I seem to be doing a lot of recently.

This weekend, Korea will host it's first F1 Grand Prix. It has always been an ambition of mine to go see one (if that can be called an ambition) and this seems like as good an opportunity as I'll get for a while. There's some facebook group that I, apparently, have a free ticket through but I remain skeptical. It looks as though there's a bus going down on Sunday morning and back after the race so that'd be perfect. The 'free tickets' are only for foreigners (controversial) so I'd just go 50-50 with Ji if that were the case. There are a few people who seem interested in going but I'm not sure how many of those are 100%. Anyway, if you're thinking of going and you want to book a place on a bus from Seoul to Yeongam (site of the Grand Prix) and back on Sunday, let me know and I'll give you the relevant email address. That's me over and out for today.

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!!!

It's just rock n' roll..

Be warned: I'm still a bit grumpy and off-colour BUT I had a brief respite when my new band (as yet unnamed - suggestions still welcome!) played not just our first but our first AND SECOND gigs last Friday night. We rehearsed in Hongdae (in a really psychedelic, chilled out rehearsal space) then decided over chicken and beer that we were ready for our first show. Aren't all the best decisions made over chicken and beer? A few texts later and we were playing our first ever gig at Club FF. It was an almost entirely Korean crowd, which isn't the norm for me here in Korea strangely enough. Nonetheless we had them up and dancing within a couple of songs. I even managed to wiggle about a bit in spite of my splint. Onstage chemistry seemed good. The guys are brilliant musicians. They really are.

Drunk on the atmosphere, we decided to taxi ourselves over to Itaewon and play a second impromptu show at Woodstock in Itaewon. A few of our friends were there (only my girlfriend made it over to FF given the short notice - she wouldn't have missed it) and there was a decent crowd even though it was very late on a Friday night. Given that we finished our set just before 4am, I can't say with any certainty how great/otherwise we were. Still, it was fun and we got plenty of good feedback. It all augurs well for the future. Jim flew back to England the very next day. What a trooper. Come back soon buddy. I had missed it so much. There is no better feeling. Ok, well, maybe I wouldn't go that far...

We headed out again on Saturday night and it was fun. Spent most of Sunday chilling out with Ji. Back into the routine of teaching and so on since then. My form hasn't been good but I won't bore you with that (again). Off to watch FC Seoul in their big Posco Cup semi-final against arch-rivals Suwon Bluewings tonight with a few friends. Good win away last weekend against Gwangju Sangmu. Ha Dae Sung scored a scorcher (his sixth of the season) and it was good to see Jung Jo Gook add a quality second. Check out the highlights here. Couple of key players returning to fitness (including Kim Chi Woo, who I'm a big fan of) so it'd be great to get into a final and push on from there.

Back to the hospital again tomorrow. Say a prayer, cross your fingers, sacrifice a cow, do whatever you think might result in me getting unexpectedly good news. There's a video from one of our shows so I promise to get that up soon with some pictures (the picture above is from an old gig with U R Seoul). I'll write more when I'm less likely to sound like a self-obsessed bore. Perish the thought! I hope you're all well.

Overcast

That's the word that sums up both the weather and my mood today. All week really. I'm doing my best not to feel sorry for myself with the knee situation but I'm not always as successful as I'd like. The official word remains the same. I have my next appointment on July 29th at which I'll find out if I can take off the splint and start physio or if I need to start preparing myself for surgery. I can tell you in no uncertain terms that surgery will be a pain, financially as well as physically and mentally. I am trying to be upbeat about it though. I was grumbling to myself whilst in Suyu last night running a few errands only to be passed by a group of cheery adults with much more severe physical disabilities than my silly little dodgy knee. The point wasn't lost on me.

I haven't blogged since Monday. I haven't been particularly busy or anything. I just think it's not the best idea to write too much when I'm not at my brightest. It has also been a very samey week in a lot of ways. My classes are going well and I'm enjoying them but there's nothing too noteworthy in that. I did stumble upon something interesting in my new class with the girls who work in the office here. That's a nice class because it allows me to get to know the Korean staff much better. I actually love teaching them. Anyway, the topic was 'friends or lovers?' based around the story of two friends (a male and a female) and the question arose as to whether or not men and women can really just be friends. Maybe it's not surprising among a group of six women in their early twenties, but they were insistent that men are incapable of being friends with women without other thoughts coming into it. I guess, if I'm honest, the number of my female friends who there has never been anything physical with (in mind or matter) is very, very small. It did surprise me a little that the girls in the class agreed with each other so vehemently. They mentioned at one point that maybe foreign men are capable of it, but not Korean men. That's probably a different debate altogether.

I mentioned that I had been reading 'Life of Pi' by Yann Martel. Well, it has been great company for me in an otherwise fairly empty week (by my standards at least). I finished it last night. Although it dipped in terms of quality in the final section and took about 100 pages to really get going, it was still a very enjoyable and, at times, enthralling book. At one point I was so wrapped up in the narrative that when a mosquito buzzed past my ear I nearly jumped the height of myself. I really thought, for a moment, that I was in that lifeboat with a Bengal tiger snarling by the bow. Of course, it's an allegory, but the story stands up by itself and is well-written and thought-provoking. My edition has some 'reading group questions' that I'm mulling over at the minute. I would definitely recommend you read it. 'Believers' might enjoy it even more than I did.

Religion is a major theme throughout the book. For me, this often spoils a work because I feel as though there is an essential leap that I simply cannot take and so my appreciation will be lacking. As early as the seventh chapter, the central character, Pi Patel, chastises agnostics: "To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation". While I can't agree fully with that, agnosticism does strike me as a bit of a cop-out that I have been clinging to for a while now. It's a kind of covering of bases just in case one side isn't right, while still protecting yourself from the barbs associated with belief/non-belief. I am ready to admit that I am an atheist. I simply don't believe in the notion of a God or that there is any point to what we are doing as we mill around in our daily lives. In saying that, I would consider myself to be a humanist. It's still something I'm thinking about. I don't feel, at 28, that I'm ready to draw a line under the biggest of questions just yet.

Well that got a bit heavy didn't it? Thankfully I have music and sport to distract me from becoming too sullen. We had rehearsal on Wednesday night and again later on today. Some of the songs came almost effortlessly and sound really, really good. Others will take more time but I'm enjoying trying tougher things and working at it. They'll really feel like an achievement when they come. And they will come. As a group we're starting to build some momentum and we're getting on well as people which is probably even more important than how well we are playing the songs. Cheon is a top bloke and brilliant bassist. I feel as though I have known Jeff for ages already and I don't really need to say anything about my relationship with Jim. Ok I will anyway. He is one of my favourite people on the planet. I really honestly always feel privileged to be able to play with such talented musicians. I'm gagging for a gig... Jim leaves on Saturday for four weeks but it seems as though I'll be singing in a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band with Cheon and some of his friends. That'll give me my music fix for the month.

FC Seoul crashed out of the FA Cup in mid-week with a 2-1 defeat away at Busan. Judging from the highlights, it was a game that was there for the taking had we been able to defend a couple of basic crosses in the air at the back. The ever-impressive Choi Hyo Jin scored the opener for Seoul. However, Busan clinched it with two headers late in the second half. Frustrating. I am thinking of going to watch them away on Saturday night. In Korea, all men (with some exceptions) must serve in the military (usually for 26 months). If you are a professional footballer, you do this by playing for Gwangju Sangmu FC. They aren't the most competitive team in the league, hardly surprising given that their panel is constantly changing from year to year. Unfortunately, in true Korean style, they aren't playing at home in Gwangju this weekend but in nearby Younggwang, which makes the trip down that bit less convenient. We'll see how the knee is in the morning and what Ji thinks on the matter.

I only have 40 minutes before my language exchange so I better get cracking. I probably won't write anything over the weekend so have a good one everyone. Make the most of it! If you feel like a giggle check this out. I've been meaning to post it since my friend Jessica showed it to me. I think it'll resonate for anyone who has ever been in a relationship!