LBH is something I heard pretty early in my time in Korea from a Canadian friend who has long since moved on to bigger and better things. We were talking about the kind of foreigners you sometimes come across working here. Oh, I had no idea how accurate it was then as I do now. LBH? LBH = 'Losers Back Home'. In general, I've been pretty fortunate with the people I have worked with here, particularly in my first year when I was the only foreign teacher at my academy! But, there's no doubt, you see them around. Regularly on their own at Seoul Pub in the wee hours on a Saturday night. Constantly the first to pipe up and share their 'knowledge' of the sun, moon, stars or everything at any given opportunity. The only people who ever say anything negative (to our faces) at gigs, in the mistaken belief that criticizing makes it sound as though they know what they're talking about. All over the message boards on Dave's. Facebook's most vociferous, even though they seem as timid as a mouse when you occasionally meet them in person. Commonly to be seen on the arm of some beautiful Korean girl who, for some reason, can't see how much of an asshole her boyfriend is. Oh, if you live/have lived in Korea, you know who I'm talking about.
The reason I bring it up now is that the only real complaint I ever have about life in Korea is complaining foreigners. I know, the irony isn't lost on me, don't worry. At times, it actually infuriates me. The absolute worst thing is foreigners complaining about the Koreans offering their services but not speaking English well enough for their liking. WE LIVE IN KOREA! THEY SPEAK KOREAN HERE!! Often, the person who says this has lived here for a fair few years, but (like myself) hasn't bothered to learn the local language to the point where they can do all their dealings through it. Another is people complaining about the amount of work they have to do or unfair expectations from their employers. No doubt, some people are royally screwed over here. I can't argue with that. But I have some strong opinions about the qualifications necessary to teach here. If I had a child and found out that his/her teacher had, for example, a 2:2 degree in a subject unrelated to what they teach, well, I wouldn't be happy. Would you? Nor do I buy the TEFL/CELTA argument. Having done my PGCE, TEFL and CELTA, I can tell you that the latter two only really need to be completed, they're not exactly taxing. They don't necessarily improve you as a teacher. A year-long PGCE doesn't even slightly prepare you for the range of scenarios you might have to deal with in the classroom. There's no way a 100-hour (or similar) certificate can claim to do more than serve as a very small first step. For those reasons, I think teachers here should count ourselves very lucky to have been able to get jobs that are, in general, straight-forward, relatively well-paid and fairly secure. That's not me saying that teachers with fewer qualifications can't be good, or that those with more qualifications necessarily are.
Some people here have legitimate gripes, I don't mind them. It's the majority who are basically complaining rather than facing up to their own inadequacies that do, sometimes, really bother me. Please let me NEVER turn into that. Living in Korea has paid for my MA, my trips over the past 4/5 years, given me teaching experiences beyond those I could have had in England, given me the opportunity to sing with great musicians and introduced me to a lot of people I know I'll know for years to come. I could complain, I sometimes do (and will), but we shouldn't. I think it's totally disrespectful to the place we live and the people who live here. Rant over.
Haven't been blogging due to a heavy workload and what I think I can accurately refer to as sleep-deprivation over the past few days. I, perhaps unwisely, got up at 3.30am on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning to watch Ireland labour to a 3-1 win at home to Andorra. Brownie points if you even know where Andorra is. McGeady was better than I have ever seen him for Ireland (which isn't saying much) but the cautious Trapattoni approach can be SO frustrating to watch. Nevertheless, we are top of the group after two games (20% of the campaign already). After we have welcomed Russia and visited Slovakia (their conquerors last week in Moscow) next month, we'll have a much better idea where we stand. I loved my time in Poland last December. How sweet it would be to go back to watch Ireland there in 2012.
Like I said, work is tough these days but I'm enjoying it. I'm probably putting more time into preparing the lessons than I need to but the classes are going really well and, to be honest, I love the satisfaction of creating a lesson from scratch with an end goal in mind and watching it all fall into place the way I wanted. That doesn't always happen, but when it does, it feels good. Some of my students are so earnest and hard-working that they make me want to prepare even more so that I can squeeze everything I can out of them. Sometimes that has resulted in me pushing them too hard, but I guess you have to learn from that. I have the added pressure (in my own mind, at least) of sharing my DDE2 classes with probably the best teacher here. I know I need to be at the races to avoid looking anything other than rubbish in the eyes of the students in comparison to him. Reading back, I see I need to get a bit of balance back into my life too. What would Tom Hodgkinson say!?
On that note, I'm looking forward to tomorrow, Friday, hopefully meeting my friend's girlfriend, dinner with friends at Hollywoods on Saturday, free tickets (I hope) to FC Seoul V Daegu at 7, and whatever happens after that... No band practice this weekend due to unforeseen circumstances but here's one of the songs we're planning on covering at our earliest convenience. Classic...
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Monday, 6 September 2010
It's a Skill...
....mastered by me. Really, it takes a special kind of person to stay in on a Friday night, few quiet beers, bit of footy streaming live online... and still manage to not make it to bed (a mere 6 feet away) until nigh-on 8am. It might say something about our screen-obsessed internet-based generation, but I actually had a pretty nice night sat in on my lonesome. The couple of hours between the end of class and midnight flew as they always do before Stephen and I messaged frantically trying to find a good stream of Armenia V Ireland.
We struck gold about twenty-minutes into the game (myp2p.eu is the way to go) and witnessed the rest of the first half, largely dominated by Ireland but with no cutting edge. We were both starting to get a bit panicky before Keith Fahey (whose arrival at the expense of Duffers I roundly criticised...) finished a decent move to put us ahead. That was the signal for us to start pressing the self-destruct button and, towards the end of the match, we looked as though we had confused Armenia with Brazil. Still, we held on. 1-0 away from home against an awkward opponent is a good start. Perhaps we could have done it in more style, but that may be me getting above my station. Bring on Andorra tonight at the Aviva - I'll be setting the alarm clock for 3.30am, let's see how successful that'll be...
After the Ireland game was Wales away to Montenegro, who opted NOT to select (my hero) Dejan, who played for FC Seoul the next night. Still, they managed a 1-0 home win to put pressure on Toshack's position as manager. I wonder how much longer the little fledgling nation-state will be under-estimated? Then, it was Scotland struggling to a draw away against Lithuania and Northern Ireland grabbing an unlikely win in Slovenia, who were at the World Cup this summer! That led to England's hammering Bulgaria 4-0, and the inane criticisms in the British media, which drove me to email bbc radio 5live more than once during the night! How you can win 4-0 against decent opposition and still continue to be ripped apart by the very same media that tipped you for World Cup honors mere months ago, is beyond me.
Needless to say, I didn't have the early start and productive Saturday that I had anticipated when I struggled to fight the temptation to join Thomas in Itaewon the night before. In fact, I just about had enough time to get ready and eat before I had to leave for Sangam World Cup Stadium for FC Seoul V Gwangju. We had a bit of a scare on the way when it seemed that the game may have kicked off at 7pm, rather than 8pm, which we thought. Helpfully, one of the information lines said 7pm, while the other said 8... Turned out 8 was the way to go. I met Ji, Jim and Stephen at the stadium. FC Seoul were a bit shaky at times but ran out 3-0 winners with a simple free-kick from Kim Jin-Gyu, a decent finish from Dejan and a beautiful and instinctive lob over the keeper from Choi Hyo Jin, who is fast becoming my favourite FC Seoul player. Don't tell Dejan... After the match we headed to Itaewon, then Hongdae... I think I might just be too old to enjoy nights out the way I used to. It was fine, but very chilled. Maybe it's just a phase...
We had a pretty good band practice on Sunday but it was mainly just spent going over things we had done in the past, as it had been so long since we had been able to get together. We got our heads together to fix a date for our first full gig at the start of October in Rocky Mountain Tavern, Itaewon. Now we have something to aim for, and a bit of pressure to get the 20+ songs we'll need altogether. We'll need a name by then too... this is really starting to get ridiculous.... Suggestions, please!
Monday was a long, tough day. It's going to be so every week. The General English classes on campus are a challenge because I only see the students once a week so it's tough to build up any kind of a rapport or get a substantial amount of work done. I'd say I was only at 75% for the first half of the day. One of the hardest things about teaching is that you do really have to be on it all the time, or standards start slipping, and you do/say things you wouldn't do if you were at your best. Thankfully, I squeezed in a bit of a nap before my evening classes and was back on form. My TOEIC class are one of the best groups of students I have ever taught, in terms of attitude and application. I really hope I can keep them on that track.
I had a bit of a scare just before my classes last night. During my nap, I was having some fitful nightmare that something was wrong with my Dad. He was trying to wake me up to say 'goodbye' and it was all pretty unpleasant, to be honest, even after I had been awake for a while. By sheer coincidence, my Mum called me to around 6pm. Now, she NEVER calls me mid-week and she KNOWS I teach late classes. Understandably, I answered the phone fearing the worst, only to find out that she was just calling for a chat... All ok in the end, but another reminder of the precarious nature of life in Korea, where one call from home could change everything in a heartbeat. In fact, I guess it's the nature of all our lives, wherever we are.
But let's not end on too grave a note! I just recently found out that we'll be welcoming two old friends to Seoul over the next few weeks. My ex-girlfriend, Annie, should be visiting in early-October, and our ex-bassist, John, will be here for Chuseok a week from Friday. It'll be great to see them both. We might try to play a gig with John, if Jeff is free. It looks as though Annie might be here for our first gig, which would be weird, because she would be the only person there (I think) who was also at the first U R Seoul gig in 2007, other than Jim and I, of course.
Well, that's more than enough for today. I have physiotherapy in an hour and I'll be back tomorrow with a report of Ireland's glorious victory against the might of Andorra tomorrow.
We struck gold about twenty-minutes into the game (myp2p.eu is the way to go) and witnessed the rest of the first half, largely dominated by Ireland but with no cutting edge. We were both starting to get a bit panicky before Keith Fahey (whose arrival at the expense of Duffers I roundly criticised...) finished a decent move to put us ahead. That was the signal for us to start pressing the self-destruct button and, towards the end of the match, we looked as though we had confused Armenia with Brazil. Still, we held on. 1-0 away from home against an awkward opponent is a good start. Perhaps we could have done it in more style, but that may be me getting above my station. Bring on Andorra tonight at the Aviva - I'll be setting the alarm clock for 3.30am, let's see how successful that'll be...
After the Ireland game was Wales away to Montenegro, who opted NOT to select (my hero) Dejan, who played for FC Seoul the next night. Still, they managed a 1-0 home win to put pressure on Toshack's position as manager. I wonder how much longer the little fledgling nation-state will be under-estimated? Then, it was Scotland struggling to a draw away against Lithuania and Northern Ireland grabbing an unlikely win in Slovenia, who were at the World Cup this summer! That led to England's hammering Bulgaria 4-0, and the inane criticisms in the British media, which drove me to email bbc radio 5live more than once during the night! How you can win 4-0 against decent opposition and still continue to be ripped apart by the very same media that tipped you for World Cup honors mere months ago, is beyond me.
Needless to say, I didn't have the early start and productive Saturday that I had anticipated when I struggled to fight the temptation to join Thomas in Itaewon the night before. In fact, I just about had enough time to get ready and eat before I had to leave for Sangam World Cup Stadium for FC Seoul V Gwangju. We had a bit of a scare on the way when it seemed that the game may have kicked off at 7pm, rather than 8pm, which we thought. Helpfully, one of the information lines said 7pm, while the other said 8... Turned out 8 was the way to go. I met Ji, Jim and Stephen at the stadium. FC Seoul were a bit shaky at times but ran out 3-0 winners with a simple free-kick from Kim Jin-Gyu, a decent finish from Dejan and a beautiful and instinctive lob over the keeper from Choi Hyo Jin, who is fast becoming my favourite FC Seoul player. Don't tell Dejan... After the match we headed to Itaewon, then Hongdae... I think I might just be too old to enjoy nights out the way I used to. It was fine, but very chilled. Maybe it's just a phase...
We had a pretty good band practice on Sunday but it was mainly just spent going over things we had done in the past, as it had been so long since we had been able to get together. We got our heads together to fix a date for our first full gig at the start of October in Rocky Mountain Tavern, Itaewon. Now we have something to aim for, and a bit of pressure to get the 20+ songs we'll need altogether. We'll need a name by then too... this is really starting to get ridiculous.... Suggestions, please!
Monday was a long, tough day. It's going to be so every week. The General English classes on campus are a challenge because I only see the students once a week so it's tough to build up any kind of a rapport or get a substantial amount of work done. I'd say I was only at 75% for the first half of the day. One of the hardest things about teaching is that you do really have to be on it all the time, or standards start slipping, and you do/say things you wouldn't do if you were at your best. Thankfully, I squeezed in a bit of a nap before my evening classes and was back on form. My TOEIC class are one of the best groups of students I have ever taught, in terms of attitude and application. I really hope I can keep them on that track.
I had a bit of a scare just before my classes last night. During my nap, I was having some fitful nightmare that something was wrong with my Dad. He was trying to wake me up to say 'goodbye' and it was all pretty unpleasant, to be honest, even after I had been awake for a while. By sheer coincidence, my Mum called me to around 6pm. Now, she NEVER calls me mid-week and she KNOWS I teach late classes. Understandably, I answered the phone fearing the worst, only to find out that she was just calling for a chat... All ok in the end, but another reminder of the precarious nature of life in Korea, where one call from home could change everything in a heartbeat. In fact, I guess it's the nature of all our lives, wherever we are.
But let's not end on too grave a note! I just recently found out that we'll be welcoming two old friends to Seoul over the next few weeks. My ex-girlfriend, Annie, should be visiting in early-October, and our ex-bassist, John, will be here for Chuseok a week from Friday. It'll be great to see them both. We might try to play a gig with John, if Jeff is free. It looks as though Annie might be here for our first gig, which would be weird, because she would be the only person there (I think) who was also at the first U R Seoul gig in 2007, other than Jim and I, of course.
Well, that's more than enough for today. I have physiotherapy in an hour and I'll be back tomorrow with a report of Ireland's glorious victory against the might of Andorra tomorrow.
Friday, 3 September 2010
TFIF
Ok, yeah alright it's Friday night! Even though I'm just sat in with a couple of beers waiting for the Armenia V Ireland match on iraqgoals at midnight, it's still a great feeling to have a tough week out of the way and a couple of days of relative ease to look forward to. And it has been a long, tough week. The amount of lesson-planning is insane and, coupled with two physio sessions a week starting yesterday, it seems a long way until the Christmas holidays in Ireland right now. I'm so deprived of sleep that I actually passed out at my desk yesterday at about 6pm and needed a wake-up call from the office to get me to class at 6.40pm!? Not good. On the plus side, the time I'm putting into planning is really paying off in the lessons. I'm still pretty chirpy about it all at the minute, but let's see how I feel after a few weeks of this carry on. Definitely not what I signed up for.
The trip to the hospital yesterday was pretty encouraging. The doc told me that my knee is progressing and not to worry too much about occasional swelling. I have at least another month in my brace but he wants me to start cycling in the gym in a couple of weeks so I'm definitely getting there. I also had my first of seven proper physio sessions. Hot pack, ultra-sound, electro-pulse therapy, laser treatment, and about an hour of rubbing, prodding, bending and twisting. I was in awe of how much the nurse really knew what she was doing (or seemed to...) and the pain and swelling I had been enduring all week subsided pretty quickly. It also helped that almost everyone I came across spoke pretty decent English and were so reassuring and informative. It's still a major inconvenience, and surgery is still a possibility, but I definitely feel a lot more positive about it all now.
My language-exchange in Myeong Dong earlier today was a little short but sweet today, due to my schedule. I'm glad to say that Na Ra is progressing gradually with her English proficiency, and I think I am gradually becoming less embarrassingly rubbish at Korean. I'm determined not to let it slip and undo all the work I put into it over the summer. The same goes for guitar, which I'm still mucking around with when I can. Apparently we all have to have something to play/sing at home for Christmas so I might be able to accompany myself for the first time in my life. Why I didn't learn guitar earlier, I simply cannot say. It turns out that a Colombian friend of Rachel's will also be spending Christmas with us, so it'll be quite the cosmopolitan celebration up in Cooley. I'll get my musical fix before that at band practice on Sunday with Jim, Jeff and Cheon. It hasn't been easy to arrange with all our different responsibilities with work and other bands, but hopefully this is the start of us getting our act together again. Suggestions on covers are always welcome, as is a band name, which we STILL haven't been able to come up with...
Big weekend of football coming up BUT I'm not going to go into it today. I do want to plug the first K-League podcast which I listened to just minutes ago. It certainly has it's flaws and was very biased and barely acknowledged the existence of FC Seoul (due to the fact it was presented by two Suwon fans, I assume) but it's a brilliant resource for English-speaking K-League fans and I expect it to develop and get better and better. FC Seoul V Gwangju tomorrow night at 8pm, World Cup Stadium, minus our international players. Still, it should be a comfortable home victory. We need it to be. Incidentally, I think I have wangled four free tickets for next week's match against Daegu from a bar owner friend in Itaewon. I'm picking up my fair share of FC Seoul freebies these days!
Right, I'm struggling to stay awake at this point so I'm going to sign off and ready myself for what will hopefully be a great start to Ireland's European Championship 2012 qualifying campaign. I very much doubt that I'll be blogging again before Tuesday (I'm dreading my grueling Monday timetable already) but, in the meantime, let me know if there's anything you'd particularly like me to write about on here. I always have ideas at random times throughout the day but whenever I actually sit down to write, whatever comes out, comes out. Maybe I'm being a bit too 'safe' with my subject matter. Remember, I'm still pretty new to all this. I'll leave you with an incredibly good version of one of the songs our 'as-yet-unnamed' band will be going over on Sunday, I'm sure. Have a great weekend. Make it count.
The trip to the hospital yesterday was pretty encouraging. The doc told me that my knee is progressing and not to worry too much about occasional swelling. I have at least another month in my brace but he wants me to start cycling in the gym in a couple of weeks so I'm definitely getting there. I also had my first of seven proper physio sessions. Hot pack, ultra-sound, electro-pulse therapy, laser treatment, and about an hour of rubbing, prodding, bending and twisting. I was in awe of how much the nurse really knew what she was doing (or seemed to...) and the pain and swelling I had been enduring all week subsided pretty quickly. It also helped that almost everyone I came across spoke pretty decent English and were so reassuring and informative. It's still a major inconvenience, and surgery is still a possibility, but I definitely feel a lot more positive about it all now.
My language-exchange in Myeong Dong earlier today was a little short but sweet today, due to my schedule. I'm glad to say that Na Ra is progressing gradually with her English proficiency, and I think I am gradually becoming less embarrassingly rubbish at Korean. I'm determined not to let it slip and undo all the work I put into it over the summer. The same goes for guitar, which I'm still mucking around with when I can. Apparently we all have to have something to play/sing at home for Christmas so I might be able to accompany myself for the first time in my life. Why I didn't learn guitar earlier, I simply cannot say. It turns out that a Colombian friend of Rachel's will also be spending Christmas with us, so it'll be quite the cosmopolitan celebration up in Cooley. I'll get my musical fix before that at band practice on Sunday with Jim, Jeff and Cheon. It hasn't been easy to arrange with all our different responsibilities with work and other bands, but hopefully this is the start of us getting our act together again. Suggestions on covers are always welcome, as is a band name, which we STILL haven't been able to come up with...
Big weekend of football coming up BUT I'm not going to go into it today. I do want to plug the first K-League podcast which I listened to just minutes ago. It certainly has it's flaws and was very biased and barely acknowledged the existence of FC Seoul (due to the fact it was presented by two Suwon fans, I assume) but it's a brilliant resource for English-speaking K-League fans and I expect it to develop and get better and better. FC Seoul V Gwangju tomorrow night at 8pm, World Cup Stadium, minus our international players. Still, it should be a comfortable home victory. We need it to be. Incidentally, I think I have wangled four free tickets for next week's match against Daegu from a bar owner friend in Itaewon. I'm picking up my fair share of FC Seoul freebies these days!
Right, I'm struggling to stay awake at this point so I'm going to sign off and ready myself for what will hopefully be a great start to Ireland's European Championship 2012 qualifying campaign. I very much doubt that I'll be blogging again before Tuesday (I'm dreading my grueling Monday timetable already) but, in the meantime, let me know if there's anything you'd particularly like me to write about on here. I always have ideas at random times throughout the day but whenever I actually sit down to write, whatever comes out, comes out. Maybe I'm being a bit too 'safe' with my subject matter. Remember, I'm still pretty new to all this. I'll leave you with an incredibly good version of one of the songs our 'as-yet-unnamed' band will be going over on Sunday, I'm sure. Have a great weekend. Make it count.
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Hobble, hobble.
So I haven't really mentioned my dodgy knee for a bit and the reason for this is that, compared with initially, it has not been feeling too bad. Unfortunately, the end of my lazy summer days and my pretty tough schedule so far this week has made it necessary for me to be up on my feet more than my beleaguered ligaments were ready for. Welcome back, swelling. Long time no see, throbbing pain. It's been a while, hobbling. Coincidentally, my next (and I was hoping last) appointment at the hospital is today. If the weather holds up (there is a typhoon in town today but, thankfully, it hasn't been too drastic so far) then I should hear what he has to say and have some idea when I might be able to get back to full mobility. That's the dream! haha.. throbbing...
Yesterday evening, I headed over to Ji's house to chill out with her and with the intention of watching Pohang Steelers V FC Seoul on her TV (I don't have one myself). Infuriatingly, the game wasn't being shown on any of the MANY sports channels here. Apparently, it makes more sense to play the SAME baseball match simultaneously on different channels rather than air a team that attracted 60,000 supporters to a match earlier in the season (albeit on Children's Day and with a promotion, but still). I got to see the goals on the news and watched the extended highlights this morning. I'm delighted to say that we recorded an impressive 4-1 win to move up to third in the table, just a point behind Seongnam, who have played a game more. Importantly, we're also 9 clear of Suwon (evil) in 7th. Hopefully there will be no slip-ups at home against Gwangju on Saturday night at 8pm, Sangam World Cup Stadium.
Dejan was missing for the game because he's off on International duty with Montenegro who face Wales at home on Friday and travel to Bulgaria the following Tuesday. With Switzerland and England also in that group, it's a really tough one. Ireland have a tricky start against Armenia in Yerevan on Friday before what should be a straightforward tie next Tuesday in the new Aviva Stadium against Andorra. We have a fair few injury concerns and Trap is still on the mend, but surely there's a possibility of taking all six points on offer. How sweet that would be...
Schedule still tough as... Had the luxury of a full night's sleep last night but there is SO much preparation and SO many classes that the end never seems in sight no matter how much work I seem to be getting done. Thankfully, they are all going well and I think I know where I'm headed with them all. I'm eager not to let things like guitar, Korean, reading and so on fall by the way side. For now, I'm managing to keep everything in check (and blog regularly, which is a welcome distraction). When the MA recommences in early October, I'm not sure how I'll fit it all in. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it...
Yesterday evening, I headed over to Ji's house to chill out with her and with the intention of watching Pohang Steelers V FC Seoul on her TV (I don't have one myself). Infuriatingly, the game wasn't being shown on any of the MANY sports channels here. Apparently, it makes more sense to play the SAME baseball match simultaneously on different channels rather than air a team that attracted 60,000 supporters to a match earlier in the season (albeit on Children's Day and with a promotion, but still). I got to see the goals on the news and watched the extended highlights this morning. I'm delighted to say that we recorded an impressive 4-1 win to move up to third in the table, just a point behind Seongnam, who have played a game more. Importantly, we're also 9 clear of Suwon (evil) in 7th. Hopefully there will be no slip-ups at home against Gwangju on Saturday night at 8pm, Sangam World Cup Stadium.
Dejan was missing for the game because he's off on International duty with Montenegro who face Wales at home on Friday and travel to Bulgaria the following Tuesday. With Switzerland and England also in that group, it's a really tough one. Ireland have a tricky start against Armenia in Yerevan on Friday before what should be a straightforward tie next Tuesday in the new Aviva Stadium against Andorra. We have a fair few injury concerns and Trap is still on the mend, but surely there's a possibility of taking all six points on offer. How sweet that would be...
Schedule still tough as... Had the luxury of a full night's sleep last night but there is SO much preparation and SO many classes that the end never seems in sight no matter how much work I seem to be getting done. Thankfully, they are all going well and I think I know where I'm headed with them all. I'm eager not to let things like guitar, Korean, reading and so on fall by the way side. For now, I'm managing to keep everything in check (and blog regularly, which is a welcome distraction). When the MA recommences in early October, I'm not sure how I'll fit it all in. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it...
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
"You Very Bad Face"
Koreans, bless them, they're not backwards about coming forwards. If you get to class looking as though you've just been dragged backwards through a rosebush, you can be pretty certain someone will point out that you're looking like crap. "Oh! Brian! You very bad face!" is an old favourite of mine. If I'm feeling particularly tired and make the mistake of being a bit stung, I might say. "Oh, you too", but, generally, I'll just smile and say, 'Thanks!" and leave it at that. It's not that they're being rude, it's just that they're way less fake than we are in Ireland. If you look like shit, they'll tell you. To be honest, I'm starting to be more like that myself and it's refreshing. I generally take it with a pinch of salt, just like I do when they insist I look like some good-looking actor I bear NO resemblance to. It's very flattering, but I don't think James McAvoy would be too happy to be confused with yours truly.
The reason I bring that up today is that my sleeping pattern is truly shot to bits and I write this today having already taught two of my three Wednesday classes on a mere two hours sleep from last night. Somehow, I don't feel too bad at all, but I'm pretty sure it'll hit me in the afternoon just as I'm trying to prepare my classes for tomorrow. Thankfully, I don't teach DDE2 tonight, so I have some extra time to get my thinking cap on and come up with something creative for the start of my TOEIC lessons tomorrow night. I'm also going to head over to Ji's to watch FC Seoul away against Pohang Steelers, which is hopefully showing on TV.
Pohang won the Asian Champion's League last season so, although they are currently only in mid-table in the league, it's not going to be an easy game at all. Following the crushing disappointment of the 4-2 loss away against Suwon last weekend, this is a game we really need to take something from if we are to keep in contact with the top of the league and avoid getting sucked into the battle for the play-offs directly below us. Suwon are on a bit of a push and Ulsan and Busan are still there or thereabouts.
The K-League is unique in that the league winners, aren't necessarily the league Champions. At the end of the season, the top six go into play-offs to decide who takes top honours. So, although of course I want to see FC Seoul at the summit, the reality is that top-6 might have to do. Considering our amazing unbeaten run at home, surely we can do at least that? Surely... I hope the manager starts with Choi Tae Uk, Lee Seung Ryul, Dejan and Djeparov on the wings and up front tonight, as that's the selection that started the second half at Suwon and looked pretty good. Cross your fingers for us...
Classes all still going well thankfully, in spite of the sleep deprivation. It's nice being back amongst the hustle and bustle of a busy teacher's office and have all the students around the language centre and during breakfast and dinner downstairs. Long may it continue. I'm particularly enjoying teaching on campus; it's always nice to have a new teaching experience and another feather in your cap. My class this morning had five students that I previously taught during DDE1 and they seem like a great group. I have the last of my five General English classes in an hour; that's going to be a lot of mid-term and end-of-term marking...
Ok, I have a few things to sort out before class so I better get on with it. Need to sort out band practice, which is getting increasingly more difficult to do with all our clashing responsibilities. Need to try to learn some Korean if I'm to avoid total gibberish during my class on Friday. Need to play guitar a bit for fear of letting it slip again. Need to hassle my Uni to confirm whether or not they got that heap of cash I wired them and find out when my course actually starts again. Need to keep busy and avoid nodding off during/before class. Have a good day everyone. Zzzzz...
The reason I bring that up today is that my sleeping pattern is truly shot to bits and I write this today having already taught two of my three Wednesday classes on a mere two hours sleep from last night. Somehow, I don't feel too bad at all, but I'm pretty sure it'll hit me in the afternoon just as I'm trying to prepare my classes for tomorrow. Thankfully, I don't teach DDE2 tonight, so I have some extra time to get my thinking cap on and come up with something creative for the start of my TOEIC lessons tomorrow night. I'm also going to head over to Ji's to watch FC Seoul away against Pohang Steelers, which is hopefully showing on TV.
Pohang won the Asian Champion's League last season so, although they are currently only in mid-table in the league, it's not going to be an easy game at all. Following the crushing disappointment of the 4-2 loss away against Suwon last weekend, this is a game we really need to take something from if we are to keep in contact with the top of the league and avoid getting sucked into the battle for the play-offs directly below us. Suwon are on a bit of a push and Ulsan and Busan are still there or thereabouts.
| RANKING |  | TEAM | | POINTS | | W | | D | | L | | F | | A | | GD |
| 1 | JEJU | 37 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 18 | 17 |
| 2 | SEONGNAM | 36 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 34 | 16 | 18 |
| 3 | GYEONGNAM | 36 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 28 | 17 | 11 |
| 4 | JEONBUK | 34 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 37 | 24 | 13 |
| 5 | SEOUL | 33 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 31 | 17 | 14 |
| 6 | ULSAN | 29 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 23 | 1 |
| 7 | BUSAN | 26 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 29 | 23 | 6 |
| 8 | SUWON | 26 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 30 | 31 | -1 |
| 9 | POHANG | 22 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 28 | 34 | -6 |
| 10 | INCHEON | 19 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 27 | 33 | -6 |
| 11 | CHUNNAM | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 30 | 36 | -6 |
| 12 | GANGWON | 16 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 21 | 36 | -15 |
| 13 | GWANGJU | 15 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 25 | -13 |
| 14 | DAEJEON | 13 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 16 | 34 | -18 |
| 15 | DAEGU | 12 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 19 | 34 | -15 |
The K-League is unique in that the league winners, aren't necessarily the league Champions. At the end of the season, the top six go into play-offs to decide who takes top honours. So, although of course I want to see FC Seoul at the summit, the reality is that top-6 might have to do. Considering our amazing unbeaten run at home, surely we can do at least that? Surely... I hope the manager starts with Choi Tae Uk, Lee Seung Ryul, Dejan and Djeparov on the wings and up front tonight, as that's the selection that started the second half at Suwon and looked pretty good. Cross your fingers for us...
Classes all still going well thankfully, in spite of the sleep deprivation. It's nice being back amongst the hustle and bustle of a busy teacher's office and have all the students around the language centre and during breakfast and dinner downstairs. Long may it continue. I'm particularly enjoying teaching on campus; it's always nice to have a new teaching experience and another feather in your cap. My class this morning had five students that I previously taught during DDE1 and they seem like a great group. I have the last of my five General English classes in an hour; that's going to be a lot of mid-term and end-of-term marking...
Ok, I have a few things to sort out before class so I better get on with it. Need to sort out band practice, which is getting increasingly more difficult to do with all our clashing responsibilities. Need to try to learn some Korean if I'm to avoid total gibberish during my class on Friday. Need to play guitar a bit for fear of letting it slip again. Need to hassle my Uni to confirm whether or not they got that heap of cash I wired them and find out when my course actually starts again. Need to keep busy and avoid nodding off during/before class. Have a good day everyone. Zzzzz...
Slow, slow, slow, slow, FAST!
Tuesday night and my first blog this week, which should go some way towards explaining just how insanely busy I have been since work started up again yesterday. My head is fried with so much going on all of a sudden having been so idle for most of the summer. So far, I think I'm keeping on top of it all fairly well and I'm enjoying the classes. Right, how about a quick catch up on the weekend?
As my last blog alluded to, I was being very 'sensible' last Friday in order to get myself organized for a busy Monday and be free to enjoy the weekend guilt-free. Once I was done blogging I did, indeed, get sucked back into my book and very nearly didn't bother going out to meet Thomas and his co-workers celebrating the end of their summer camp in Suyu. I talked to Rob on the phone on his way to the airport and then did the family mart > Rock n' Roll Day thing that is becoming more and more of a nice little Friday night habit.
I didn't have much time to laze around on Saturday before I set out from Wolgye at 5.15pm to get to Suwon (at 7.45pm...) a quarter of an hour into the Suwon Bluewings V FC Seoul encounter at a packed Suwon World Cup Stadium, by which time we were already losing 2-0. I was pretty much heading down on my own but one of the nice things (although sometimes annoying) about Korea is that random people have a habit of befriending you and that's what happened as I was getting out of my train. My FC Seoul shirt attracted a fellow supporter and she shared a taxi with me to the stadium. I'm not going to talk too much about the game but I was still standing, staring in shock a fair few minutes after the players had left the pitch. I certainly understand why Seoul and Suwon fans simply don't get along. When I was heading to meet Matt for a quick beer after the game, two Suwon fans stopped me to kindly warn me that if I didn't take off my Seoul short, "You die". Lovely. Having come from 2-0 down to get back to 2-2, it still rankles that we lost 4-2. I'd say it was a great game for the neutral: highlights here.
After the game I got the train back up to Seoul to go see Kev at Stompers in Itaewon. We were treated to some good music over the course of the night. It was both strange and enjoyable to watch Kev (old guitarist) and Jeff (new guitarist) playing so well together in the Rolling Stones cover band. The lead singer was also one of the best to watch that I've seen in a long time. Like true rockers, they headed over to Woodstock after to play another show but I stole off to Dillingers in honor of Rob where I met up with Stephen and Darragh and did a fair bit of ranting to the poor barmaid who made the mistake of asking me about the FC Seoul match. When they found out I was a fan, the bar owners gave me some merchandise they had laying around and promised me the signed ball they have behind the bar if I could make it back for the quiz on Thursday. There's no way I'll make it with my teaching schedule, but I'll be holding him to it at a later date...
Sunday was a lazy day spent hanging about with Ji and Thomas before forcing myself to stay awake for the rain-spattered Belgian Grand Prix, won by Lewis Hamilton to keep his world title bid well on track. I stayed over at Ji's that night even though I never ever seem to sleep that well over there. And so it was the case again...
Monday consisted of a taxi home at 6.30am, teaching Brand English from 7.30-8.45am, heading over to the main campus to pick up class lists for General English, writing out seating plans, teaching three General English classes from 10am-1pm, going back to prepare myself for the Dynamic English 2 classes, squeezing in a short nap, finally getting some food, teaching DDE2 from 6.40-9.20pm, preparing my classes for Tuesday and FINALLY getting to sleep around 1am. Somehow I woke up at 4.30am and couldn't get back to sleep so today has been as all over the place as yesterday. Throw in doctor's appointments and Korean class and it's looking like a pretty busy week. Importantly, all my classes have been going really well and I'm looking forward to a couple of really productive teaching blocks coming up. Secretly, I have to admit, it's nice to be busy again...
A couple of other things before I go. I have seen a few people posting this South Park episode on facebook (ironically) but I finally watched it in full tonight when I came in from class. If you're on facebook (is anyone not??), I think you'll identify... Watch it here.
As part of my recent push to get my pictures up on facebook, I asked my ex-girlfriend Annie for a link to some pictures of a safari we went on with a sound couple from Jersey (UK) back in early 2008 in Venezuela. I'm not going to get around to putting them on facebook anytime soon, but if you want to check them out now, you can do so here.
Finally, I mentioned meeting my friend Matt after the Suwon game last Sunday. If you're interested in reading a PROPER blog that never ever fails to be funny and insightful without taking itself too seriously, you should check out his recently revamped blog here.
There you go, that's all my business for the day. I'll do my best to blog again soon but we'll see how limiting my classes and sleeping pattern will be over the next few days. Great to be busy again though...
As my last blog alluded to, I was being very 'sensible' last Friday in order to get myself organized for a busy Monday and be free to enjoy the weekend guilt-free. Once I was done blogging I did, indeed, get sucked back into my book and very nearly didn't bother going out to meet Thomas and his co-workers celebrating the end of their summer camp in Suyu. I talked to Rob on the phone on his way to the airport and then did the family mart > Rock n' Roll Day thing that is becoming more and more of a nice little Friday night habit.
I didn't have much time to laze around on Saturday before I set out from Wolgye at 5.15pm to get to Suwon (at 7.45pm...) a quarter of an hour into the Suwon Bluewings V FC Seoul encounter at a packed Suwon World Cup Stadium, by which time we were already losing 2-0. I was pretty much heading down on my own but one of the nice things (although sometimes annoying) about Korea is that random people have a habit of befriending you and that's what happened as I was getting out of my train. My FC Seoul shirt attracted a fellow supporter and she shared a taxi with me to the stadium. I'm not going to talk too much about the game but I was still standing, staring in shock a fair few minutes after the players had left the pitch. I certainly understand why Seoul and Suwon fans simply don't get along. When I was heading to meet Matt for a quick beer after the game, two Suwon fans stopped me to kindly warn me that if I didn't take off my Seoul short, "You die". Lovely. Having come from 2-0 down to get back to 2-2, it still rankles that we lost 4-2. I'd say it was a great game for the neutral: highlights here.
After the game I got the train back up to Seoul to go see Kev at Stompers in Itaewon. We were treated to some good music over the course of the night. It was both strange and enjoyable to watch Kev (old guitarist) and Jeff (new guitarist) playing so well together in the Rolling Stones cover band. The lead singer was also one of the best to watch that I've seen in a long time. Like true rockers, they headed over to Woodstock after to play another show but I stole off to Dillingers in honor of Rob where I met up with Stephen and Darragh and did a fair bit of ranting to the poor barmaid who made the mistake of asking me about the FC Seoul match. When they found out I was a fan, the bar owners gave me some merchandise they had laying around and promised me the signed ball they have behind the bar if I could make it back for the quiz on Thursday. There's no way I'll make it with my teaching schedule, but I'll be holding him to it at a later date...
Sunday was a lazy day spent hanging about with Ji and Thomas before forcing myself to stay awake for the rain-spattered Belgian Grand Prix, won by Lewis Hamilton to keep his world title bid well on track. I stayed over at Ji's that night even though I never ever seem to sleep that well over there. And so it was the case again...
Monday consisted of a taxi home at 6.30am, teaching Brand English from 7.30-8.45am, heading over to the main campus to pick up class lists for General English, writing out seating plans, teaching three General English classes from 10am-1pm, going back to prepare myself for the Dynamic English 2 classes, squeezing in a short nap, finally getting some food, teaching DDE2 from 6.40-9.20pm, preparing my classes for Tuesday and FINALLY getting to sleep around 1am. Somehow I woke up at 4.30am and couldn't get back to sleep so today has been as all over the place as yesterday. Throw in doctor's appointments and Korean class and it's looking like a pretty busy week. Importantly, all my classes have been going really well and I'm looking forward to a couple of really productive teaching blocks coming up. Secretly, I have to admit, it's nice to be busy again...
A couple of other things before I go. I have seen a few people posting this South Park episode on facebook (ironically) but I finally watched it in full tonight when I came in from class. If you're on facebook (is anyone not??), I think you'll identify... Watch it here.
As part of my recent push to get my pictures up on facebook, I asked my ex-girlfriend Annie for a link to some pictures of a safari we went on with a sound couple from Jersey (UK) back in early 2008 in Venezuela. I'm not going to get around to putting them on facebook anytime soon, but if you want to check them out now, you can do so here.
Finally, I mentioned meeting my friend Matt after the Suwon game last Sunday. If you're interested in reading a PROPER blog that never ever fails to be funny and insightful without taking itself too seriously, you should check out his recently revamped blog here.
There you go, that's all my business for the day. I'll do my best to blog again soon but we'll see how limiting my classes and sleeping pattern will be over the next few days. Great to be busy again though...
Friday, 27 August 2010
Is this it?
Well, here I am at 9.20pm on a Friday night having spent the day in Korean lessons and preparing classes and I really have to ask myself: what happened to me? It's really not that long ago that Friday came and I had that giddy sensation all day and ALWAYS did something fun, if not always too crazy, later that night. It's strange how suddenly 'being 28' creeps up on you and it's not something you get much warning of, aside from the other 27 years of your life that is... I think I echo the views of a lot of my peers when I say that the biggest turmoil of this age is the half of you that thinks it's time to 'grow up' battling with the (especially audible on weekends) half that wants to squeeze another few years of craic out of it. My mind tells me not to take life too seriously, live a little, you could be gone tomorrow for all you know. Unfortunately, about a million other things tell me I should be settling down, 'acting my age' and keeping one eye focused firmly on the future. I'm never sure which side is winning.
I really feel like chatting about a million things football right now but I'm aware that I do that a lot on here and it's not everyone's cup of tea so I'm resisting the urge... I will be heading down to Suwon for their home encounter with FC Seoul tomorrow night before coming back up to see Kevin playing with a Rolling Stones cover band at Stompers in Itaewon and whatever else the night holds. Sunday will definitely be the day of rest that it's intended to be because I'll be on duty from 7.30am-9.20pm on Monday. Way to get dropped back in at the deep end.
I continue to read and relish 'David Copperfield' - in fact, I'm still only half way through it's 700-plus pages. I find the fixed social strata of the Victorian period so interesting. Every character seems to know where they stand in relation to the others. Of course, this is very limiting and Britain has gone to great pains to enable us to affect our own class rather than our blood (officially, at least). So many situations in the book require characters to keep the peace and act incredibly patiently even in the face of cruel injustice at the hands of those who, quite often, appear intellectually or morally inferior. In today's 'western' world (although Korea is an exception that I will come to in the future), it seems that everyone you meet has a strong sense of self and it's no longer acceptable to dismiss or talk down to those who may have come from a less-distinguished background, for example. I'm tempted to romanticize the era portrayed by Dickens but I obviously need to check myself. My Dad has worked, at various times, for the water works, as a farmer, a fisher and a bus driver. My Mum started working in a factory at 14 before becoming a 'domestic technician' and latterly an office worker (she has, however, also gone on to attain a 2:1 BA in Community Development in spite of the burden of having five children). If I had been born in Victorian England, my options would be pretty limited. Thankfully, I live at a time where those who are able can open up more and more options through hard work or education. Not that that's the case for everyone, regrettably, although it's a definite improvement on the prospects of even the previous generation.
Alright it's time I started having a life. I'm going to head out to meet either Thomas or Ji for a few sociables locally. Maybe just a couple of chapters of David Copperfield first... Have good weekend everyone.
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Silverware!
Well it's a momentous night because, in all the time we've been supporting FC Seoul here, they have finally got their hands on some actual silverware! Ok, it might just be the Posco Cup (the third tier competition here, equivalent to the League Cup in England) but beggars can't be choosers. It was a 3-0 victory away to reigning league-Champions Jeonbuk Motors who recently inflicted a 1-0 defeat on us in the league. Having survived some sustained pressure at the beginning of the game, FC Seoul began to assert themselves and new signing, Djeparov, should have put them ahead having been put through one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Unfortunately he choked. That guy could really be doing with a goal to help him settle and become the key player I believe he has the ability to become for us. Goals from Dejan (which we missed as the TV directors were still showing a replay of Djeparov's miss), Jung Jo Gook (going with the 'baby' celebrations again) and substitute Lee Seung Ryeol sealed a famous victory for the Sangam-based club. Let's hope they can push on from here and seal the championship. I'll be going down to Suwon on Saturday night for a huge derby match with our traditional rivals, who have been showing improved form of late, since their change in management.
I was intending to shell out the stg2,100 for the final installment of my MA today but, annoyingly, my Irish debit card wouldn't work for me so I'll have to do it tomorrow. It's a huge amount of money to pay out at once and I've certainly never spent that much at once before. In saying that, it's nice to have got to this stage of my education without incurring any debt, so I know it's a lot less than some others have to pay in the long run. September is going to be a painful month for me financially but I'll start recovering from October onwards only for Christmas to clean out my pockets again. Ah the continuous cycle of earning and spending only to necessitate the need to earn further for future spending - why do we bother!? No, I know the MA is, in a way, an investment and I hope it'll pay off in the long-term. As for Christmas, I just (finally) uploaded my pictures of Christmas 2009 to facebook and it's something you can't really put a price on.
I was a PE teacher for the day yesterday at APIS. As pointed out by my sole commenter (mainly), it was a welcome change from the books. The kids at that school are predominantly ethnic Koreans but all are native English speakers. They are well-behaved and enthusiastic, in the main, but it's not always easy to motivate them all to participate in games. I think PE teachers are all too easily admonished by their peers but it's a skill I'd love to know more about. No doubt, encouraging children and teenagers to be more active and spotting talent where it exists are worthy activities. I always enjoy the atmosphere of the International School and it further whets my appetite. Hopefully 2011 will be the year...
Band practice just didn't happen this week because we all had other things going on. Still, Jim and I were just chatting tonight that we still might be able to practice briefly on Saturday and try a short gig later that night. I was eager to play Friday so that a few of those leaving soon might be able to hear us first, but we haven't played together in over a month so I guess it's too great a risk. I'm really keen to get things going again and build up some momentum so that we can be playing full gigs by ourselves by October. Let's hope we can get everyone on side to do just that.
Rob and I said our goodbyes tonight so I won't be seeing him again until Christmas. Jess, Kev and Jo all follow suit in the coming days so it's definitely the start of something new for us here in Seoul. It's pretty late here so I'm going to head to bed and read a few more chapters of David Copperfield now. I should have time to blog again tomorrow and I think it's time to write about one of those other topics I mentioned that I have been avoiding so far. I'm not as worried about ruffling feathers as I was when I started this carry on.
I was intending to shell out the stg2,100 for the final installment of my MA today but, annoyingly, my Irish debit card wouldn't work for me so I'll have to do it tomorrow. It's a huge amount of money to pay out at once and I've certainly never spent that much at once before. In saying that, it's nice to have got to this stage of my education without incurring any debt, so I know it's a lot less than some others have to pay in the long run. September is going to be a painful month for me financially but I'll start recovering from October onwards only for Christmas to clean out my pockets again. Ah the continuous cycle of earning and spending only to necessitate the need to earn further for future spending - why do we bother!? No, I know the MA is, in a way, an investment and I hope it'll pay off in the long-term. As for Christmas, I just (finally) uploaded my pictures of Christmas 2009 to facebook and it's something you can't really put a price on.
I was a PE teacher for the day yesterday at APIS. As pointed out by my sole commenter (mainly), it was a welcome change from the books. The kids at that school are predominantly ethnic Koreans but all are native English speakers. They are well-behaved and enthusiastic, in the main, but it's not always easy to motivate them all to participate in games. I think PE teachers are all too easily admonished by their peers but it's a skill I'd love to know more about. No doubt, encouraging children and teenagers to be more active and spotting talent where it exists are worthy activities. I always enjoy the atmosphere of the International School and it further whets my appetite. Hopefully 2011 will be the year...
Band practice just didn't happen this week because we all had other things going on. Still, Jim and I were just chatting tonight that we still might be able to practice briefly on Saturday and try a short gig later that night. I was eager to play Friday so that a few of those leaving soon might be able to hear us first, but we haven't played together in over a month so I guess it's too great a risk. I'm really keen to get things going again and build up some momentum so that we can be playing full gigs by ourselves by October. Let's hope we can get everyone on side to do just that.
Rob and I said our goodbyes tonight so I won't be seeing him again until Christmas. Jess, Kev and Jo all follow suit in the coming days so it's definitely the start of something new for us here in Seoul. It's pretty late here so I'm going to head to bed and read a few more chapters of David Copperfield now. I should have time to blog again tomorrow and I think it's time to write about one of those other topics I mentioned that I have been avoiding so far. I'm not as worried about ruffling feathers as I was when I started this carry on.
Monday, 23 August 2010
End of an Era
Well that was a really good weekend all round. I hope you can say the same for yourself. The 'unplugged' gig at RMT on Friday night was a big success. We had a great crowd in and there was a lot of good music on show. I really enjoyed singing 'The Weight' with Zee, Patricia and David and got a lot of confidence to push on from the night overall. There were four very different kinds of singers involved and I really enjoyed the others, especially from a technical point of view. I think all four of us are proponents of singing as a 'craft' and it was so interesting to see how each of us played according to our specific strengths and weaknesses. An acoustic night may lack the 'oomph' of a full band gig, but it definitely puts singers in the spotlight more. I wish I had spent more time doing these kinds of gigs with Kev before he upped and left. I'm glad for him that the night went well. Kev was one of the first people I met in Korea and through U R Seoul, he's one of a small group of people I've spent most of my free time with over the years in Korea. I know I'll see him again but it's undoubtedly a bit sad that things will never be quite like this ever again. That's not to say that they might not be even better in future. I'm looking forward to getting things properly up and running with my new band now that Jim is back in the country. It might be nice to see if I could get some kind of acoustic act together too. No doubt Barcelona is going to be exciting for Kev and Jo.
Saturday was a fun day and night too. I met up with Rob and Catherine at Wolfhound for what could well be the last time. I was determined to not dwell on that and just stay in good form for the night but I was a bit melancholy at times for sure. There was a whole bunch of us at the FC Seoul V Gangwon FC match at World Cup Stadium. It was a good game for the neutral as FC Seoul created a lot and Gangwon didn't just sit back and take it, without actually creating more than a couple of clear-cut chances mind you. The home side may have ran out 2-1 winners, but they certainly didn't make life easy for the fans. The impressive Choi Tae Uk took advantage of an horrendous defensive slip but, moments later, Seoul fell asleep at the back to allow the visitors to level. Seoul continued to create but frustrate before Jeong Jo Gook's clinical finish following good work from the ever-industrious Ha Dae Sung in midfield. Jeong later said it was he 'best goal ever' and dedicated it to his new-born son. Both he and striking partner Dejan were guilty of a few glaring misses but the 2-1 victory keeps us in third place behind Gyeongnam and Jeju with a game in hand. It was really encouraging to see Kim Chi Woo coming on as substitute following a lengthy absence through injury and Choi Tae Uk also looked good on the right, putting pressure on fellow new-signing Djeparov who was absent through injury himself.
FC Seoul have a chance to win their first silverware with the League Cup final away to Cheonbuk on Wednesday night. It'd be their first trophy in my time watching them but it's a tough away fixture against the reigning league Champions. You can watch highlights of FC Seoul V GangwonFC here.
Sunday was a gloriously lazy day of catching up with all the Premiership action on Saturday and staying up late for Newcastle's stunning 6-0 hammering of Aston Villa and Fulham's impressive 2-2 draw with Manchester United. I may have expressed dissatisfaction with the football last weekend but have to eat those words now: 22 goal difference between top and bottom after two games, Chelsea rampant, nigh-on impossible to predict behind them, goals, great saves and drama galore. Much has been said about Paul Scholes already this season and if you have a chance you should check out his interview with the bbc. It's strange that, although I've been watching him for 17 seasons, I barely know what he even sounds like. He came across as a very normal and likable bloke, not what you might hear or expect of other top professional footballers. Another mouth-watering tie tonight as Liverpool visit Man City. It's crazy that games this early in the season already feel so crucial to the team's hopes for he season. My fantasy football team continues to be average but I'm going to keep the faith (mostly) and give them a little bit longer to come through for me before I try something a bit more drastic. Certainly seems like a good idea to have a few Chelsea players in your line-up at the minute, but it's early days...
I'm in the last week of my holidays before everything gets busy again next Monday. I'm hoping to get as much preparation done as possible for my classes but there's only so much I can do before I get a feel for the classes and get to know the students and their capabilities. I'm subbing as a PE teacher at APIS tomorrow, which should be fun and will bring a bit of much needed extra cash. I pay my final installment of fees for my MA on Wednesday and it's going to be very welcome to have that annual burden off my back. It looks as though the new band will try to gig on Friday night if we can manage to fit a rehearsal in before then. If life is this busy when I'm not working, I dread to think what it'll be like from Monday next...
Saturday was a fun day and night too. I met up with Rob and Catherine at Wolfhound for what could well be the last time. I was determined to not dwell on that and just stay in good form for the night but I was a bit melancholy at times for sure. There was a whole bunch of us at the FC Seoul V Gangwon FC match at World Cup Stadium. It was a good game for the neutral as FC Seoul created a lot and Gangwon didn't just sit back and take it, without actually creating more than a couple of clear-cut chances mind you. The home side may have ran out 2-1 winners, but they certainly didn't make life easy for the fans. The impressive Choi Tae Uk took advantage of an horrendous defensive slip but, moments later, Seoul fell asleep at the back to allow the visitors to level. Seoul continued to create but frustrate before Jeong Jo Gook's clinical finish following good work from the ever-industrious Ha Dae Sung in midfield. Jeong later said it was he 'best goal ever' and dedicated it to his new-born son. Both he and striking partner Dejan were guilty of a few glaring misses but the 2-1 victory keeps us in third place behind Gyeongnam and Jeju with a game in hand. It was really encouraging to see Kim Chi Woo coming on as substitute following a lengthy absence through injury and Choi Tae Uk also looked good on the right, putting pressure on fellow new-signing Djeparov who was absent through injury himself.
FC Seoul have a chance to win their first silverware with the League Cup final away to Cheonbuk on Wednesday night. It'd be their first trophy in my time watching them but it's a tough away fixture against the reigning league Champions. You can watch highlights of FC Seoul V GangwonFC here.
Sunday was a gloriously lazy day of catching up with all the Premiership action on Saturday and staying up late for Newcastle's stunning 6-0 hammering of Aston Villa and Fulham's impressive 2-2 draw with Manchester United. I may have expressed dissatisfaction with the football last weekend but have to eat those words now: 22 goal difference between top and bottom after two games, Chelsea rampant, nigh-on impossible to predict behind them, goals, great saves and drama galore. Much has been said about Paul Scholes already this season and if you have a chance you should check out his interview with the bbc. It's strange that, although I've been watching him for 17 seasons, I barely know what he even sounds like. He came across as a very normal and likable bloke, not what you might hear or expect of other top professional footballers. Another mouth-watering tie tonight as Liverpool visit Man City. It's crazy that games this early in the season already feel so crucial to the team's hopes for he season. My fantasy football team continues to be average but I'm going to keep the faith (mostly) and give them a little bit longer to come through for me before I try something a bit more drastic. Certainly seems like a good idea to have a few Chelsea players in your line-up at the minute, but it's early days...
I'm in the last week of my holidays before everything gets busy again next Monday. I'm hoping to get as much preparation done as possible for my classes but there's only so much I can do before I get a feel for the classes and get to know the students and their capabilities. I'm subbing as a PE teacher at APIS tomorrow, which should be fun and will bring a bit of much needed extra cash. I pay my final installment of fees for my MA on Wednesday and it's going to be very welcome to have that annual burden off my back. It looks as though the new band will try to gig on Friday night if we can manage to fit a rehearsal in before then. If life is this busy when I'm not working, I dread to think what it'll be like from Monday next...
Friday, 20 August 2010
Back to Life
Nice to see a few people around campus this morning for their graduation. The Uni is a living, breathing organism (a word I embarrassingly misspelled throughout my first-year Science exam...) but it has been quiet all summer long. With the students coming back in a little over a week, things are returning to normal. Personally, I'll go from having vast swathes of free time to being really pretty busy. That's fine.
I just had my Korean language exchange, which was pretty tough today. I think because I've been studying quite a lot I got a bit ahead of myself. In reality, my level is still extremely basic and, as I'm constantly at pains to explain to my own students, learning a language requires a sustained effort over a prolonged period of time. Na Ra (my excellent Korean teacher) is off on holidays for four weeks but I'm still hoping to fit in a couple of lessons. I've decided that I'm going to keep them up even after my MA restarts. There's no point making progress over the summer only to let things drop again, as I have done before.
Anyway, I'm off to Itaewon now to meet Rob for dinner and then run over a few songs with Kevin, Zee and Patricia (whom I barely know) before the show tonight. I'm fairly hopeful there'll be a good number of people there and I think it's going to be a really enjoyable night. I had been feeling really guilty about pulling out of the Chillis gig tomorrow night and letting Cheon down so I text him earlier to cave in. Thankfully, he has found someone else but they're still pretty disappointed. I'm hoping I can meet them again and play a show somewhere else sometime. It might even be a good idea for the two bands (Cheon's band plus Jim, Jeff, Cheon and I) playing shows together until we can get a full set together. Ok I'm just thinking out loud here so I'm going to sign off. Have a great weekend everyone and if you're in Seoul tonight come along to Rocky Mountain Tavern for Kevin's big acoustic night.
I just had my Korean language exchange, which was pretty tough today. I think because I've been studying quite a lot I got a bit ahead of myself. In reality, my level is still extremely basic and, as I'm constantly at pains to explain to my own students, learning a language requires a sustained effort over a prolonged period of time. Na Ra (my excellent Korean teacher) is off on holidays for four weeks but I'm still hoping to fit in a couple of lessons. I've decided that I'm going to keep them up even after my MA restarts. There's no point making progress over the summer only to let things drop again, as I have done before.
Anyway, I'm off to Itaewon now to meet Rob for dinner and then run over a few songs with Kevin, Zee and Patricia (whom I barely know) before the show tonight. I'm fairly hopeful there'll be a good number of people there and I think it's going to be a really enjoyable night. I had been feeling really guilty about pulling out of the Chillis gig tomorrow night and letting Cheon down so I text him earlier to cave in. Thankfully, he has found someone else but they're still pretty disappointed. I'm hoping I can meet them again and play a show somewhere else sometime. It might even be a good idea for the two bands (Cheon's band plus Jim, Jeff, Cheon and I) playing shows together until we can get a full set together. Ok I'm just thinking out loud here so I'm going to sign off. Have a great weekend everyone and if you're in Seoul tonight come along to Rocky Mountain Tavern for Kevin's big acoustic night.
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