Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Merciless Gray Hair!!!!



I am completely at a loss to understand why my gray hair is so stubborn! I am completely grey on the sides of my hair and I mean 'snow' white! Anyway, I bleached my hair two weeks ago and today decided to put a colour through it. I picked 'champagne blond!'

Wish me luck as they say! I am sitting here now, waiting for the colour to take to my hair. I leave it in for one hour and then hope that it went well. I don't give a shite to tell you the truth. I just want the gray on the sides to look a little more natural with the rest of my hair. that is my only concern. Life is tough when all you can worry about is the grey hair on the sides........haha.

Today is national voting day here in Korea. All the gov't places are closed, including the banks. All of the schools are closed as well as the private schools, except ours! We found out that if my school wasn't open today, they would have had to have refunded 30 dollars to each student. That is a lot of money times 7000. We are all a little pissed though, as they told us initially that we had the day off.

Everyone here takes voting very seriously hence the day off to perform your national duty. On another note we got a new teacher at our school. He is from the US and was knackered when we met him yesterday. He only arrived the night before, so he was bushed.

More bad news for Scott, one of our teachers. I will tell you the story briefly. His washing machine was on when he left the house and he got a call at school to say his apt was flooded. He got home and there was about 3 inches of water all over the floor. I guess one of the hoses or something was leaking. Anyway, an unfortunate accident and maybe in the future, don't leave your washing machine on when you leave. It is on the main floor by the way and the water leaked into the apt underneath also. So the story begins there and Scott is thinking to himself, if he will have to pay something or what will be the recourse.

So, Avalon send someone over to look at the floor damage and to look at the machine. They say that the machine is fine, but the floor has to be replaced as it is softwood that has buckled. Scott goes to do his washing again as they said the machine was fine and didn't need fixing. The apartment flooded again!!!! Scott was there this time. As he is cleaning up the water, he slips and breaks his toe! He also gets electrocuted as he is changing a light bulb in the bathroom. He turned the switch off but it still shocked him. Very dangerous too, as it is 22 volts here!

He is hobbling around with his foot in a small foot cast and paid about 100 dollars for the doctor's visit and his drugs. He then gets told yesterday at the end of the day that he has to pay for the whole cost of the floor; 800 dollars!!!!!!! He is pissed to say the least and is seriously thinking about quitting if something doesn't get resolved. The school has not even said they would maybe consider paying 50 percent even. This is a company that has oodles of money too.

The first time it flooded, it was an accident and maybe Scott could be blamed for leaving the washing machine on while he was gone, but how many times have we all done that! The second time was not his fault and Avalon should be blamed for their stupidness. They sad the machine didn't need fixing and it was okay to use. Anyway, the disturbing thing is that this could happen to any of the teachers involving different scenarios. What are we? Responsible for all the appliances breaking down now? I know it is a complicated issue, but it needs to get worked out asap. I feel so bad for Scott!!!!!!

The weather is hot today and I am now leaving to go to school. Wash my hair colour out and off I go. Adios!


Sunday, May 28, 2006

I Think My Dad Was Right!!!!


My Dad, in reference to some of the things that I have done in my life, always says, " I think we dropped him on his head when he was young, Irene!"

Well, to be quite honest, I think that he isn't far off. As the years have progressed, I seem to have done and am still doing the strangest things or act in the strangest of ways. I think what it probably comes down to is that I am just generally strange! I mean that in a good way of course, how can I not?

The last week, I posted two blogs saying how happy I was to be breaking up with the girlfriend and I was looking forward to being alone. How fast can you say "What?"

Well, that has all changed now.....yeh yeh, I hear you all!!!! I know, mental as ever, but resolute in my decision.

I thought about things all week and got things off my chest and to be honest, really tried to figure out what it was in life that I always thought was better than at this moment. I think that I suffer with 'the grass is always greener on the other side' syndrome.

I spent a few days soaking in the public baths and taking long hot saunas and just tried to get my head straight, if that is ever going to be possible. The end result of all of the ups and downs of the last week, is that I have decided to stay with the girlfriend and just enjoy the moment.




She is such a good person for me that I can't justify her not being in my life. I know that she loves me and that she would do anything for me. Isn't that what everyone wants in a partner?
I haven't been the most attentive boyfriend and she has stuck with me, so I think that I need to think long and hard before I just 'chuck' everything we have built over the last 19 months. Yes, that is right we have been together for 19 months and lived together for over 7 months.

She used to travel an hour by bus each way to visit me in Kyoungju and clean my house and cook me food. All out of the goodness of her heart, which I realize more and more now. I am just stuck in the past, judging all women as the anti-christ!!!!!

I seem to be a self-defeatist and just keep telling myself that life could be better than at this moment now. Well, I am going to try and 'get a grip' as Mum and Dad would say and make good choices for myself and not let my life's history get in the way, i.e. run when I am scared and make excuses galore for doing it.

Kyoung Hee and I talked about almost everything this weekend after a week of virtual silence except for good morning and have a good day. We had lunch on Saturday afternoon and both of us just started communicating really easily with each other about what we wanted. Don't get me wrong, we have always talked a lot to each other, but this was a lot more honest, from both of us, especially me.

We both feel the same way about a lot of things in life and I honestly believe we are a great match. She comes from a very dysfunctional family, which bothered me sometimes, even right up to about a week ago, but so what! She is with me and unlike me, she has not brought her emotional baggage with her, about all of that.

I said she was needy, but shit I am probably one of the neediest guys out there, just don't show it, or is it that transparent? Hey, come on now, be nice!!!!!!

We both agreed to give ourselves a break and to stop worrying about the future. We both need to save money to feel more secure, so that is plan number one. The other things was to share some more time with each other, exploring Korea and just hanging out a little more with each other. That is not to say that we are not going to give each other freedom, but we just talked about being friends without all the other crap attached to it.

I really like hanging out with her, I just, for some reason, kept stopping myself from doing it too much. I guess I thought if I hung out with her too much, I was being a wuss ass!!!! Maybe that is just flashbacks from my past that I need to put to rest permanently by forgetting about them. She is fun, funny, easy-going and just good company. I forgot that to tell you the truth until we had dinner on Saturday. She gets on my nerves and I get on hers, but hey we want to be together, so why not?

I am going to live in the moment and stop thinking that the grass is greener on the other side. I have put three priorities in their order of importance:

1. Save a good chunk of money
2.Keep fit and healthy.
3. Stop second guessing my life.
The rest will just fall into place or out of place, but so what! Part of the reason that I wanted a blog was so that I could write down what I was feeling and hopefully share it with other people that may or may not be going through the same things. As embarassing as it can be to share your thoughts with the world, I think that this blog has helped me to make the right decision for myself.
Reading the 2 blogs that I put on earlier in the week, made me realize how up and down my behaviour is. Maybe it sounds the same way to anyone that reads this, but at least I know what my problem is and can try to do something about it.
Now all that is off my chest, I have also decided to quit all booze until the World Cup begins on June 9th. I know it is only 12 days or so away, but in this country that is a big task. All the empty bottles are getting in the way also. I am going to do it because I just want to, okay? Hahaha.

Finally A Picture Of My Mum On Her Own!



I was looking through all my pics the other day and suddenly realized that I couldn't find one of her on her own. Maybe that is because she is taking a lot of the pics herself or there are just no times when she gets a pic taken solo!!!!

Well, I got one from the other night when Mum and Dad went to the Keg for Mum's birthday. You look great Mum, but too bad it's not that clear. Fire the photographer, okay........ hahaha.

More good news was received on the weekend. My niece, Katie, got accepted into the University of Toronto. Not that I ever doubted she would, but I think she was sweating on hearing from them a bit! If I got in being the dumbass that I am, did you really think you wouldn't get in Katie, being the 90 average student that you are? Congratulations and your Uncle Paul couldn't be anymore proud of you. Too bad that I wasn't there to celebrate with you......... wait a minute, present, money, time...... hahaa.

They are always one of the last schools to send out acceptance letters anyways. They are a big snobs, after all. My claim to fame is that I went there too, so I know what they are like....... huge snobs, but they offer a very good education all the same.

Katie had her prom on Friday night and I got to talk to her after it was finished and her and her friends were back at my sister's house. I guess there was supposed to be 20 odd going there or something. Anyway, I also have a pic of her and her friends.

Our Katie is in the pink dress on the far right. Sorry the pic is so small, but the way the file was sent, it was impossible to download it in its original size, which was huge. Don't all the girls look great? Our Katie looks like a lady. She is so much like her mother at that age, it is uncanny. Anyway, I hope that all her friends and herself had a wonderful prom and prom night.

Friday, May 26, 2006

My Mum Is 66 Years Young Today!


Well, today is a very special day. Without this woman's birth, Margaret Irene McCarthy, now Margaret Irene Campbell, 66 years ago, I wouldn't exist, so I guess you could say it was the most important day of my life, really!!!!!!!

Happy 66th birthday Mum! It was one year ago today that you officially turned 65, an old age pensioner by the legal standards. It's funny I don't think of you as an OAP at all....hehehe.

I hope my Mum has a great day today. I already talked to her on the phone and she was thrilled to tell me that Dad and her had bought a new computer; finally after 2 years of what I would call computer hell due to an antiquated tower and system.

Mum couldn't get over how fast it is now and how much easier it is to use. To quote her, she said, "It is just like having a new toy!"

I wish I could be with her celebrating her birthday, but I am with her always in spirit and hey Mum, have a nice piece of steak at The Keg for me, okay?

I love you Mum and thank your for the gift of life and most of all for teaching me how to love myself and my fellow man. You are the best Mum in the whole world and your son loves you very much as does the rest of your family.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox



It was also this day, one year to the day that Liverpool won the Champions League final for the unprecedented 5th time! They have now won it more times than all of the other English clubs have won it, added together...... cool or what!

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

See Where I Am And Learn About Korean Traffic Control

This is a pic of Korea that I thought would show you some of the places that I have lived in. Down the South on the East side you can see Ulsan, where I lived in 2001 and 2002. Up a little from it you can see Kyoungju, where I lived in 2004 and 2005. Then I went back to Ulsan for 5 months in 2005. I came to Bundang in Feb, 2006 and although Bundang is not shown, it is right between Suwon and Seoul.





This is a good pic of some of the different colour buses in Korea. Each colour donates the style of bus that it is. I am not sure of each one, but I know the blue bus is the express and does mostly highway runs. The orange one is similar and also does highway runs.





On the highway when you get closer to Seoul, there is a special 'blue lane, ' which only the buses are allowed to use. It is great as the buses never get backed up in traffic and can keep their time schedules right on track all the time. It is great when you are on one of them and you look out the window as you fly by all the cars stuck in traffic and backed up on the highway. The time is usually from 6am or something until 11.30pm at night. Anyone caught cheating into the lane during those times, gets about a 50 dollar fine or something; not exactl;y sure of the amount. It is a great idea and should be something every modern country should implement.



In Korea there are no left turns on green lights. Everything is done by the advanced green light. It prevents any t-bone accidents and helps the flow of traffic so much better. It was weird to get used to when I first got here, but now I am well used to it. Sometimes the pedestrians have to wait to cross the road a little longer, as there are two advanced greens from each direction at different timing schedules. It means really that you are standing there about 2 minutes more than what you would in the Western countries. I again, think this is a great idea and would completely stop the turning left accidents that are so common , especially in Canada. I was involved in 2 of them over the last 25 years or so that I have been driving.





One of the other things that I had never seen before was the u-turn lanes that they have here in Korea. There is a special lane, in the same lane as the turn left lane, where you are allowed to do u-turns. This is at major intersections too. There are very few cars that ever turn left off the road unless it is with an advanced green light or they do a u-turn on one of these lanes and turn right onto the street they want. What generally happens is that the car or taxi will actually drive past the street it wants to go left into, goes into the u-turn land and then heads back towards the street that it has passed and turn right onto it. It is awesome to see and I have even seen full size buses doing u-turns at major intersections. The driver can only do a u-turn if there is an advanced green or a green light in his lane. It is very safe and like I said before the flow of traffic is great.


Parking is a big problem in Korea and people will stop anywhere. I have seen them stop at bus stops, on main streets and block traffic lanes and not even care! Towing is not a bit thing here, only usually enforced at night for people who park overnight in an illegal parking spot that belongs to an individual or an apartment complex. I have never seen anyone getting towed during the day since I have been here.

Here is a great picture of traffic and pedestrian congestion in Seoul. I don't know where it was taken, but I got it off one of the Korean traffic sites. You don't tend to see this that much anymore, as they traffic sytems have greatly improved here over the last 20 years or so.



Friday, May 19, 2006

A Bit Of Hope For The England Team!

Arsenal lost the Champion's League final, which is okay in my books! Sorry, but it goes way back to when Wenger, the Arsenal manager, had the dirtiest team in the Premiership for about 3 years in a row. I didn't like his tactics and it was the time that Vieira had all his trouble with red cards and the like.I know they are an English team and I should have supported them, but there are 2 other teams that are on my list also for non-support. They are Chelsea and Manchester Utd. Okay, Man U, I would hate no matter who their manager was, but I still wanted them to win against Bayern Munich..... I think because of the historic impact in the past!


I don't like arrogant managers and Wenger, Ferguson and Morinho are 100 percent arrogant.There was what I termed as a 'baby war' going on between Wenger and Ferguson for a few years! Wenger is not as bad as the other two, but like I said, there are other variables why I dislike him.



The players on all the teams, I have no real dislike for as they are all good players and give their all, 100 percent of the time. I didn't like what Neville did against Liverpool, running to the area where all the Liverpool supporters were and kissing his badge on his shirt. He got fined for his actions, by the way. They beat us in time added on in a league game, so he was a little chuffed to say the least. But overall, I don't mind any of the players.


The hope that I felt while watching the Champions League final, was the fact that Sol Campbell scored and looked good in central defence and also Ashley Cole played the whole game and played very well. That is awesome news for the England squad. I think maybe Ashley Cole will start for the team while Campbell or Ferdinand will play beside John Terry.

I hope that England will play in the World Cup the way they play in their own domestic league, which hasn't always been the case in these big showcase tournaments. England need to play the same way the club teams play; fast, furious and with 100 percent passion. If England plays that way, I think we could be World Cup Champions on July 9th!!!!!

By the way, I wanted to add that most of the football images that I have on my site are from the soccernet.com website. Some of the other images are from all kinds of different sites. I am going to give the websites addresses on my future posts of any photos that I use. I think it is important that people know who takes these photos even though this blog is for my own personal use.

The England flag photo was taken from the following web-site, which also has pics of the 1966 World Cup with Bobby Moore lifting the trophy:

http://www.art.com/asp/display-asp/_/ID--11630/bobby_moore.htm?TNID=1&ui=4C6B33FFB50745E6830DC392C124104C

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

What Are Korean People Really Like?


The first impression that I got of Korean people when I arrived back in April, 2000, was that they were very eager to please foreigners and very accomodating. Sometimes they seem a little over the top, but they are genuine about their feelings, good and bad.

One of the things about Korean people is that most of them, I am generalizing of course, are very respectful of your opinions and won't belittle you at all. They even respect you more sometimes when you stand up for yourself. They very rarely hold grudges and like to 'clear the air' most of the time.




My blog sometimes seems a little negative, but that is due to my upbringing in another continent and my exposure to another culture. Sometimes your culture allows you to be both more and less tolerant at different times. Therefore, you have to constantly 'tweak' yourself when you are on another continent and imbedded in another culture. Most of the time, I think I get irritated because I believe what the actions of the people show, is disrespectful to me. That is far from the truth, it is just part of their 'hustle hustle and bustle' culture. I am not excusing their behaviour as normal to me, but it is normal for them. You are a guest in their country and you always have to try and 'ground' yourself into thinking that way, when things don't seem to going the way you are used to.

It was funny, the other day I was bitching about people bumping into me and one guy walking in front of me and so on and so on. Kyoung Hee turned around to me and said that all the complaining I was doing and all the names that I was calling these people, was insulting to her. " I am Korean you know?"

It hit a nerve with me and made me realize that I was just going on and on. She said that she agrees that what the people do is not right or normal to what I am used to, but this is Korea, she said. She was dead right and it gave me a different perspective on how I was acting.
Needless to say, I am doing my damnest now to stop being a 'whinger!' I sure as hell don't want to be one of those negative foreigners that can't wait to go back to the 'promised land.'

Back to Korean people. They are kind, friendly and always eager to speak English with you, or should I say try! Some of the kids come across a little rude, but don't all young kids from every culture.


Korean people are very direct with both compliments and insults, which they don't realize are insults, by the way. I have been called fat by both students and teachers since the day I arrived here and I have never been called fat in North America. Being a weightlifter, again the Koreans are not used to seeing big men who are over 100kgs=220lbs!!!!! I always get remarks about how hairy I am. Korean men are not hairy at all. They have very little body hair. I on the other hand, am turning into half monkey as I am getting older. I am losing hair on my head and gaining it everywhere else including my ears and nose...... yuk yuk... don't worry I have a trimmer!

Everything is always perspective, so my advice to anyone that is thinking about coming here, is to just go with the flow and don't take anything personally. Of course there are bad people no matter how nice you are or what continent you are on, so people will disappoint you everywhere, as they say!


Korean women are the bomb. The only problem that you may have is that you can break their hearts very easily. They fall in love very quickly and are so loyal that it is unbelievable. You have to be very careful if you just want to casually date a Korean girl. As long as you don't 'do the business' you are okay, but once you do, you have someone that will go to the ends of the earth to be with you.



When I first met my girlfriend, I thought that she was having me on about how much she 'loved' me and sometimes to tell you the truth, it did my head in! I soon realized after a bit of time, she was deadly serious. My advice is, don't play with Korean girls' hearts. They fall fast and they fall hard.



There was some moron from the States a few years back that had his own blog and he put on it that Korean girls were dead easy and all this other negative crap about them. The problem was that Korean people got to know about it and it was a big issue for a year or so here. There was a definite anti-foreigner sentiment feeling for quite a while.



I get overawed sometimes with my girlfriend because she just loves the bones of me and I can't believe that she acts the way she does. She always wants what is best for me and will go out of her way to make it happen. Of course she is a woman and she drives me mad of course, at the best of times!!! We have been together now for almost a year and a half and have lived together for almost 6 months. We are working out our cultural differences and the biggest challenge sometimes is just the lack of understanding of each other's language.... hehe. I like it though 'cos it is fun trying to work around the language barrier.



Korean men are what I describe as 'real ' men towards their women. They don't allow themselves to be pushed around, if that is possible even, but they go out with their friends and do what I consider manly things. They don't overly dote on their wives, but at the same time provide for them and are usually good husbands. They work long hours and party long hours too!!! It is part of the work culture here to go and have some soju to calm the nerves and create more team spirit.

Korean people never go out alone. Usually they are in groups of at least 3 or 4 and sometimes way more. Korean people usually have at least 3 or 4 really good friends and tons of friends that they went to school with. Remember most schools have class sizes of between 35 and 40 sometimes even as high as 50! So, being a loner in this country is not very common. That is one of the main reasons that I like Korea so much. People go out no matter what age they are and when they are married they don't stop going out. There is a definite culture of friendship here and that puts Korea right up there in my books.



Korean people dress immaculately. Their shoes are always polished and shining. Their footware is always in good condition. It is very rare to see anyone with bad footware in this country. The young guys and women dress in the latest fashions and the middle to older age groups all dress very stylish although sometimes it is their own Korean style, which we might not like. I have very rarely ever seen a Korean wearing an unironed shirt or t-shirt. They all have accessories to go with everything from bags to watches and jewellery. They are not flashy, but very well dressed. They remind me of the same calibre as European people's styles.

We, the North Americans and other countries are considered to be 'slobby' by the Koreans because we are not as particular as they are and it is dead true. There are some sights to see when you see foreigners and what they wear to school as teachers!

Dresses and stockings galore, you will see on the street everyday, worn by both young girls and older women. I see min-skirts and skirts everyday and everywhere, even in school. Their shoes and bags and clothes all usually match. It is awesome to see, to tell you the truth.

Korean people are very clean. The public bath is a big part of their culture. They go there to scrub their skin and to have a sauna and whirlpool. They go as families and everyone walks around butt naked, on seperate sides of course; men on one side and women on the other. It is pretty cool to see a father and his son at the public bath together and the father scrubbing his son's body and the son scrubbing his father's body. First time that I saw it, I was amazed. Again, this is a big part of their culture.

When it comes to cleaning from a domestic point of view, Koreans are quite clean although I must say they do a lot of surface cleaning. They only tend to clean what they can see. I have found tons of places that don't clean the tops of lockers and the tops of canopys etc. They are very particular about floors and tiles especially. Koreans are always washing their floors down and businesses especially, are very conscious about the front of their stores. They are always sweeping and washing the sidewalks down. Korea is quite a dusty place, so it is commonplace for people to wash things down a lot.

I would say Koreans are very clean, but not immaculately clean. As I mentioned before, if I could find a fault, it would be about only surface cleaning. Remember, I am talking about businesses and shops and the like. I haven't been in that many Korean people's houses to be able to observe the trend or the style of cleaning, other than a few friends and director's houses.


Korean people walk a lot and hike a lot. Being a country of mountains, hiking up mountains is a very normal thing for them to do. Also there are walking paths everywhere that are always full of people, night and day. The culture believes in being active nowadays, that is for sure. The nice thing about the walking paths is that there is a bike path right next to almost every one of them, so you can ride your bike or rollerblade in the same place and not worry about hitting people. The Korean government have put some real future thinking into the parks and paths that accomodate all the people. Usually most of the paths run beside a small river or lake for the added view and serenity.


There are open markets everywhere and it is a big part of Korean culture to buy fresh vegetables and fruits and fish and other types of meats. There are what they call 5 day markets, which are held on any day in the month with the number 5; usually the 5th, 15th and 25th. Everything is fresh and there are tons of different types of food to choose from and may I add clothes and other items for sale.

Pigs heads in Korean are supposed to be good luck. If you dream about a pig, you should play the lottery for sure!

Well, I hope this has given you some insight into the Korean people. They are full of life and a very good friend, part of a community and part of their own identity as Koreans. Korea is renowned for being one of the most autonomous countries of the 21st Century.

I love this place, love my job here, love the free lifestyle that it affords me and I try to embrace all of this every chance I get and have no plans on leaving Korea anytime soon.




Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Found A Public Bath That Is Open 24 Hours!!!!


This pic here shows how Seoul has managed to integrate the 'big city' with 'leisure areas.' There are places like this all over Seoul and even more of them in Bundang.

Well, the good news is that now I can start going to the public bath again. The only one that I knew of that was close to me, was only open until 9pm or so. I finish work at 10pm, so I was kind of shit out of luck! I am heading there tonight on my way home. I can't wait to sweat in the sauna and soak in the whirlpool again. It is only about 5 dollars and everything is provided there for you; towels, soap and toothbrush and razor are only about a dollar each.



Kyoung Hee and I found one on our walk on the weekend to Carrefour ( a French department store that is very popular in Korea.) It is literally across the street from our building, but hidden so well that you can't see it unless you walk way away from it or look up about 30 feet into the air. That is one of the tips that I give any new that comes here; always look up, if you don't you can miss a hell of a lot of things! This pic shows how high the signs are and the amount of signs there are!



I have some pics below of areas in and around Bundang, which Lyndsey kindly allowed me to take off of her blog! Isn't it great sharing things with your friends!



This one is a nice shot of the style of most of the side-streets in Bungang. Pretty don't you think?

This is the usual style for the walk-ways between apartment buildings. Remember, people here mostly live in apartments. Again, quite pretty this time of year.



Monday, May 15, 2006

An Attempt To Get Back Into Shape..... Again!!!!!!!!


Today I willed myself to get back into shape come hell or high water. We shall see how that goes! I for one hold no guarantees at the moment.

The elbow injury really put a damper on the last 5 months or so and I now feel like I have turned a corner and can get serious about getting back into shape. Like I said though, there are no guarantees and I don't feel like killing myself to get there at the moment.

I walked to work today for the first time. I wasn't sure how long it would take me, but told Kyoung Hee that I thought it would take 30 minutes. I left at 1.30pm to make sure, just in case I was way off in my estimations.



Well, I wasn't! It took me right on 30 mins, door to door. So, I arrived at school really early today, at like 2.00pm. Tomorrow I will leave my house at 2pm and get there at my usual time of 2.30. We don't officially start until 3pm and go until 10pm, but I like being there a little earlier and relaxing and getting my prep work done.

I walked home and it took right on 30 mins again. I am not walking at a fast pace, just normal speed. It was nice walking to school and then from school. The scenery is really nice and there are lots of trees and flowers and stuff on the way. I really enjoyed the walk to tell you the truth. Combine it with the fact that I was listening to my mp3, it was awesome. It is amazing how walking can make you think and really calm you down. I think most of us have forgotten how good a nice long walk is, don't you think?



Today is Monday, not much going on to speak of. Took it easy on Sunday and cleaned the house, bleached the bathroom and vacuumed the apartment from top to bottom. This place gets really dusty all the time, being that there are so many apts on top of each other and it is surrounded by main streets with cars moving on them all the time. I cleaned the tv and the rag was black! Not to mention the kitchen cupboards.



My girlfriend was out with a friend of hers that she has met here in Bundang, so I decided to be Mr. Mom. I told her not to get too used to it though..... haha. I meant it too!!! Why are you all laughing?

Oh, I almost forgot! Today was Teacher's Day in Korea. It is a big deal to the Koreans as they respect teachers very much in their culture. I actually got one flower from one of my students and a big chocolate bar from another. I also capped the day off by getting a big expensive bottle of after-shave off one of my favourite students, Sally.

She is such a great student and cute as a button as well. The Korean teacher that I share the class with actually said he was going to wait until she was old enough to get married! She is only 12, but really really cute and has a lovely disposition about her. She comes from a very good family, that is not hard to tell of course!

I enjoyed getting the presents and all the other teachers did also. There were cakes everywhere all day and cookies and flowers and gifts.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

7 Times Winners..... Get In There!!!!!!!!

A picture says a thousand words! So look at this picture and relive a 'dream' FA Cup final. Another trophy is lifted by the Captain of Liverpool Football Club, Steven Gerrard.

We love you Liverpool, we do

We love you Liverpool, we do

We love you Liverpool, we do

Oh, Liverpool we love you!

Oh when the Reds

Oh when the Reds

Oh when the Reds go marchin' in

We're gonna be in that number

Oh when the Reds go marchin' in!




All I can say is that the 125th FA Cup final will go down as one of the best in the history of the competition. Both teams played end to end football and gave their all, in what is the last played FA Cup final at The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.


Gerrard, Cisse and Reina showed absolute brilliance with their performances and the rest of the Reds were magnificent in their resolve with their 'never say die' attitude.




I can't begin to describe the emotions that went through me as the game progressed. 0-2 down and then a wonder pass by Gerrard and a wonder goal by Cisse. 2-1.

Then, two pin-point saves by Reina to stop the game from going to 1-3. A brilliant thunderbolt by Gerrard to make it 2-2.

A 'freak' goal that was meant as a cross, (remeniscent of Ronaldhino's goal against England in the last World Cup) took it to 2-3 for West Ham.

Then, in the first minute of injury time, Gerrard bangs what can only be called one of the best goals in a final that you will ever see. It virtually came out of nothing and broke the West Ham supporters' hearts.



Then on to extra-time with about 6 players all cramping up. Reina produces a flick of the hand to push the ball onto the post and deny West Ham what probably would have been the winning goal! Then on to penalites and Reina saves three of them, need I say more?


Liverpool lifted the trophy for the 7th time in their history and capped off what can only be called a game of magnificence. After playing 62 games, yes that is right, 62 games, they still had enough energy left to win yet another trophy. So, add that to the Super Cup that we won at the start of the year; we added two more trophies to the showcase this year.


Well done you Reds! All praise to the supporters also, who showed up in the thousands to spur on the Mighty Reds! 70,000 plus at the game to watch a spectacle that will take a long time to be equalled for spirit, skill and tenacity. What a showpiece for the game of football! Who said the FA cup had lost its mystique and aura!


And finally to end a magnificent day, the players looking happy and proud to be "FA Cup winners."