Sunday, December 30, 2007

Liverpool Stu's Class Chrimbo Special!

This is pure artwork in a never equalled artform. Enjoy this very special Chrimbo narrative by the one and only, "Liverpool Stu."



Friday, December 28, 2007

Sleepless Nights In Seoul Korea!

The last couple of nights, I have not been able to get myself to sleep at a half-decent time.

Last night, I went to bed at 7am after watching about 4 games from the EPL. It was okay, as I didn't have to get up until 4pm.


Can't say the same thing tonight, though. I am still up watching the Man City vs Blackburn game and it is 5am. I have to get up at 9.30am!


I began reading a new book today, also. It is called 'The Lovely Bones.' It starts off very serious and quite shocking with a murder, but as the blurb on the back of the book says, "don't be too shocked and stop reading the book, carry on and it will become a very surprising and invigorating book.'


Well, up to now, I must say that it is a very good book and very hard to put down. I have already read about 100 pages and about a third of the book. I think it will be a very good read.


I am still in the process of reading 'The Lexus and The Olive Tree,' which is a book about globalization. It is a very good book, but tough going. I am really enjoying it, though I have to take breaks to absorb all the business jargon and in-depth ideas.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Ride Baby Ride Baby Ride Baby Ride!

I am not working at my school again until January 2nd, which is a nice break for the holiday season.
Sangil Dong Elementary School students.




So, today I decided to just hop on a few buses and see where they took me and also to get to know Seoul a little bit better. That is exactly what I did for about an hour and a half. I just put on my ipod and wrote a few numbers of the buses that I was on and made note of some of the landmarks and areas that I was in. Across one bridge and then across another and so on.......
Henry and Jane.




Seoul is between the Han River on both sides and goes North and South of it as well as East and West. It has between 5 or 6 bridges that go across the Han River. Not sure of the exact number, but I know it is quite a bit of engineering, to say the least.
My new cell phone; well, 3 months ago, anyway.



I am planning on doing the same tomorrow morning and getting on a few buses close to where I live. There are a few that I have wondered where they end up or where they go. Well, tomorrow, I shall put my curiousity to an end.
Suzie and Jenny from Sangil Dong.




I had a good xmas, just hung out with Dave, Rob, Tony, Richard, Billy, Ryan and his girl, Rosie and her fella at Dave's house on Xmas Eve.Chris made it, too after going the wrong way into Seoul and on a bus for about 2 hours.....funny as hell, really. It was a fun time and we had some good discussions and arguments, but all in good faith of course.


We went to Ryan's house and then Dave, myself, Rob, Chris, and Dan went to a bbq pork place and has something to eat. Dan had taken Tony to the bus station so that he could get back to Ulsan.
We had a nice meal and then we all headed our seperate ways. Dan drove Rob and myself back to Seoul and I took my 2 bags of novels that I had left at Dave's with me, too. Have a load of books to read now. Thanks Sara......got them when she left Korea, from her apartment.
Pic of my wardrobes in my house and my clothes dryer!




It is Dave's birthday this Sunday, so we all will be doing something this Saturday to celebrate. I am done taking my medecine today, so I will partake in some liquid spirits this weekend.


That is all for now. Don't have any pics to fill this long dialogue up. Gonna add a few anyway, just to give the blog some colour.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Memories Of Being A Binman Or As They Say In North America: A Garbage Man

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7158247.stm

I did this job for more than 7 years.......tough work and no lifters on our trucks! All the bags got thrown in by pure force.

Average weight thrown a day by 2 men all year around was about 15-20 tons per day! Yes, that is right per day. That means that each man physically threw in about 20,000lbs of weight in a truck......don't miss that job.

It was a great job in the spring and summer and fall, but herrendous in the winter. Good learning experience, but the grunt has gone from my resume now. I am an educator now.....haha.

A Few Christmas Jokes To Get You In The Mood

Some of the jokes that I get sent from various people who get them sent from various people who get them sent from various people.....you get the gist of things, right?


Anyway, enjoy these couple of funny ones.



A Few Christmas Jokes To Get You In The Mood

Some of the jokes that I get sent from various people who get them sent from various people who get them sent from various people.....you get the gist of things, right?



Anyway, enjoy these couple of funny ones.




Saturday, December 22, 2007

Facebook Hits A Bingo Again......Amazing!

I was thinking of who I had lost touch with the other day and decided to go on Facebook and see if I could find a few people.







One of the people was John Limberopoulos, a cousin of my ex-wife's. I used to always get along with him so well and a bunch of crap happened within their family itself and we lost touch. I had nothing to do with it.....haha
.




Anyway, I put his name in and BINGO, his profile came up. I almost shit a brick! What an amazing thing to find someone that I had not seen or spoken to in about 14 years. Last time I saw him was at his wedding. I am happy to say that he is still married and now has a son that is almost 2 years old......cool, John!!!!!!



We both loved music and used to swap cassettes and always talked about music when I visited his mum and dad's house. I always got along with his mum and dad and sister, too because they were always so nice to me.



We exchanged emails and also he gave me his yahoo messenger i.d. and within about 10 mins we were chatting to each other online. Amazing, when you think about it.



I will say once again that life is about always trying and once again, this has proved that fact, outright.



I also gave him my blog, so he can see what I have been up to for the last couple of years at least. Funny thing is that I lived in Toronto for almost 3 years and he has lived there for about 15 years now. We never stayed in touch though.

Unfortunately, most of the ex-wife's family went by the wayside-one of the negative things about divorce. You divorce the whole family, not just the spouse.




Billy, Dave and I back when we all lived in Bundang.




Anyway, I have been divorced over 10 years now and that is all ancient history. Harbour no hard feelings or anger about anything that happened in the past now. It is all about moving forward and talking to John today was absolutely awesome, proving my theory about moving forward and put a hop in my step, that is for sure.



Hey, John, if you are reading this- great to be in touch with you again and all the best for now and the future. I promise I won't stalk you, okay! Well, I can't promise that completely, okay.....haha, just joking.



Korean bbq style......yummy!




I am looking forward to Monday, as after that day, I have almost 10 days off! That means I will be able to recharge my batteries and go to the gym everyday and fight the winter poundage. I am looking forward to the break. Hey, I love my job, but need a break once in a while.



I hope to have some pics of the kids on the day, as we are having a pizza and dvd class for each of the classes. It will be an easy, fun day for me and it only cost us teachers 30 dollars each to pay for 2 pizzas for each class for the whole day.......cool!



Going to Dave's school party after that in Bundang and then celebrating the rest of the night with Dave and hopefully Billy, Rob and Tony.

Tony is supposed to be coming down from Ulsan where we used to live for the 2 days. No drinking of course due to the drugs that I am on and really I don't feel like having a drink, anyway. Do any of you believe that? If you do then I have one thing to say-.......suckers!!!!!!




Rob and I.



Only one day off in Korea, Christmas Day. After that, everyone is back to work, but I am not as I work in the public school system, although it is the after-school program. All the private schools or haegwons as they are called here in Korea, are open for business the next day or our Boxing Day as we know it.



Off for now to play with my new I-pod, which was my present to myself for Christmas...... 80G baby!!!!!!!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

3 Days Of Recovery

I switched Monday to work Friday with my Korean teacher, so I had yesterday to start getting over this sinus infection. I woke up this morning though with the shakes and really felt ill. I tried to get up and shake it off, but I felt really bad still. I decided to call in sick and it actually will work out good, as Wednesday is a holiday here. voting day, so I will have 3 days off in a row and then back to work Thursday.



One's health is important and we don't really think too much about it until we are sick. The medecine is knocking me a little sick, but I think my body is getting used to it now. It is very strong and I have to take it 3 times a day for 10 days. I have to eat before I take it also.




Going out now to get something to eat and to get some fresh-air. I will also be going to the sauna a little later on. My throat feels better today and my nose is not quite so sore and stuffy......hopefully on the road to recovery.



There you go, whinging is over.......

Monday, December 17, 2007

Sinus Problem!

It took me two months to finally go to the doctor, but today I made the visit and found out that I have a sinus infection.




I am on medicine now for the next 10 days and can't drink while I am on them. I am happy about that....really!!!!! Gives me an excuse to have a 'dry' Christmas and then carry it on into the New Year. I am tired of going to the same places and doing the same thing.....drinking......





Talking to Dave today and told him that I would like to come to Bundang on Xmas Eve and stay at his place, then spend Xmas Day there. Something different than the same places here in Seoul, for once.



Not sure what the plan is, but I don't care. I just want to chill out and get away from the booze. Don't care what it involves, just hang out with some good friends and have a good time without liquor. I don't mind if my friends drink, don't get me wrong, but I can't anyway.




This time of year is always difficult being away from family. I don't think the family even understands how difficult it is being along in a foreign land. Alone, meaning no other family members around. It is a bit of an up and down feeling, but generally just would like to be there for the holidays and hang out with your family.



So, that is the choice that has been made and I knew that many years ago. It still doesn't make it any easier, though. Through all the up and downs though, a lot of soul searching usually goes on in my head over the holidays especially before the New Year......usually good things, too.




The job is going well and I can say that I have job satisfaction. The kids are getting better and I think I am becoming a better teacher all the time. I enjoy the challenge daily of getting the kids to improve and it is very heart-warming to see them actually do it!



Watched the Liverpool vs Man Utd game last night; once again, shite game, but overall Liverpool had the ball more, created more chances, but couldn't score. I though Benitez should have pulled of Kuyt and Kewell at half-time, as they were both stinking the place out ,really. They were just not on their games, but gave a gallant effort.....just not their day.



Not much else to say. Taking my medicine and staying warm and eating healthy. Can't overdo it at the gym, too, as the doctor said to not overdo it too much due to the sinus infection.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

I Hope This Is A Sign Of The Attitude To Come

Check out Capello's first statement even before he has got the job.......sounds promising to me.

I hope this manager will do what England players need- someone to kick their bleedin' arses into shape.

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,2483_2966081,00.html

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness

I have to trace back a little to about a week ago, to start blogging about what I was doing and where I went.


First off, I had to edit a master's paper for my friend Fragile, so I spent quite a few hours correcting punctuation, spelling and a few minor grammar errors. She leaves out the 'article' sometimes, as her native language is Russian and articles don't exist in that language. She speaks English perfectly and also writes it, but at times, she has some minor mistakes and I mean minor. However, over the course of a 30 page paper, these errors can add up, so she asked me to help her. She even offered to pay me.....yeah right......what are friends for!!!!!!
Fragile on the left, Izabella on the right. They visited me, back in October.


In between doing her essay and teaching and teaching and teaching, I got back to the gym and started doing full body part workouts-something I haven't done for months and months. I started working one body part and then do a 2 km run. For example, on Monday I worked back then Tuesday chest and Wednesday triceps and on and on and on.


I couldn't believe how much I sweated. I didn't realize how much I used to sweat in the past lifting-weights- I should have know really....duh....only did weights for about 15 years of my life!!!!!! Anyway, the feeling was awesome and I just started doing heavier weights and lower reps. Saying that, I am not going anywhere near as heavy or c0mmitted as I was. I am not doing the killer deadlifts or the squats!!!!!


Anyway, the weekend rolled around and there was the football Saturday at Hollywoods. Liverpool were atroscious and Benitez is off his head! The other games were alright though except Utd winning. Met up with a few friends, Dave came down from Bundang and got home around 6 in the morning-that is usual for the weekends. Not so much being intoxicated, just staying out and socializing with people that you don't see all week. Chris fell asleep at Hollywoods. He had been drinking all day. He slept for about 2 hours.
My message to Benitez at the moment.


Met a fella from Birmingham, Darren and had a good chat with him. He is living in a tiny city outside Seoul. He has only been here 2 weeks, so he was thrilled to have someone to talk to and a place that had 'foreigners.' He was saying, where he lives, people don't really like the 'aliens,' as we are called, and the next big city over, Pyontaek, hates them even more- felt sorry for the bastard for where he is living........


Cleaned my house on Saturday for 2 hours! I vacuumed, dusted, cleaned up and bleached the shite out of everything. It felt so good having a clean house and even now I can't believe how clean it looks. I am going to keep it this clean, too. It wasn't that dirty by any means, but by my standards it was messy and just generally unkept.


Took a day off from the gym today, but had a nice sauna. My cold seems to be getting better all the time, but is still lingering......oh well, it'll go sometime.


Have to go to the photo shop tomorrow and get the pics done from Richard's triumph at the U17 World Championships as well as his Abiriba Community Party. I have been promising him for the last 3 weeks, but keep putting it off. I am going to do it tomorrow, for sure.....

Monday, December 03, 2007

Liverpool F.C's Charter: Something To Be So Proud Of

This is the actual charter that is part of Liverpool Football Club. We were read this when we went on the tour of Anfield earlier this year. It is brilliant to say the least and just shows you what class our supporters have.......worldwide.


Here below is the official Kop charter, a signal of just how passionately we feel about Liverpool Football Club:Today is a milestone for the world-famous city of Liverpool. 800 years ago, the city was granted its charter and the unique, historic, cosmopolitan melting-pot of Liverpool was born.
Its dialect and its people are Scouse - a stew made of many ingredients - and its symbol is the iconic Liver Bird. One team in the city of Liverpool carries its name. One team carries the city of Liverpool’s symbol. One team spreads the city’s name far and wide.


Ask anyone, anywhere in the world if they know of Liverpool and they’ll tell you yes - that’s where The Beatles are from. And Liverpool F.C. Part of LFC’s folklore is its famous Spion Kop. And in reminding ourselves of the city’s history and traditions on the first day of its 800th Birthday, it’s worth reminding ourselves, the latest custodians of the famous Kop, of some its own principles. First is that we are only custodians.


The Kop is a spirit, an attitude, the heart and soul of Liverpool F.C. No-one owns it, but together we are a legion, a force like no other.


2. There is no other. The Kop is a one-off. It’s the cradle of terrace culture, humour, songs - the original 12th Man. The Kop innovates. It has never followed. As Liverpudlians, we should never follow the rest of country’s trends and fancies. Whether that takes the form of lower-league grade chanting, overhead seal-clapping or the wearing of yokel-style head gear, The Kop deserves better.


3. “Liverpool F.C exists as a source of pride for its supporters. It has no other purpose.” If that is the club’s pledge to us, here’s ours to the team. “The Kop exists as a bastion of support. We will get behind the team through thick and thin. We will, always, give them strength.” “Liverpool F.C exists as a source of pride for its supporters. It has no other purpose.” -


4. It’s the law of nature that fans have favourites. Let’s leave the negative stuff in the pubs and schools and wherever else there’s a debate to be had. Once we set foot inside Anfield, we are Redmen and we have one purpose; to help the team win.


5. Let’s get inside the ground earlier. This is all about playing our part in making Anfield special, and providing the backdrop and the inspiration for the team to walk tall. It’s also about letting the other team know where they are. When they come out to warm up, we want our heroes’ hearts pumping - and want the opposition shrivelling. Everyone loves a pre-match pint, but let’s get The Kop rocking, too.


6. On 15th April 1989, many thousands of us set off to support our team in the semi final of the F.A Cup. 96 of us never came home again. We will always honour the memory of those who died at Hillsborough. In our respect for them and their families, and in our disdain for the unprincipled and unregulated hacks who scared up a shameful pack of lies out of a desperate human tragedy, we will never purchase or read The Sun newspaper, and we deplore the reading of it by any Liverpool supporter.


7. It is our custom and our privilege to welcome supporters from far and wide. We expect all Kopites of all ages, wherever they sit inside the ground, to show similar respect to the city of the team they support. It’s not endearing when visitors don curly-perm wigs and tell locals to “calm down”. It’s not clever to laugh along with away fans who sing tiresome nursery rhymes about car crime. Support Liverpool F.C, and you support Liverpool, too.


8. We always applaud the other team’s goalie - it's the Liverpool way.


9. “Liverpool F.C. Supporters All Over The World.” We don’t tolerate racism. Everyone knows LFC, all around the globe. From Nairobi to Ngoya, we have fans, people who love us because we do things The Liverpool Way. We have style, we have honour, we have principles. We are a global force with a local pulse - truly, a club of the people.


10. Our own icon, the symbol that makes The Kop a legend all over the world, is our anthem: You’ll Never Walk Alone. If there is one thing that sets us apart as fans, it’s this pre-match ritual, this war cry, our hymn of triumph, and occasional pain. We’re custodians of the anthem, and we have to maintain it and pass it on to the next generation, in pristine condition. We can never dilute the song, its message and its impact with half-measures and bursts of applause half way through. Let’s respect the anthem and do it proud, sing it slowly and with heartfelt emotion, right to the end, scarves held high. Amen. Justice for the 96. Gone but never forgotten.