there. it has been said

i just want 2 say that i'm busy - almost 2 busy 2 breath - tired, it's bloody hot today (bring back the rain), & that it's great 2 have my 'kind and gracious and wonderful and amazing' girlfriend back. there, it has been said.

funny as

just uploading this picture because i think it's as funny as. sorry, got nothing else (except that i'm 1 day from being, according 2 some court in canada, officially 'released', aka divorced); 2 busy & suspect i will be for a while. how long before the latest utterance of the words 'this is definitely my last camp'?

more of the same can be found @ www.failblog.org

a weekend wrap

running on fumes today. i was up until 4am watching fed become the greatest (no more questions already; it’s settled). it capped another good weekend, one which mel monopolised thanks 2 that rule: we saw a very irish move in a very korean way, we spent saturday evening having delusions of grandeur, a psychotic belief in our own status if you will, courtesy of an all 2 brief stay in fraser place, one of seouls many serviced residences (think hotel with apartment facilities), the lions finally won a match , i did a spot of shopping, took some photos, & had a few beers (that brought an end 2 my 13 day self-prescribed prohibition). i’m gearing up for the coming weekend. friday is liberation day… but i got 2 get through the week first. with that 2 look forward 2 it shouldn't be hard.

the (s)hite gets it. a member of the south korean special forces breaks bottles by hand during an anti-terrorism drill at a training camp in seoul

from the bbc's day in pictures, july 3^rd 2009

what i'm listening 2 right now

the blizzards, postcards

a product of boredom

this is an entry comprising purely of mundane points. only read this if you’re terminally bored, or about at the same level of boredom that drove me 2 type this in the first place (i fully understand that you’ve no way of gauging how bored i am right now so just bear with me please). i do have stuff 2 do, stuff i assume the boss assumes i’m doing. but right now, 3 hours from the latest weekend, i have a inert desire 2 create an entry, even though i have nothing of substance 2 craft it with (which is normally the case i guess). mel says blogs are for those who are egoistic. well, based on this entry she just might have a point.

genghis, part ii

after a delay in acquiring it, a delay which added 2 the recent frustrations as reported in the last entry, i finally started reading my new book yesterday. here’s hoping it’s as good as the last one. so far so good.

commute observation

my daily quotidian commute (a 5 minute walk 2 the metro station, a 3 minute metro ride, & a 15-20 minute bus ride) is only slightly less unremarkable when i’m not travelling during regular rush hour (double negative there folks). one would think the opposite.

no-fi

i haven’t had internet access in my apartment for a few days now. & of course i can’t call the isp (haven’t learnt korean, & even if i had of i don’t know their number or any account details) so i don’t know why. non-payment of the bill? maybe. actually, probably. the problem is i’ve never seen an internet/cable bill so i can’t say for sure. one thing i can say for sure is that my apartment sucks without internet access (& i’m ashamed 2 say so does life in general).

rainy

when it rains here during the rainy season (basically the hot sticky summer months of july & august) it really rains. unless you see it for yourself it’s hard 2 believe that a seoul street, in the space of 2-3 minutes of torrential rain, can turn into a small river. it’s even harder 2 believe, again unless you’ve borne witness 2 it, that that same street is as dry as a bone within a few minutes of the scorching sun reappearing, which it invariably does. it’s extremes, in minutes.

binned

a mundane point if ever ther was one - there is a new bin by the office water cooler. it’s smaller than the old bin but unlike the old bin it has a flip-top, meaning the corner by the water cooler now isn’t looking as unsightly as it used 2. the girls in the office seem 2 like the new bin better than the old one. i couldn’t care less either way (but did care enough 2 find myself wondering where exactly the old bin is these days… i liked that bin).

all aboard

speaking of the office, it’s more of a train station these days than an office. there are new people passing through, koreans of course, on a daily basis. they don’t hang around for very long; they enter, greet everyone, bow, smile, chat, seem 2 get what they came for (information, an envelope, a box, whatever) & are gone. everyone here seems 2 know all the visitors, & all the visitors seem 2 know everyone here, including me. it’s a bit unnerving that as yet i haven’t recognised any of our visitors, but then again after a while one unfamiliar korean looks like the next. i’m assuming their visits have something 2 do with the upcoming camps, but i can’t say for sure because nobody tells me anything (it must be 2 do with the air of neutrality that i give off). but that’s fine with me because they do @ least tell me things i need 2 know about, meaning they don’t bother me with things i don’t need 2 know about. is it any wonder i like working here.

princess the 2^nd

it’s princess mel’s fake birthday this weekend. guess i’ll be busy.

safe hands

i’m pleased 2 report that korean doctors are on the ball, their penchant for dishing out copious amounts of pills for routine aliments aside. i went 2 the hospital yesterday for a hearing test (it was a follow-up 2 my visit last week after which i, unknowns 2 myself, robbed a pharmacy). after the requisite stint in the soundproof box with headphones on listening 2 myself breath, beeps of various pitches & tones, & the sound of the wind, it was revealed 2 me that the hearing in my right ear was “good” whereas the hearing in my left ear was “bad.”

“really?” i said.

“you mean the ear i had a mastoidectomy on when I was 15... that ear?”

i wanted 2 say, & in a tone suiting my present mood, that i could have told them that for free, as apposed 2 being charging 380,000 korean won (€215) for them 2 tell me, but i resisted. i feared the sarcasm would have been lost on them and that i would have came across as a dick foreigner. there are enough of them here already & i like 2 think i, & anyone i socialise with, don't/doesn’t fall into that category.

the cull

i’m still trying 2 cull 10 teachers, teacher who i’ve no doubt are busy preparing for their imminent departure 2 korea.

it’s okay, really

i’ve just received another e-mail from a teacher – unfortunately not one of the ones on the chopping block – querying the current status of the north/south ‘crisis’ & if it was ‘safe’ over here. one of the aspects of my job that i don't like is the fact that i have 2 make myself available 2 these people... & have 2 answer this sort of question. i’ve lost count of the times i’ve e-mailed some tormented soul 2 inform them that there ‘really isn’t anything 2 worry about,’ that ‘the whole north/south thing is getting more coverage overseas than it is in korea’ (that is, i do confess, a bold assumption on my part), & that ‘the south has been listening 2 the north’s heavy breathing since the late 1950’s.’

following hot on the heels of the north/south issue is, of course, swine flu. for that i appease them by stating, correctly i might add, that 1) it is having a minimal impact on korea, that 2) thus far there has only been one case of 15+ foreign teachers being put into quarantine (yeah, don’t I know all about it), & 3) that no one has died… yet. of course i put it in a much more eloquent way; eloquent & reassuring. if this job has taught me anything - & it has - it's that you can get away with anything if you use the right/appropriate words, in the appropriate way.

improving

mel's photographic skills are improving. she’s slowly making more of an impression on my blog photo album. i've told her numerous times that if the product she delivers is good enough then it'll make the blog. she seems 2 be up to the challenge. oh, & her drawing skills are improving too.

the end of sobriety

ryno gets back 2 korea next week a day earlier than planned. that’s only newsworthy due 2 the fact that i haven’t had a beer in 12 days, & am unlikely 2 indulge again until such time as an influence of the stature of ryno presents itself in front of me.

chop chop

i finally got a haircut. with my hairline one tends 2 shy away from haircuts but enough was enough; i had had my fill of looking homeless. it needed 2 be done & i’m please 2 note that thus far the reviews have mainly been positive. horray for a more younger looking me.

bills

i seem 2 be getting bills for my apartment on an almost daily basis. gas, electricity, water. they've been like busses recently; you wait forever for one & then they all come @ once.

16 twits

gototennis has just started following me on twitter. that's 16 sados & counting.

comon' fed!

speaking of tennis. it would make my weekend if i got 2 see the wimbledon final on sunday, especially if fed makes it (of course he will). it wouldn’t make my weekend if murray won. would the brits ever shut up if that happened? i’m guessing not.

members of the south korean coastguard's special sea attack team abseil down a building during a training exercise in incheon, west of seoul

from the bbc's day in pictures, june 30^th 2009

what I’m listening 2 right now

oka, music makes me happy

(saw these guys live @ buskerfest in canada. awesome)

fustrations

seoul seems 2 be a more frustrating place 2 be these days, & i don’t know why. little things have started 2 bug me somewhat over the last few weeks. little things like people, mostly koreans funnily enough, getting in my way (it’s their city i know) & even busier than normal busses & metro trains seemingly running less regular schedules. these are little things that i’m assuming have always been there as an integral part of life in seoul but until now they never registered themselves in my consciousness, & certainly not in an irritable way. again, i don’t know why. maybe it’s the hot weather. maybe i’m in a rut (as in the noun 'rut' meaning 2 settle into a monotonous routine that is hard 2 escape, as opposed 2 the verb 'rut' meaning 2 be in a state of sexual excitement). maybe it’s a sign that i need 2 get away from seoul for a bit. no wait, i did that last weekend, & all because i recognised a need 2 do so (that & the fact that bran & i, both of us on pills for various ailments, needed an escape from a normal seoul weekend & the temptations it invariably throws up... not 2 mention the fact that we were still smarting from hanstock '09). maybe i just need 2 get away from korea. no wait, i did that recently 2. shit, i dunno. today sees the start of a new month, camp month, & there’s plenty going on. let’s see if it brings any relief.

a south korean soldier stands guard near a barbed-wire fence in the demilitarized zone between the 2 koreas in yanggu, south korea

from the bbc's day in pictures, june 24^th 2009

‘livin’ with seoul' part ii by the numbers – an update

18 - days until the 1^st of the summer camps begin.

53 - days until all camps end.

120 – number of foreign teachers i initially had 2 hire for summer camps.

88 – number of foreign teachers i now need. economic crisis you see.

98 – number of foreign teachers i have @ my disposal (even after a cull of 15+).

18 - days i have 2 find a use for those 10 extra teachers. ideas would be much appreciated.

55 - days until my next trip home.

56 - days until my present visa expires.

64 – days until my present contract expires.

63 – days until my bday.

13 – days until mel’s bday.

3 – days until we, mel & i, celebrate her bday. she won’t be here-yah for her bday you see as she’ll be in england being a bridesmaid.

8 - days since hans left korea for london (innit) & ryno left korea for japan.

8 – days since i last had a beer. coincidence? i think not.

6 - days until ryno gets back from japan for his last night in kool-rea (a non-sobering thought).

7 – hours myself & bran walked 2 reach the top of seoraksan national park @ the weekend.

281 – pictures in the ‘livin with seoul’ photo album.

6 – days i’ve been on all kinds of medication for my latest ear infection.

12 – pills a day i have 2 pop.

17 - number of people i'm following on twitter.

15 - number of people following me on twitter. sados.

109 - number of days since i joined twitter.

20 - number of times i've twitted in those 109 days. it's just not floating my boat... yet.

6 – days since mj died.

22 - days until my sister arrives in korea.

27 – until troopa arrives back in kool-rea.

26 – temperature, in degrees celsius, in seoul right now. feels hotter.

19 – temperature, in degrees celsius, in dublin right now. heat wave or what.

& leaving the best for last…

27 - days until my 2^nd wedding anniversary.

9 – number of days until i’m liberated. hell yeah. thanks bitch.

‘livin’ with seoul’ this & that

new vegemite. what? how could they? it’ll never work. & check out this video. funny as, right girls?

‘livin’ with seoul’ music appreciation video

especially for mel who commented that i added ‘some county dude’ 2 my fb page when i recently became an fb fan of ricky skaggs & kentucky thunder. if you don’t appreciate this then you don’t appreciate music, @ least instrumental music.

what I’m listening 2 right now

the presets, steamworks (a memory from hanstock '09)