Tuesday, May 31, 2005

obfuscate

Wellwellwell...those little French froggies have voted against the E.U. Constituition.

I can hardly say i'm surprised since the French are notoriously fickle when dealing with such matters. Histiry does suggest that they have a love/hate relationship with the rest of Europe dating back many centuries. This puts Chirac in a difficult situation since he was looking for a 'Yes' vote.

However, he is not the only one in a difficult situation. Perhaps this vote cripples the Constitution or even renders it dead. I believe that other Nations are due to vite on it in the near future also. It will be interesting to see the outcome of their votes. Irrespective of these results, having the French voting against it is a serious blow for the E.U. Furthermore, Britain proposed Referendum on it may now, not take play with our 'dear leader' Tony stating that there needs to be some degree of reflection before the next step. It will be interesting to see how he manages the revolving E.U. Presidency with begans on the 1st of July.

The whole question of Europe is a tricky one. I do enjoy the fact that I can travel and work anywhere in the E.U. However, it do remain sceptical. I'm not convinced that it has the best interests of Scotland at heart. It just seems like something 'distant' and layered with countless numbers of unelected bureacrats trying to legislate for X amount of people who do not particularly share the same history or culture. I mean, can you legislate for the Fins and the Turks?!?!

And the Euro...well, come off it. I never liked the term 'Cents' anyway.

Monday, May 30, 2005

Course

It comes as a major surprise to me that I have yet to actually witness any form of car crash in this country which, given the way people drive, is remarkable.

I've seen the aftermath...their have been some spectacularly damaged cars. Hopefully, the occupants were o.k...but never the moment of impact. Not that i'm craving to witness something like that. In fact, it's something I would quite happy never witness.

I do remember seeing one back home in Edinburgh. You you know Edinburgh at all, you'll know that I live at the top of this massive hill...it's not exactly massive but it's pretty steep. Anyway, I was on the 17 bus heading down this hill. The bus had just left the bus stop at the Dentists and was making to turn right to head towards St. Marks Church. hOWEVER, a car just overtook and continued heading down the hill. Now, just after the turn off that my bus was to take is a crossing area with an island in the middle. On this island was some old dear. She clearly wasn't looking were she was going and proceeded to cross. Clearly this was a bad move since 1. She's an old dear and isn't as spritely as she was and 2. There was a car speeding towards her.

Thankfully, the car managed to move out of her way in time although the 'whooosh' of the car actually made the old dear fall over. By this time, my bus had turned right and my front row seat of this near miss had been taken from me. I think she was o.k.

Anyway, the point I was going to make was that today, I nearly witnessed a car crash in d.town Cheonan. And it was a big one. I heard the 'crash'. If I had been 10 seconds quicker, I might have seen it...some taxi had whacked another car. The taxi driver was ok given that he was out of the car and walking around but the driver of the other car was still in her car. She was conscious but just sitting there. Perhaps she was in shock. Thankfully, no blood or anything. The thing that surprised me though was the mass of people there with their Camera Phones snapping away. I can understand the fact that people go and look but i'm not sure about taking photos of a car crash.hmm.

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Word of the week: 'F_______________g hell.'

Clearly, more than 1 word but Liverpool winning the Champions League after being 3 goals down at half time to the soul destroying last gasp losing of the league followed by the resignation of Martin O'Neill. Does it get anymore unbelievable?

Phrase of the week: ''Why are you so childish?'

A phrase which even today still does my nut particularly since it was uttered to me by someone who is no spring chicken just still persists in acting like she was still in University which was some time ago. Drinking, smoking, cursing, throwing food and generally being a knobhead. I wonder who that could be.GROWUPANDLEAVEMEALONE.

Sight of the week: 'Boys'

For those who are aquainted with Cheonan, Z-rock is the place to go. Not brillant but not bad. This weeks adventure in z-rock has to go down as one of the funniest. The chat was splendid. Thanks boys. You know who you are!

Song of the week: 'bLACK hISTORY mOnth' by Death from Above 1979

I'm liking this Alot.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

!

_________________It's often a bad idea to make sweeping generalisations. It is more likely than not that such generalisations can come back to haunt you at some point in the future. Most of all though, generalisations are, by their very nature, difficult to completely defend as their will be excecptions to every rule.

As one of my friends pointed out, Statsiticians are invariably dull. I could say that they are all dull. Clearly, that might not actually be true especially since she is one herself and likes a drink or two thus blowing the idea that they are 'all' dull.

However, I had an interesting conversation regarding Korean women and their antics. And to be honest, I am going to completly generalise them because I know and 'we' know that they are all similiar irrespective of their upbringing, social status, educational background etc. In 'similiar', i'm not referring to the fact that they are all women but their mindset.

Sweeping but true.

I can't explain why it comes about but many people have experienced it's workings. Their are many instances of this. I wonder though if it is merely a cultural thing of if these same women exhibit similiar traits with Korean men. If they do, do our Korean counterparts put up with it and if they do, how do they deal with it because, honestly, it's infruiating /sorry, i don't know how to spell/ at times.

It's almost best described as 'double standards' or could perhaps be classed as extreme irony.

I had such an episode literally minutes after having this conversation. Some Korean women - who we won't mention by name, though is the same person who smokes and drinks, is not married and has the biggest mouth in Cheonan - came storming upto me and demanded that I stop acting like a child. At which point she starting throwing the crisps sitting on the table at me. Now, to me this stinks of double standards. Here she is telling me to stop acting like a child when shes the one having the wobbly and throwing crisps around like a child!

Or, the time when the 'sexy' man himself had an arguement with his missus over a mushroom. He ordered take-away chicken. It arrived, he paid for it, opened it to find the chicken covered with mushroom, much to his disapprovable. He then choose not to eat it as is his right since he ordered it and paid for it. But, the missus was unimpressed. Cue arguement.OR the numerous examples of the Korean women who feels it is perfectly acceptable to go and meet another man or men in a completely plutonic manner yet feels compelled to 'hit the roof' if you do something similiar, like meet a woman or women in a completely plutonic manner.

I'm going to be bold and suggest that their is one set of rules for them and a completely different set of rules for us even when applied to exactly the same situation.Is this unique to Korean women? If it isn't, please leave message as I would like to compile of list of women to avoid.

enough rambling...

Bill - turn away NOW___________________Celtic won the cup then!!!

Friday, May 27, 2005

Inter

I had to succumb to the excessive marketing and column inches dedicated to the release of the final Star Wars instalment...I went and saw it today, which, in itself is strange given that I completely bypassed both the Phantom Menace and the Attack of the Clones. All the hype surrounding them had put me off coupled with the fact that they were crap and not a patch on the original trilogy. I doubt whether I will sit down and watch either.

The Return of the Sith is a different matter though. Its the 'final' one even though it's actually only half time in the series. Before I went in I was hoping that the final scene of Episode 3 would be the start of Episode 4...where the stormtroopers attack the ship and the pod is released. That would have made it all worthwhile and Luca would have redeemed himself beyond words. Alas, it wasn't to be but Luca certainly has redeemed himself after the poor first 2 Episodes.

Visually, it's stunning. One cannot be critical of that aspect. Lucas has excelled himself in making a visual feast. The story is tense and certainly keeps you on the edge. I found myself 'whooooing when Yoda whacked all the bad guys and saying 'don't do it!' out loud when Anakin finally decided to turn to the Dark Side. Sad. I know but it's engrossing. Even the sight of Chewbacca 'talking' to his 'mate' when Yoda left. No subtitles, just his whine but you knew what he was saying.

That said, the dialogue was crap. I mean crap. Laughably awful. When Obi Won and Anakin are in the lift at the start, the lift suddenly stops. Both are standing next to each other and in full view of each other, yet Obi Won turns to Anakin and asks if he had pressed the 'stop' button. Eh, no...he's standing next to you, you saw he didn't! There are other examples...come on Lucas, get yourself a decent script.

Best bit though, was when Anakin had finally decided. The Sith Lord made him kneel. He said his 'thing' and at that point the Darth Vader music sounded for the 1st time and you knew, that was it. The conversion was complete...

Of course cheese and sentimental nonsense ends the movie MUch to my disappointment. Typical. I would have loved the final scene to be the start of Episode 4 but it wasn't to be. Instead we had the rebirth of Vader, the death of the Princess and the birth of the twins followed by their removable to safer regions. I felt that the movie should have ended at the point when they were 'making' Vader. They had repaired him and dressed him in black. There is a close up only of his head. We see the mask closing in and then, for 5 seconds, the distinctive breathing begins. ___________if I was the boss, thats were i would have ended it.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Tempest

Oh the joy.
-________________________the final week of actual teaching is complete. Next week sees the students getting off their little bony bums and doing the work for once whilst I more or less give them a free reign.

I have given them a group presentation for their final test which will see teams of 4 making and finally presenting there work to me in 2 weeks time. They have a choice of topics from which to choose. I've allocated all of next weeks classtime to them 'doing' in class. If they look busy and organised, then they will get decent 'activity' points. If they don't look busy and organised, then their 'activitity' points will be crap. Simple as that. Then, in 2 weeks, it's presentation day. We'll see what happens. Ultimately, it's upto them. If they put a lot of effort into it, then I'm sure they will do well. Conversely, if they haven't bothered, then, I suspect their points will be low.

Anyway, how on earth did Liverpool manage to win the Champions League. Not only should have have been knocked out in the group stages - 4 minutes away from doing so - but they should never have been allowed to come back from a 3-0 scorline at half-time. To an Italian team. I'm still in shock. Trailing and playing wowoefully, they somehow score 3 goals in 6 minutes or something like that... take it to penalties and win the damn thing. Incredible. Question is, will UEFA allow them to defend it given that they haven't automatically qualified through the league.

Is Bentiez the best coach in the World? You have to say, he might well be...UEFA Cup last season, Champions League this season whithout the budget afford to the likes of a certain Chelsea Boss.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Tense

A sad day.

Martin O'Neill, as speculated on these very pages last sunday, has resigned as the Celtic Boss.

He is not going being he is being pushed. Nor is he going because he is a poor manager and the results have been bad. He is going because his wife is fighting Cancer.

Clearly, the right decision. Shankly said that football is more important than life or death but in the instance, it's not the case.

I'm loathe to see him go he has became a legend. He transformed a dreadful team into a championship winning team and then a team capable of mixing it with the best in Europe. He has pulled Celtic up by the bootlaces and and we can't thank him enough for it. He could have walked away at any point especially with Old Trafford beckoning but he didn't. Really, there are few words with which to describe the impact he has had.

Those giddy European nights when his team beat likes of Liverpool, Barcelona, Juve, Stuttgart to name a few. Will we witness times like that again? Perhaps not.

I have nothing but the utmost respect for him. There have been mistakes but we all make them. I hope he gets the sent off he deserves on saturday - and that is another trophy.

And the next man in the door is Gordon Strachan. A fiery man who will be passionate. A decent enough manner, however, he has always been at clubs who have been fighting relegation so it will be interesting to see how he copes, especially in Europe. I suspect that this will be the biggest job of his managarial career. Lets hope he's upto it. 1st things 1st, he needs to get a team togther in time for the Champions League qualifiers.

Anyway, my 'other' site has been updated - some more photos and 'funnies plus some 'stuff' in on the board. my site's been updated!

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Pitched

Sometimes...i'm just too tired to care. Like now. I'm just too tired. I have a bunch of things I want to do but when push comes the shove, I probably won't do to my complete inertia. The probelm is, it's only tuesday. Actually, I do think that tuesdays are the new mondays. It seems like i'm excited by mondays, perhaps the adrenline of starting the teaching week takes over and I don't feel tired or suffer from a lack of motivation. Tuesday however, is different. It's a nothing day. Neither here nor their. It's not the start of the week but it's not the end of the week.

That said, i'm glad when Tuesdays are over. Half the teaching week is gone and it feels like it's down hill all the way. Perhaps it's a psychological thing.

Anywayanywayanyway.

Monday, May 23, 2005

percent

Speechless.

Literally.

I was on the big match text service on the beeb when it happened. It refreshes itself every 2 minutes. 86th minute, 0-1. 88th minute, 1-1. 90th minute, 2-1. F.T.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Black

Word of the week: 'Football'

The season is nearly over. It could be another title for us, followed by the Scottish Cup next week. However, the smart money says that Martin O' Neill will be leaving Celtic in the close season. Watch this space.

Phrase of the week: 'Gorgeous George'

See an earliar post re: George Galloway. He could have the 'phrase of the week' crown for the next 6 weeks!

Sight of the week: 'It's Here'

Actually, it's not but the sight of the week is metrosexualism taken to the extreme. These days, it's fairly acceptable for men to go to the Body Shop or something similiar. It's even acceptable for men to wear flowers on their shirt. However, on must draw the line when it comes to wearing tights. Not your biege discreet ones but a kind of tartan-esque design. I could be mistaken since i wasn't wearing my glasses when I saw this middle aged man but I could have swore that he did in fact have a pair of tights on under his knee length shorts.

Song of the week: 'Sexy Results' by Death from above 1979

Bongo drums, tambourine, throbbing guitar and a hint of garage days. Unexpectedly excellent.

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Escape

I can't get over George Bush. Not only is a he a prat but ...he's coming to Scotland. The 'leader of the free World' is attending the latest G8 Summit meeting at Gleneagles. He should be safe in the knowledge that Scotland can boast some of the most highly trained soliders and police to protect him from all the 'trrrrts' and Land Rovered inhabitants of Perthshire. It's good enough for the other leaders but clearly not for this idiot.

Instead, he is unhappy with all the arrangements, so he is bringing his own limo's and helicopters to move him around. Plus, he has a whole Aircraft Carrier stationed offshore with a battalion of Marines on board.

My question is why does he need an Aircraft Carrier and a bunch of gun-totting, trigger happy Marines just to visit Perthshire? I mean, Perthshire. What ever happens in Perthshire? It's farming country ... the worst thing that could happen there is getting stuck behind a tractor. I would be highly surprised if their were any militants or 'trrrrrsts' hiding in the hills. Perhaps, they are coming to protect him from the sheep. I heard that they can be vicious up that way.

I have a sneaky suspicion that they are upto to something. Maybe they're planning on invading Aviemore or something ... I know Aviemore isn't that great but we're not part of your axis of evil. Don't even think of trying anything otherwise we'll send George Galloway after you. And you wouldn't want that.

Friday, May 20, 2005

Zephyr

Not long now. 2 weeks and then we're into Final Tests territory. Shocker. But, the hard work starts now with the preparation to be done now. Actually, i'm almost there. My 1st year classes are getting a group presentation. I couldn't possibly disclose what the topics will be but hopefully the tests will be an opportunity for the students to do some research on their own and come up with something that they are interested in as opposed to me telling them 'your test will cover xandyandz.' I tried a similiar approach last semester which seemed to work well, however, last semester I had each group in front of the class. This time around, I feel that it would be better for them to present to me only. It might help the students give a better, more natural and relaxed presentation. Or perhaps not!My other class is a more advanced class. I have been struggling to come up with a plan for their test but I've cracked it and an quietly confident that it will be successful and that the students will respond positively to it. I suppose, you never really know until you do it...it could be argued that this time of approach is typical of teaching. aLL THE PLANNING IN THE WORLD DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE CLASS WILL BE A SUCCESS.

wE'LL FIND OUT OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Believe

The passing of seasons continues. Just a minute ago, it was spring but the warmer air is now here and it's feeling great. The only probelm being that I have to stay indoors and work. I guess it will be a case of staying indoors because it's too damn humid to go out. The trials of living in Korea...i noticed that the fields are starting to get flooded in preparation to be planted up with rice. It's a strange sight, seeing such fields especially given that I associate rice fields with far off, exotic countries. Korea doesn't really fit that bill.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Ape

In quotes: Galloway showdown

___Here are some of the quotes from British MP George Galloway as he confronted his accusers on a US Senate sub-committee__

="Who paid me hundreds of thousands of dollars? The answer to that is nobody and if you had anybody who paid me a penny you would have produced them here today."

//"I have met Saddam Hussein exactly the same number of times as Donald Rumsfeld met him. The difference is that Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns and to give him maps the better to target those guns."

"You traduced my name around the world without ever having asked me a single question, without ever having contacted me, without ever having written to me or telephoned me, without any contact with me whatsoever and you call that justice."

"Senator [Norm Coleman, committee chairman], this is the mother of all smoke screens. You are trying to divert attention from the crimes that you supported from the theft of billions of dollars of Iraq's wealth."

"You have nothing on me Senator [Coleman], except my name on lists of names in Iraq, many of which were drawn up after the installation of your puppet government in Iraq."

"I have never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one, sold one, and neither has anybody on my behalf."

__________"I know that standards have slipped over the last few years in Washington but for a lawyer you are remarkably cavalier with any idea of justice."

"One of the most serious mistakes you have made in this set of documents is such a schoolboy howler it makes a fool of the efforts you have made."

"Senator [Coleman], in everything I said about Iraq I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong and 100,000 have paid with their lives, 1,600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies."



/the man has balls, i'll give him that much/

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Flavour

It's the last week of the season...and still nothing has been decided. Shock horror. For all those that claim that the Scottish league is all about two teams. Not exactly the case!

Admittedly it's between us and the dirty huns for the title. A win will be enough. I'm hopeful of beating Motherwell away. I'll take a last minute winner as long as we win it. I still gancy Hibs for the 3rd European place. Thee needs to be a 6 goal swing for Aberdeen to deny them. Actually, I would be quite happy to see both qualify since they have both been excellent this season however the last European place goes to Dundee Utd. by getting to the Cup Final which isn't ideal since they have been crap for the majority of the season - they might also be playing in the 1st Division next season. At the bottom, the much maligned 'split' sees some interesting fixtures. It's too close to call regarding relegation. A month ago it was Livingston. A couple of weeks ago it was Dunfermline. This week - god knows. It looks like it's one of the Dundee teams. I'll stick my neck out and say Dundee. I don't know any Dundee fans, so i'm safe.

In the Premiership, it's goodbye Norwich and Crystal Palace. Was their any doubt about that? But, W.B.A. somehow escaped. How, we'll probably never know. Bottom at Christmas yeet survived. And then Southampton. Serves them right for punting their manager after 2 games of the season.

Anywayanyway.why do Koreans not understand me when I speak perfectly good Korean to them? a modern mystery.

Monday, May 16, 2005

Quantum

So...it works then...the new minihomepage thing.

The link I wrote yesterday does actually take you directly to the site - perhaps i'm mastering this technology thing after all.+new site^

anywayfeel free to look.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Minihompy

In a complete break with tradition ...

Here in Korea there is a website called 'Cyworld' which allows members to post pictures, messages and other 'stuff' onto your own individual 'page'. Other members can visit your page, check out 'your' stuff and leave messages on it. The probelm is, it's all in Korean and quite frankly, my Korean isn't upto scratch.

So, i've gone and gotten myself the English equivalent of 'Cyworld!'

I can put pictures onto it, leave comments etc. If you are also a member, you can leave comments next to the picutres and leave messages on the board or guestbook. However, if your not a member, you can still visit!

I think that this new site will probably be replacing my existing photo site at some point.

It's still in it's 'early' days so i'm not sure what I can do but if your bored, then have a look.

This link will take you to the starting point from which you need to click on 'Here' located just above the middle of the screen. Then 'my' site will appear.
I'll put the link up on the left hand side also ...

Saturday, May 14, 2005

media

So____ I came home last night, alittle bit late and somewhat light headed - it's the pollution - when the security guard /not the one with dandruffal issues/ accosted me and ushered me into a small room. I was concerned by this. I thought perhaps I was in for a kick in or something. I went into this small room to find a man sitting behind a desk. On the desk were all kinds of monitors and tv. screens. Clearly, I was in the control centre were all the CCTV cameras are watched. Anyway, the guy then proceeded to tell me in broken Korean and English that I had no water in my Apartment. I send 'Yeah, I know I haven't been shopping yet this week' but I actually didn't have any water. The taps were off and apparantly the water pipe had a leak. Somewhat bemused, I departed and headed to my apartment, after all /I thought/ he said it would be fixed in the morning.

Morning came and went. No water. 3 men had came to my apartment to check if the water was running. Nothing. By this point, I was in need of 1. a shower and 2. the bog. The shower thing didn't really bother me that much since I knew I could go to the gym and take one there but the bog thing was starting to become a probelm. I had enough water for 1 flush and 1 flush only, so obviously I was trying to be economical ... but sometimes, especially after an evening of chicken and particularly gassy beer, nature calls.

Thankfully, the 3 men knocked on my door to tell me that the water was back on. Not before time T minus 1 minute was quickly approaching ...

Anyway, I did some checking and apparantly it was only my apartment that was suffering from this water probelm. How is that? There are 15 floors each having 20 apartments per floor. Somethings not right. As Ali G once said 'Is it 'cos i'm black?' Clearly, I would need to change the 'black' to 'pasty and white'.

Friday, May 13, 2005

Xerography

... finally managed to write a title starting with 'x'. My job here is done.

Just had a visit from the local Jehovah's Witnesses. They are a sly bunch. I had a knock at my office door and in they came. I knew from the second they opened the door that I was in trouble. They didn't look like students - one was American, the other Korean and their English was too good - and they didn't really fit in with anything relating to the University.

So, they sat down and we're having small talk. The Korean guy had studied English in - get this - Newcastle>Didn't even realise that they spoke English there!!

And then wham bam thank you mam...out popped the Bible and a couple of related papers. Nailed. There was no way to escape. Nowhere to run to. I just had to sit and be nice and polite whilst trying desperately not to try and disprove EVERYTHING that he was saying.

He was talking about skin cancer. Apparantly, there is 2 sentences in Job ... chapter 25 I believe, that tells you how to avoid getting skin cancer. I thought 'thats amazing ... even all those years ago, they knew how to prevent it'. Actually, thats what he wanted me to believe but the actual sentence was so vague that it could be interpreted in many different ways and could be applied to many different situations. And then, he refers me to Revelations, chapter? verse 3 and 4 which says that basically one day you will be free of disease and you will not die. Doesn't that describe vampires? Anyway, he asked me what I thought about that and to be honest, I said that it was unlikely but his retort was quick - too quick. He said that actually, this was the original plan for Adam and Eve, however, they sinned and as a consequence were 'given' diseases and finally kicked the bucket. They always have an answer for everything ...

Finally, I punted them out of my office, locked the door and them barricaded myself in. They threatened to visit again. God help me. /hahaha/.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Robot

Walter Smith, the Scottish manager has announced his squad for the forthcoming double header against the mighty Moldovians and the equally impressive Belarusians. The sad fact being that we go into at least one of these matches as underdogs. The bottom line is that we must win both. I would fancy our chances of beating Moldova at Hampden particularly after the encouraging performance against the Italians in Milan. If the squad is fit and up for it, we could see a win. I think that if we score an early goal, that would settle the nerves and allow us to play without fear and finally get a result. However, travelling anywhere in Eastern Europe is a probelm and Belarus will be no pushovers. Again, though they are certainly not a team to fear. Again, an early goal ...

Glad to see that Smith has included the Hibs pairing of Riordan and O'Connor who have been playing well and banging in the goals are there. Also, surprisingly Hearts' Miller has been included but since he moved North, his record is good. Perhaps he won't start but the experience certainly won't do him any harm. Interesting to see Dailly back. He's been out for a long time and has only played 3 times for his club this season, 2 of those games were in august ... in saying that though, the midfield looks to have potential with Fletcher returning.

And as Keegen once remarked 'I would love it, love it ...' [sic] if Scotland beat them!

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Maintain

Ooooooh.Aaaaah.Yaaa.Hmmmm.in increasing volume.

Seems like my gym is no different to any other gym I've been to. The hardbodies who congregate in the free weights section never fail to make me smile with all their posturing, sweat and vocal utterings. It's almost takes you back to pre-historic times in which all the males would be trying to outdo one another in order to attract a mate. Is there a need to scream at the top of your lungs when you can no longer lift a particular weight? Isn't that a sign to everybody around that your crap and can't life it anymore? _If it was me, there would be no way that I would be bringing attention to the fact that I can't lift my 10kg dumbell any longer. It's as if they want you to look over and marvel at them and how much they can lift.

Eh, yeah ... well done mate, you can lift 20kg. Good for you but considering you are here in the gym for 3 hours everyday, isn't that a bit poor?!?

Not that I'm in a position to critcise ... me and my pathetic attempts to develop a muscle, yes, thats 'muscle' singular. One day it will happen.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

at

It seems like it's the 'sports' season here at University with some classes taking part in events against other classes. Last week we had inter-class football. Somehow the English Department team lost. The cheek of them. If I find out that some of them are in my class, they are getting a straight 'F' for being crap. No excuses. Actually, if they wanted to win, they should have called me.haha.

But, as ever, there are students who blatently abuse this time of year. Last week, my tuesday class was less than half full. Some of the students cited playing in their classes football match which is understandable. But, that accounts for only 11 ... all of them men. So where were the women? Anyway, today, the same class is only 2/3 full. Apparantly, this time it's the basketball team. Again, that would account for 8 ... all of them men. So again, where are the women?
________________finally, I got a couple of the women come to me right after class with Absence forms in order to explain why they didn't come to class. /They lose points from their overal grade if they have unexplained absences/ Each Absence From claimed that they couldn't come to class because they were 'cheerleading'. I asked them 'You were cheerleading' thinking that their might be something lost in translation. But no, they were actually cheerleading. They even showed me the moves.

Now, i'm not sure what to make of this. Part of me wants to believe that they were actually cheerleading with there pom poms etc but the majortiy of me thinks that they just couldn't be arsed. They have no interest in football or basketball but have even less interest in English, so they went for the lesser of the 2 evils. My class being the loser. no doubt more students will be at it during the course of the week. But, watch out. I'm onto you and your scamming!

Monday, May 09, 2005

Aftermath

Do they or don't they ... It appears that is the big question at the moment. The U.S. believe that North Korea posseses nuclear weapons and has satellite evidence to suggest that they are preparing a test. The South Koreans however, suggest otherwise.

_it's difficult to know who to believe in such circumstances. Clearly, the U.S. would love to topple the regime in North Korea and I suspect that they wouldn't think twice about being economical with the truth in order to achieve that goal. Fabrications seem to be an integral way in swaying popular opinion. I've heard it claimed that the North Koreans have missiles that could hit the west coast of America. Your having a laugh mate. Certainly they possess 'something' but having the capabilty to hit America with this 'something' is another matter. Perhaps the North don't have nuclear weapons but equally, there isn't a great deal of evidence to say that do.

Propaganda? probably.anyway, who knows. I certainly don't. Also, I don't believe that the North are going to launch some bid for Seoul. I think there is more chance of me taking Seoul and I'm just some random, defenceless bloke who tries to teach.

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Sung

Word of the week: 'Tired'

Quite honestly, because I am.

Phrase of the week: 'I've listened'

Uttered by our 'dear leader'. The question is, can we believe him. Didn't he utter something a while back about W.M.D. ... no surely not. That must have been my mistake. Time will tell.

Sight of the week: 'George Vs. Jeremy'

Was just about to head out for lunch on friday when Jeremy Paxman started to interview George Galloway after he had just ousted the sitting Labour Party candidate. Paxman's 1st question was typically Paxman - 'How do you feel about defeating one of the few black, women MP's in the House of Commons?' Needless to say George was not impressed and 'warned' Paxman in no uncertain terms. Isn't a live feed via the internet a wonderful thing!

Song of the week: 'Anymotion by Lee, Hyo Ri'

A Korean song. It's not that great but the singer is mighty hot.

Saturday, May 07, 2005

erase:rewind

the nation has spoken. It's both a mixed and clear sign.

A clear sign that our 'dear Leader' is highly unpopular based on the lies and shady half truths that took the country to War. He has a bloody nose, no quesion of that however the it was not a full on physical beating that some had predicted. He has acknowledged this but still he is convinced that he did the right thing. The 'maverick' MP George Galloway demanded that the Labour Party sack him whilst the father of a solider who was killed in Iraq and had stood against our 'dear Leader' attacked him with fervour. Furthermore, some have suggested that the 'first past the post' system which is currently favoured needs revised particularly given that the Tories received only 3% less of the popular vote than Labour yet where still 66 Seats short, also, this government has been elected with the lowest ever popular vote. Perhaps, it's time for Proportional Representation in much the same way us Scot's elect our own MP's as massive constitunency variations have led to such unusual results with Labour winning by a large majority in one seat yet failing to even come 2nd in the next seat. That's one for the experts.

However, things are not so clear cut given that the Labour majority has been slashed meaning that they will have probelms getting their own way at Westminster. And what of the oppostion. The Tories have recovered and the Liberals have recorded their best set of figures since Lloyd George in 1920's yet is this merely a consequence of votes protesting against Labour as opposed to actually voting for the other Parties and their respective manifestos.

So, 'dear Leader', what's the plan. Getting your mates back into the Cabinet? I suspect you can't be as bold as you want which is perhaps a good thing. No more dictatorial actions. No more spin. More in the way of consultation and a return to the 'art' of politics. No more pork pies. \Beware____big brother is watching.

Thursday, May 05, 2005

All

The usual 4 class thursday marathon was called off today. Not by me but by the Korean Government. Usually, i'm not really in favour of governments getting onvolved in such things as teaching and ruling but I will make an execption this time because it was Children's Day. A day in which we should be thankful for all the children for 24 hours. Nice idea but as usual, it means that the shops and Department stores are jammed packed of gifts and other delights for the parents to be buying for their offsprings. For others, it's just another day off...

Clearly, I don't have any children but a know a man who does__congratulations to my man, Tuna aka 참치 aka Jacob and his lovely missus who just gave birth to a baby daughter. By all accounts, everything is o.k. Although, I still can't get my head around him having a baby given that he is still one himself!

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Drop

__doyouever get those intense sensations indicating that you have seen 'this' before or have been to 'this' place before. It hasn't really happened to me all that often recently however the other saw a brief sense of it whilst sitting in a restaurant, having dinner. I suddenly had the overwhelming feeling that I had been here which is completely stupid since it was the 1st time in this particular restaurant and it was with someone that I only known for a couple of months, so there was no way of knowing the location or even knowing the person previously. But, there it was, this very familiar yet odd sensation of 'been here, done that before'.

Sometimes, it really startles me. It's a flashback but you can't actually place the when or how of the flashback, you just know that it has happened before, however irrational that flashback is. Certainly, it does happen to me. Not often but it does happen.

It does trouble me as to why it happens. I mean, if your life is an act of complete randomness in which you make all the choices, then surely the odd of x,y,z occurring are completely huge. You could decide not to cross the road, therefore altering the variables of what you do next. Or you could miss the bus, again altering the possibilities. That said, with an infinite amount of options to be made, not just by myself but others as well, then how can you have 'been here, done that before'. Unless, of course everything is actually pre-determined already. I'm not convinced that 'everything' is pre-determined. I will meet this person at this particular moment or I was meant catch this particular taxi to wherever. Pre-determination might go some way to offering an explanation to these moments of intense familiarity__i though, am not smart enough to offer up the answer.answersideas on a postcard,please.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Admitted

My security guard is officially weird. I think that it helps them to actually get the job in the 1st place...these days, the guard has his own little desk in the main foyer. He can watch everyone coming in both the front door and the side door which is closer to the elevators. However, he needs to walk across the foyer and up a small flight of stairs to get to the elevators, a task that is usually beyond most of the security gurds given they are a fairly inactive bunch.

This, though is a mere obstacle for this 1 particular security guard who seems to think that I'm his best mate or something. Admittly, I say 'hi' to him if I walk past him...i'm just being nice but clearly, this guard has taken that as an excuse to start coming onto me. Yesterday, I came in the side door and was waiting for the elevator. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him at his desk...and then start to stand up. I didn't pay attention again until I feel a hand of my arm. Hoping that it was a cute lady, i looked to see whose hand was touching my arm. I was horrified to see this gummy, toothless, mingin', dried rice encrusted mouth smiling at me. In my shock, I smiled back and said 'hi'. And then he just stood there whilst continuing to smile yet not saying anything. What could I do? Uncomfortable wasn't word. In my blind panic, I got into the wrong elevator /1 is for even numbers, one for odd numbers/ just to escape.

Maybe, he's just being friendly but do I really want an old security guard with shocking teeth and severe dandruffal issues befriending me. Have things got so bad, that I attract this type of person...What if he's on duty tomorrow. Probelmatic.

Monday, May 02, 2005

Balance

The continuing ill-feeling between my 'lovely' hosts - Korea and Japan seems very real at the moment. Previously, it had been just images on the T.V. or words in a newspaper. However, on the walk up the hill to University today, I noticed a big banner claiming that Dokto /that outcrop/ was indeed Korea's. O.K. we get the point. I was more concerned by the picture which accompanied the writing, namely a Japanese flag being burned.

__________________________________________________I guess in the 60's Universities were generally a hotbed of revolution with a notable mentioning going to my old place of work, the London School of Economics where protests about the Vietnam War were common. This University though? No way. There is no way that I work amongst revolutionaries. My guys have probelms with their hair, spots and their fashion. Perhaps, they have a minor probelm with Japan, however, they most certainly do not have the balls to make a stink about it.

But, having something so inflammatory on Campus is quite alarming. Would it be wrong to say that it is verging on racist? I wonder if we have any Japanese students. I'm sure they would be critical of it. If I put up a banner suggesting that we burn English flags, what would be the response. In the u.k. i'm sure the Police would be on site to rip it down. Furthermore, I wonder if the University actually even know it's there. Perhaps they even put it there.

I guess, though, that this little episode is actually a microcosm of Korea as a whole. Strong on headlines and sensationalising something but when it comes to it, lack the bite to actually do something. Quick to say 'that's wrong' but equally quick to move onto the next topic to complain about. Last month, it was English Teachers. This month Japan. Maybe next month it will be Holland, the reason being that their football team - who is managed by a Dutchman - fail to qualify for the World Cup.anyway, i just felt that it was inappropriate to have such propaganda staring at me on the way to University.

Sunday, May 01, 2005

Transcript

Word of the week: 'Leaked'

It's a document frenzy. Memo's released here, published there. The claims and counter-claims regarding the run up to the Iraq War continue unabbated, the latest suggesting that our 'dear leader' had decided 8 months before the actual War, that we were going in. If ourt 'dear leader' can lie about this, what else can he lie about? Use that vote wisely.

Phrase of the week: 'Chick'

The 'respected' journalist, Chick Young wrote that Celtic would win the league given their win at Ibrox last week. I wanted to believe him. I really wanted. However, a defeat at home and a win for the Hun's sees the gap close to 2 points. It's the last time I listen to him.

Sight of the week: 'Opposites'

Human nature is, of course, a highly complex entity which perhaps never be completely explained or expressed as a mathematical formula. However, it's the simple things that stick in the mind. The student shrieking in delight as I tell him that he has scored 95%. Conversly, the feeling if shock and horror that was experienced when coming home as seeing a /potentially/ deceased figure on the road. Alone, on the tarmac with /almost/ everybody else in the vicinity merely continuing with their lives, me included.


Song of the week: 'I do not want this' by N.I.N.

A song of opposites. With simple piano and lonely vocals to cold, metallic sounding drums, rash and hateful screams coupled with swirling, electronically enhanced feedback. Strangely comforting.