Park vs Cho

a nice way to start the wee hours of new years eve...

went to rory's place with calvin to play poker, then came home to see the man utd vs wigan match...

for the first time this season, two koreans faced off in an EPL match.... Park vs Cho.... u'd think i'd support cho huh??

meh~ man utd thumped em..... 5-0

and as for the performances of the korean players... well, how many players do u often play bad in a 5-0 winning side?? and how often do u see a player play good in a 0-5 losing side??

i guess therefore, the second photo tells the story of that night....

either way, it was a good start for NYE, now im at work...

working till 10pm, then gotta rush out and rush the alcohol in so that i can be under the influence by midnight haha

hope its a good NYE....

happy new year everyone~

great trip~

it was a relaxing trip... we drove 1500km over the 3 days, which doesnt seem much, but thats a long way in korea....

it snowed in the last part of the trip back to seoul, so it was just a long tedious traffic jam back home.... took around 5 hours instead of 1 or 2.....

we climbed a few mountains, had a bit to drink at night (and sometimes breakfast and lunch)....

it was just good scenery down the south coast of korea.... so many little islands.... something like 150?? thats what the lonely planet said.... but there were definitely alot of little islands off the south.... the weather was ok.... wasnt TOO cold... but was still cold, but since i was in the car, it was ok....

on the whole, it was a decent christmas... on xmas eve, i met up with people from church back in sydney, and ALOT of people came out.... more than i'd seen at church.... haha

that night, i won around 700 bucks at the casino... i only played with 40 bucks.... but somehow, i just had xmas luck.... wasnt really just me.... the dealer went bust like 20 times in a row in blackjack, so everyone won.... i guess the casino was just being "xmas-friendly".... that money was all well spent on the vacation.... so it was more like a free xmas vacation~ haha

now, back to work.... after the road trip, my sleeping patterns have hit "normal" again... im waking up around 8~9am... and sleeping at midnight.... wont be long before i move back to a nocturnal life i think....

this xmas score..... 9/10

Merry Xmas Archives~

XMAS 2009 - the plan is to go rent a car and drive down to the south-west corner of korea with rory.... obviously i will post something after the vacation... hopefully a score of 10/10 xmas...

XMAS 2008 - this was the first christmas in sydney in 4 years for me... but i got food poisoning on xmas eve, and people from church + andrew and kyung came to our house for dinner... i remember watching the kim yuna gala show~ haha.... then andrew, kyung and i went out to the city to realise everything was closed so we drank a truckload of beer at Bluetooth.... score 8/10

XMAS 2007 - the last xmas in china.... i flew to wuxi from yantai with susie... i met my students on xmas and had lunch with 20+ kids from one class, and dinner with 20+ kids from the other class... for xmas dinner i had brazilian bbq with other former workmates in wuxi... that was a great dinner... they had raffle ticket draws, and everyone on our table won.... haha... score 8/10

XMAS 2006 - the photo for this post was xmas 2006... andrew, yohan and kyung came to wuxi... the students union at the university was having a xmas party, and we were invited as guests to the xmas party... i remember the boys playing a "clock" game, where they had to use yohan's legs as the clock needle... excellent night of fun... haha... on xmas day, we went to karaoke with some of my students and their friends... it was really the first time i really got to know kyung and yohan... and it was a xmas full of memories~ haha... rabbit.... score 10/10

XMAS 2005 - this was the xmas straight after finishing uni... after finishing my final exam in november, i went to china... this was when i found out that xmas was not really celebrated in china... i was in xi'an with even at the time... and i just stayed in my room and watched dvds for xmas.... score 6/10

XMAS 2004 - cant remember beyond this~~~ =)

Merry Christmas everyone~

the season for people to go "CRAZY"!!!

ok this is the telegraph news today about having a security guard protecting a christmas tree in sydney.... waste of time? waste of money? or people have become so petty that they are going to vandalise a public xmas tree....

other nutcases these days in the news is the spanish "mcdonalds kisser" indecently touching and kissing boys in mcdonalds.... yeah... its disgusting... and he was so stupid that he was driving around to mcdonalds (which are stashed with security cameras) in a rent-a-car.....

the next bunch of loonies are the world leaders meeting up in copenhagen.... why are they there?? and its just a big blame game... the rich countries say the poor countries need to clean up and start investing money in protecting the environment... the poor countries are saying the rich countries became rich because they burnt fossil fuels for industrialisation.... bunch or whingers...

virgin blue... keeps thousands stranded at the airport and blames telstra... seriously... why the heck cant they manually check people's tickets and flight numbers? sometimes, people treat some of the basic things now too complicated.... on the topic with airports.... australia is going to ease airport regulations so u can take nail clippers and knitting needles onto flights... also they are going to serve food with metal cutlery... about time.... really... after 9/11, did they feel that the average australian was going to jump on the terrorist bandwagon with a metal fork? if a terrorist has a metal fork, wouldnt u want the other 200 civilians on the flight to have a metal fork too?? i dunno.... everything just became so complicated~

my last crazy honour goes to TIGER WOODS~!!! now... here is a million-billionaire~!!! if he didnt have the respect of the majority of men in the world before, im sure he does now.... he has mastered the 2 things in the world that all men dream of... GOLF & WOMEN.... genius~!!! haha

i hope when january comes, common sense will also return...

putting "life" back into life....

christmas is nearing.... another year has passed...

went to church today with jinsoo형... its already been a year since he was staying at our place and i was just bumming around after china back at home....

although i spent 3 months of last year bumming around at home, the time i spent in china made 2008 a still hectic, fulfilling year....

cant say the same about 2009 though... not quite as bad as 2003 when i broke my leg, but looking back on this year, its been pretty dull on a personal scale...

i dont think i've progressed anywhere this year... i just got unhealthier, had swine and other illnesses... didnt study any chinese, didnt adjust to korea, nor did i save a whole heap of money.......

obviously there have been several good points about the year... meeting new people (not THAT many though).... and i wont say that this year was BAD, but it wasnt satisfying for my own standards....

i think my new year resolution is therefore pretty simple... in 2010, just try to live a jam-packed day.... try to fit more hours of "activities" into each day.... this year in korea has been mostly work and home... so its been a bit of a drag.... if i wanted my life to drag along like this, there would be other better ways of making life a drag while making more money....

obviously one of the greatest things to have come out of this year are the students i've taught... more innocent minds stained and brainwashed by "cho-ism"... haha

well, 2010 is going to have some stop-start moments with my sister's wedding in march, which means i need to go back home for a while.... hope everything works out smoothly~

sick and sleepless...

ah... damn flu again...

it snowed on saturday for a few minutes....

spent the entire weekend at rory's place....

i thought i had baseball on sunday near his place, but baseball got cancelled as soon as it started to snow on saturday.... thankfully, it didnt snow alot, but baseball was still cancelled~ haha

i mean, i like meeting people at baseball and all... but its waaaaaaaaaay too cold for baseball... i understand the people here love their baseball, and all this time, i think i've taken baseball for granted growing up in sydney.... its so hard to rent a baseball ground here to play a game... baseball grounds here are usually high school playgrounds too... 100% solid dirt....

people still here lose sleep here the night before a friendly, meaningless baseball game.... and im just glad it got cancelled in the cold.... meh~

i just saw on tv that there are over 5000 registered amateur baseball players in the league.... but only 47 baseball grounds or something.... im so glad i grew up in sydney....

the photo i posted today is of the baseball stadium next to my house.... and the ice rink.... its the home ground for one of the professional teams in sydney... but sometimes they play amateur leagues there too... my team played there once.... but i didnt go coz i was away that weekend.... meh~ i would have loved to play ball there... maybe next time...

well, i think i've also got a light case of insomnia now too.... cant sleep anymore... i feel really tired after work now.... so when i come home, i always fall asleep around 1am.... but i always wake up at 3 or 4am, and cant go back to sleep....

the world cup draw was on last friday night.... korea got a decent draw..... but north korea and australia have the worst possible groups i think..... ah well~ cant wait for the world cup now~~ so exciting....

before that, we still have the winter olympics too~~ cant wait~!

xmas is nearing...

xmas is nearing... the weather is getting cold here.... and i have 45 more days left at work before i go home....

not sure yet as to whether i want to go home permanently at the moment... or whether i will come back after my sister's wedding to keep working in korea for another year....

i do want to give korea one more year.... or maybe even more...

at the moment, if i go back to sydney, i dont know what i would, could or should do.... i'll be 26, and i feel its too late, im too long out of uni, and lack the will and motivation to settle into an office job....

i guess the first reason that i left sydney after graduation was because i just know myself too well that i cant work office hours....

but if go back to sydney.... what could i do?? i've always wanted to start my own business, start my own school... but i dont even have the money to buy a car, let alone start a business....

also now, as xmas nears.... i decided to walk the streets more on the weekends here and take some photos of the nightlife here in seoul.... maybe next year, i wont come back to seoul... it has the same old dragging life of a big city like sydney, shanghai, beijing....

a new term has started at my job too.... so i guess this is my last term.... 3 more months, and im out... so many people are leaving my workplace these days... and i kinda feel the trend is going to continue over the months to come...

well, for the short-term planning... i better decide what im going to do during my precious 1 week vacation, which is given BEFORE xmas... and not at all for new years... -.-

engrish~

it was rory's birthday yesterday, so with calvin, the 3 of us had some top-notch beef buffet, then went to the casino...

on the first floor of the casino were the poker tables.. and the poker room rules...

since the casino in korea is ONLY for foreigners... u'd think they'd get the english right on the poker rules...

if u look carefully, there is a rule which says 'Only English and Korean will be permitted while a hand is in play (Should we only speak English)'

im still trying to work out what that bracket stuff means... are they asking the people to take a survey on whether korean should be allowed? or are they telling us to only speak english in a really konglish way???

meh.... again... the casino is prohibited for koreans... its only for foreigners... so why would anyone speak korean at the poker tables???

what a disgrace~

last night, the final games for the world cup qualifiers finished up.... and it ended with alot of controversy.... ALOT~

its not even controversial.... france cheated.... thierry henry cheated.... and now he's shifting the blame onto the referees....

it the ball is kicked at speed into a players hand, and it is an unintentional handball, thats the referees judgement call.... but in this case, it is not the referees fault... it was an intentional handball... he had the intention to stop the ball going out with his hand.... the guy is a cheat.... i've now lost that very little respect that i had for him in the first place...

the other games were good too... portugal beat bosnia in bosnia... the linesman had cans and bottles thrown at him...

russia vs slovenia.... 2 red cards, alot of brawling.....

algeria vs egypt.... brawls.....

in the end, the france vs ireland game tops the news....

seriously.... all the diving and cheating is making soccer a bit pathetic....

awesome day/night of sports~

yesterday was some day in sports huh! for people like me...

world cup qualifiers, asian cup qualifiers, australian masters golf, four nations rugby league, international friendlies soccer... so good, i didnt watch the tennis masters....

first of all, although he beat the aussies... how good is tiger woods.... u gotta realise that it is hard to win a golf tournament... to win ONE tournament in a season, that is a good season... he wins numerous tournaments per season....

the picture today is obviously greg inglis... australia beat the poms to win the four nations league... it was nice to see that alot of the players now care about international rugby league... mainly because the skill difference has narrowed alot.... nz winning the world cup, and england beating the kiwis to get to the final... despite australia running away with it at the end, it was a good close game...

soccer... well, i stayed up all night last night until 8am watching soccer.... the kiwis are going to the world cup after beating bahrain.... australia beat oman 2-1, after scoring 2 goals while playing with 10 men.... korea played for the first time in europe in ages~ they drew 0-0 with denmark in a mud pool... it was a shame coz korea did put one in the net, but was called for offside...

i guess all the sports hype isnt over yet... there is the return leg for the world cup qualifiers in europe... australia are playing ireland in the rugby union... should be good... wallabies are in form... but ireland havent lost for ages~~

well... mum's gone back to sydney.... i guess i'll stay home, eat all the food she's prepared and watch some good sports~

and~ finally... alot of my old year 12 students have finished their university entry exam.... well done guys... and girls... =)

cousin's wedding....

my cousin got married a month ago.... yes... a month ago, and im posting this now...

since then, i had swine.... my mum was here... and i just couldnt be bothered writing posts...

well... congratulations to my cuz (the groom)...

lots of wedding bells around these days.....

hmmmm.......

meanwhile, im single, and im in a pickle....

my contract will be up in march next year, and i dont know what to do... renew?? well, unless they offer me a nice new contract, which wont happen.... i doubt i will renew.... should i stay in korea for another year? taiwan? back to china? japan? europe? canada? sth america? back to australia??? if i go back to australia.... sydney?? canberra? perth??

all of these places have gone thru my head.... everyone seems to be leaving korea... i dont blame them.... this place has alot of educated people with no common sense or manners.... that would be less common sense than me, and less manners than me.... thats hopeless~ haha

ah well... my mum is heading back to sydney on saturday.... man~ i wish i was going back this week too.... go back and bludge over the summer again.... its freakin cold here now... hate it~

blah!

swine flu~

ok.... swine news~

swine flu is EVERYWHERE~~ its everywhere in korea... but the most seriously hit area is where i live/work in....

last sunday, i just suddenly came down with a serious fever, sweated like a pig, had a super splitting headache, and just felt like crap...

monday morning, my mum came to korea... i went to the hospital, and they said i POSSIBLY had swine....

because of my job... teacher... i wasnt allowed to goto work until they got my test results back.... they originally said 3 days.... but 3 days later, because of the number of tests they needed to do, it became 5 days....

5 days on... today... got my results.... i HAVE swine flu....

wtf? so... now that i have my results, can i goto work now? haha

coz seriously... as lame as it might sound (or as pedophilic as it might sound), teaching kids is like the only good moments of my time in korea....

i think i wrote on my blog before... the 5 hours at work is really fun... but the 19 other hours suck hard.... and now this week, im not allowed to go outside, and i have to be trapped in my small ass room 24 hours a day.... i dont have my mobile phone coz my mum needs it while she's here... she had to leave seoul the day she arrived coz she couldnt stay with me....

i havent heard my voice for 6 days!! i was looking forward to going back to work on monday... but now what? do i have to stay trapped in my room for.... an indefinite period?

seriously... swine flu is just like the flu.... the only difference is... u know how on the first couple of days of getting sick u feel like shit... with the swine flu, the first couple of days, u feel ur going to die.... but after that... the symptoms kinda plateau out like normal flu....

i see why its a nuisance to spread it to other people.... coz they'd have to feel like they are going to die for 48 hours... and also tamiflu aint as cheap as normal flu medicine....

damn.... what do i do now?? im going to mentally flip if i dont get out of my house!

morning stroll in seoul~

the first few steps of improving my sleeping pattern...

i've been getting up early the past couple of days.... yesterday i had to do my health check for my visa.... which i dont know why im doing now... but anyways.... i've shed a few kilos since coming to korea... which is always good~ haha

i realised today that it has been a loooooooooong time since i have seen people get on subways and buses to goto work early in the morning....

a month ago, i probably had thoughts about trying a job in an office... but really... if i put some serious thought behind it, it always comes down to.... i love teaching, i love my job.... i dont like waking up early in the morning... and the people on the subways and buses dont even look happy either...

well.... breakfast time~ haha

and no... breakfast is NOT a sausage and egg mcmuffin... although it would taste nice right now~

i need a break~

weekends are supposed to be relaxing.... for me... the past few weekends have just been draining...

the next few weekends dont seem easy either...

2 weekends ago was the long weekend that required going to my hometown and walking up a hill to see all the cho ancestors...

last weekend i made a trek out to incheon... a bit over an hour on the subway to goto church where my minister from sydney had come to korea on an exchange ministry... it was actually good when i got there... i went with 3 others who were also from sydney and it was actually really nice... made me a little homesick actually... i miss the sundays in sydney... he will be here for 3 weeks, but i cant go this weekend...

this sunday, i need to go on a 3.5 hr train ride south to daegu... my cousin is getting married... SUIT UP~~

now that im teaching on sunday mornings, and im required to wake up at 7.30am... i think thats just bumming out my sleep patterns for the weekend... i spend most of saturday just sleeping in the afternoon....

joe (high school mate) is leaving.... so i wanna catch up with him... farewell dinner on sunday, so i'll do my best to jet back from the wedding to get to that dinner.... it would be awesome to catch up on the saturday too, but i dont know how my day will pan out after working in the morning... -.-

damn, i gotta start sleeping early and waking up earlier too....

in 2 weeks, my mum will be in korea.... probably a good time to get a kick up the rear and start getting my sleeping patterns back on track....

ah well... one more person leaving korea.... going back home....

hmmmm.... 5 months to go on my contract... not that anyone is counting~

long weekend....

we just had the autumn full moon vacation, but the vacation was over the weekend, so it was just a long weekend over the friday...

i went to my grandmothers place.... went to the graves of the CHO ancestors.... a nice little climb up a small hill where my grandfather, great uncle, great grandfater and great great grandfather are buried.... yep.... its like the CHO hill....

anyways, the weekend away was good... playing with my cousins... eating some good food for a change...

tonight was also a good night for sports.... korea just beat paraguay in the U20s world cup to make the quarter finals... and the game is still in progress, but the aussies look like they will beat the kiwis in the cricket final.....

oh.... and the storm won the grand final over the eels.... didn't really care who won... but it was a good game, and overall a pretty enjoyable season... definitely beats last year's season....

today i felt really happy after getting my pay check at my maths job..... the pay is... niiiiiiiiiice~~ worked only 7 hours last month... but the pay is still niiiiiiiiiiiiiice~ i'll definitely think about staying in korea after my english job to do that full time... save up some money~

anyways.... back to watching the cricket... i think an aussie just got out.... meh~ we'll still win....

the worst day of my life.... (off the top of my head)

Bulldogs 12 - 22 Eels.... no need to say more....

i almost cried at work in front of my elementary school kids...

el masri retires.... =(

this is the worst day of my life that i can think of right now...

the "slump" continues.....


the U-20's FIFA world cup is on.... the short-track speed skating world cup is on..... the ICC cricket trophy on.....

please.... something go right for a change~~~

slump~

i took this photo while i was on vacation in july.... its the stairway of a lighthouse..... frmo the top obviously... and since im ridiculously afraid of heights, i looked like fool just reaching over the railings to take this photo....

anyways.... i thought this photo is appropriate for today coz these days i feel like im in a bit of a slump.... i dont know why... well... everyone has ups and downs.... i dont know why they come and go...

its like being "in the zone" in sports.... dont know how u get "in" and why u ever come "out"....

well.... i sometimes get the feeling korea is just dragging on.... like the feeling that ur just being dragged along.... theres really not much to do here, not much to be excited about.... and if anything is really exciting me these days, its the NRL finals back at home....

maybe i wont feel so down if the bulldogs win the premiership this year.... but if they lose... especially to the eels, i know i'll really feel like $#!T then.....

i think im in a bit of a dilemma too.... all my time in china, i felt really satisfied purely doing everything i want to do.... i was doing what i want to do, and socially, china was more exciting than korea too....

now in korea... yeah... i love teaching, and i love my job... but its the other 18 hours of the day that drags on and pulls me down.... the dilemma is.... korea is definitely not my type of "fun"... but im also thinking these days that in korea, if i look hard enough, i could make some serious money here....

so... do i want to grind the days out and try to make some $$$, or just get a reasonable pay and do the things i want to do..... u know people always say, "u cant always do everything that u want".... i've always thought to differ.... but maybe u cant....

meh~

riiiiiiiiiight....

ok... the guy in this picture is a korean celebrity.... a singer in a boy band.....

so... why the heck am i posting a photo of him on my blog?

well... he left korea today... i dont think it was legally FORCED out of the country... but he was kinda forced out of the country.....

the guy is the leader of a really popular group in korea....

but over 4 years ago, when he was still a high school kid just practicing everyday just so that he MIGHT be able to make it big time in korea.... he wrote on his 'myspace' that korea was gay, i hate korea, i wanna go home, etc etc....

now more than 4 years later.... the guy is being crucified for the stuff he wrote on his 'myspace'....... they claim that what he said 4 years ago... when he was still in high school was "spitting" on korea's face.... and as a result, he has left his group, and he has left the country.....

riiiiight.... ok.......

this is not the first time this kinda thing has happened.... about 10 years ago now, a famous korean singer who was raised in america was due to do his compulsory military service in korea... but once as he was returning to korea from the US, he had come back with an american passport and an american citizenship... so he was forced to do a u-turn at the airport, and he was actually forbidden to ever come back to korea...... woah~!

hmmm......... yes.........

and for the guy who left the country today, he is american-born, has american citizenship and was raised in seattle.... so in his public apology, he said that when he had made those comments 4 years ago, which really was just a wall-to-wall post with another friend, he just misintrepreted his emotions of being sick and tired of his circumstances at the time... he was in high school, still immature, away from his home, family and friends... and so he made those comments.....

sounds fair dinkum to me.....

and also.... if it is a sin that some things about korea just bamboozle u.... well.... then even millions of locals would probably be up for capital punishment.....

seriously... this is supposed to be a democratic country with the freedom of speech right.... but it has such a 'bandwagon' culture that freedom of speech refers to - u are allowed to repeat what everyone else is saying.....

-.-

KOREA 3:1 AUSTRALIA

Saturday night in korea.... goto the 2002 world cup stadium in seoul.... Australia vs Korea..... AWESOME~~

well, going straight to the end, Korea won 3-1....

about 10 years ago, when the socceroos were so good at losing... i used to love watching them lose with so many good players....

now i guess soccer in australia has become pretty popular.... there's enough soccer fans in australia now that some people are calling it football~ haha

well.... i supported australia for 86 minutes of the game.... i thought there were soooooooooo many people supporting korea, i wore a green shirt with the aussie flag, and supported the socceroos....

4 minutes into the game.... korea - GOAL..... 1-0..... about 15~20 mins later... another goal to korea.... 2-0..... i wanted to change into my red shirt and support korea.... but.... australia scored back... 2-1.....

in the 2nd half... i stuck with australia.... but with 4 minutes left in the game... korea scored a third.... 3-1

so..... red shirt korean flag ^^

i like supporting winners~~ haha

took my camera... got lucky with 2 videos... 1 was a good free kick saved by schwarzer... and 1 was a goal.... i'll post the goal here....

tennis tips....?

its us open time....

i dont know why.... i thought i might post some predictions on here first....

it is the year's final slam.... and i think in the mens, its hard to go past roger federer.... he's been incredible this year after his "slump" of becoming world no.2 for a while....

for the women, again... its everyone vs the williams sisters.... i think serena will win it....

now... i think anyone who wanted to take a safe bet on the tennis would have chosen federer and serena.... so im gonna throw up a couple of roughies....

in the men, i think roddick will give it a good go this year... so he's my outside chance dude...
and in the women, i "hope" ivanovic would find some top class form again.... if looks could win u a grand slam.... well.... there are alot of hot female players.... but the williams sisters would definitely not win anything.... -.-

so much for ivanovic.... lost in the 1st round...

old friends~

this doll bench thingy has a head bigger than mine, and lacks more of a neck than me.... although in this photo.... im throwing up a good challenge....

for the first time in 6 months since i've been here, i finally made some sort of effort to catch up with a friend from sydney....

today i went out to a "traditional" street with sonya, a friend from sydney.....

it was a good day out..... had good food... and the weather was excellent.....

it was definitely good catching up with friends from back home.... and for dinner, i also met other people that i had known from australia.... really... its good to hang around with people who u can relate to (culturally).... coz sometimes, i dont understand koreans here.... and to be fair, im sure they dont understand me sometimes too....

last weekend, i made the loooooooooong trip out to the other end of seoul... and beyond.... my high school friend Joe lives out there, and that was also the first time in 6 months i met him in korea.... went out almost 2 hours on public transport, but it was definitely worth it....

ah~~ nothing better than old friends from back home~~

another sports update...

A Korean wins the US PGA Championship.... the first korean, the first asian to win a golf major....

and he beat tiger woods in the final round to win.... woah~ woods had a 2 shot lead going into the final round, and in the end, Y.E. Yang beat tiger woods by 3 shots....

that was a good story to wake up to....

also on sept. 5, Korea vs Australia.... soccer.... in korea...
it is a saturday... so i'll be trying to hunt the tickets down for that ^^

i dont know who to support..... i'll just... go for the winner... =)

what a day~~!!!

today was an eventful day.... the day started in the wee hours of the morning while i was online, i found out that my MSN account, which i've been using with no problems for..... 10 years.... now has been hacked and has a virus...

well... thats just MSN... so meh~~

then... i went to work today... and the principal of our academy wants to see me.... first time ever i had a talk with her....

it was about the foreign teachers meeting we had yesterday... due to the farce that goes on at my workplace, the foreign teachers have a lot to complain about....

i also added a complaint about the students who do nothing in class and just ruin the class atmosphere... students who repeatedly fail their tests were SUPPOSED to be expelled from the academy... but of course, the academy is a business... and from the business point of view, student = money.... so they never kick students out....

instead of the dropkicks getting kicked out, the good students walk out because the classes become a joke with kids who sit there and do nothing....

so.... the admin wanted to have a "chat" with me today.... about my issue.... which went from that one issue, to me being responsible for all foreign teachers' complaints... riiiiiiiiight

well, the outcome of the "chat" was a lot of back-chatting and telling the admin that they need to pull their finger out... i dont think they were too impressed with me telling them to their face how i felt about the 'disorganised' admin....

now the people wonder where i get the confidence to be cocky to the admin... well... it comes down to... they arent going to kick out shitty students... they arent going to kick out teacher who back-chat....

one of the issues in our academy is that the foreign teachers' class results have no influence to whether the student levels up, or repeats the same level again.... the admin says that the reason for that is that many foreign teachers dont try hard, nor do they really care about each student....

my answer to that was... they need to improve their recruitment policies, and for the teachers who do put in an effort to teach, that is just a slap in the face, and gives them a reason to just bum around in class.... the students know that the foreign teachers class has no influence on their final score.... so......

as u can see in the photo of my post today.... korea played soccer vs paraguay.... the game started at 8pm..... i was in class.... i use powerpoint classes now.... another "BRILLIANT" waste of money policy introduced by my academy.... so.... i just let the slideshow roll while i peep on the soccer on my screen.... i guess... its not my problem anymore.... the boss can consider it lucky that i didnt put the soccer on the big screen for the kids.... ^^

damn korean admin......

summer vacation - Geoje Island

from busan, i got on a ferry with ruadhri and went to the 2nd largest island in korea - geoje island. while we were on this island, we had really good luck.... the island was packed with people coz it is summer vacation season here... so many people go to this island for their vacation....

despite how busy it was going to be, we didnt book any accommodation for the 2 nights we were going to be there... and also, i read in the lonely planet that there will be a local bus going around the island to take u to tourist attractions, but it didnt say that the bus only comes once an hour!!! and also there was so much traffic on the island with so many people... the island has one lane roads.... so the bus was like 20~30 minutes late as well....

as soon as we arrived on the island, we were lost at the wharf... we got in a cab to go to the general area that we wanted to.... and we got off at a beach halfway there.... we took some photos, then waited and waited for a bus.... eventually it came, and lucky for us, the bus took us to exactly where we wanted to go...

we wanted to get on a tourist ferry to see this 'cave' on water.... but the ferry was booked out for the day... while we were just about to buy a ticket for the next day, a guy came and cancelled his 2 tickets on the last ferry of the day... so we bought those and got on the last tour ferry....

we found accommodation on the hill looking out to sea, which was pretty awesome....

on the second day, we had to call for a cab to take us to the ship yard... and then we went to a quiet beach for a swim.... after the swim, we wanted to head into the city centre to stay there for the night... while we were waiting for a bus to take us to the city, a kind couple pulled up to me on the roadside and asked if i wanted a lift to the city...

this couple had seen me and ruadhri on the tour ferry the day before, and also saw us at the beach.... and while they were driving into the city, they saw us again on the roadside waiting for a bus that even we werent sure when it would come.... so that was awesome~

that evening in the city, ruadhri and i went for a random walk thru the city... we didnt even know where we were walking, but i saw a stadium with a few lights on... so we walked towards there, and when we got in there, we saw a concert stage and people singing karaoke on the stage with tv cameras.... it was 10pm, and the stage was actually set for a korean chick dance group to come and sing at 4pm... but they were 6 hours late!!!

the stadium must have been full at 4pm, but by 10pm, people got sick and tired of waiting so 2/3 of the stadium had left.... ruadhri and i rocked up at 10pm... and the singers came 10.30-ish~ hahahaha.... i mean... they arent good singers or anything... but they are HOT~~~!!!

awesome vacation~~ had good weather fortune, and good fortune on the whole~~ sweeeeet~~

summer vacation - Busan (2)

after 3 days in busan travelling on my own, ruadhri came down to busan too... his vacation only started on the thursday last week, while i had the entire week off...

that day, we went to 2 different beaches... the first was Haeundae... which is one of the best beachese in korea, and at night we went to gwanganli... which has a bridge that lights up at night and gives a fantastic night scene....

the great thing about gwanganli was that we could sit at tables on the sand, and order food there... so we ordered dinner and had beers on the beach, which was very reminiscent of our time in yantai, china....

these days there is a movie called 'haeundae' that is in cinemas right now, and its about a mega-tsunami hitting the haeundae beach in busan.... i thought its a good movie... i highly doubt there would ever be a tsunami in korea, but the general story alright, and it was funny...

there are a few good korean movies at the moment... there is a ski-jumping movie that i really want to see this week some time....

the 2nd photo is a sign we saw in gwanganli.... i've been hit by a car twice in korea when i was young..... if the road signs allow cars to pass while the pedestrian lights are green.... im gonna guess there would be a lot more accidents to come... haha

summer vacation - Busan (1)

after my stay in my hometown, i went further south to Busan... the main city in the south...

i stayed here for 4 nights, and did alot of things... mainly i spent my time meeting people in busan... of course i toured around the city too...

one of the first places that i went to was Tae-Jong-Dae... which is the south east corner of korea.... there is that lighthouse there... a needle thing.... and there is this beautiful cliff called the 'suicide cliff'... its called the suicide cliff because alot of people in the past have committed suicide there since the old times... supposedly, they once built a barracade to stop people jumping off, but they removed the barracade because i guess it just took the gloss off the name 'suicide cliff'....

the people i met there were 3 friends that i met in sydney while they came on their working-holiday visa.... the girl on the left is now married and has a baby on the way.... wow~ we were saying how it only seemed like yesterday when we were hanging out in sydney, but that is already 5 years ago... ~~~

i also met a year 12 student that i taught in china last year.... while i was in china, i played a few online soccer games with him and kicked his ass~ and when i went down to busan this time, he said he had practiced... haha... beat him again~ (i played it alot last month while my cousin was in seoul)....

summer vacation - Andong

just got back today after a 9-day summer vacation... niiiiiiiiiiice~

the first place that i went to was my hometown - Andong.

i stayed with my grandma, and i also took some time out to look around my hometown.... i guess i went to australia when i was so young, i dont really know anything about my hometown....

the main thing i did while i was in andong was eat.... eat.... all grandmas are the same around the world... they just keep feeding u....

its not a big town... so there isnt that much to see, but the markets and alot of the old buildings are still as it is in my hometown....

electronic blackboard...

in september, our school will start using an electronic blackboard.... that is just the fancy way of saying, a projector....

the stupid catch is... the teachers need to bring their own laptops... if u dont have one, BUY ONE!

so.... i voluntarily guinea pigged myself, and im trying the system out...

it is more work now, because i need to make the slides on powerpoint... but i guess afterwards, i will not have to write the answers on the board again and again....

BUT~!!! having said that.... it is pretty annoying to carry my computer to and from work all the time..... i'd rather just write up the answers on the board once in a while.... meh~ anyways...

the photo attached today.... TUNA & PEOPLE.... haha... they serve raw tuna, cooked tuna, tuna soup... raw people, cooked people, and people soup?? haha

ok.... ok..... at the time.... it was funny...... really -.-

a day in hospital...

so... i had my first minor accident of korea.... i thought it was food poisoning, but it ended up my liver (which has been an ongoing health problem) couldnt keep up with the unhygienic food i was eating in korea.... and the last big mac tipped the scales.... and i spewed.... and spewed and spewed..... i threw up so much that i dehydrated myself, and whenever i drank water, i vomitted it back up straight away....

at the time of my vomit-a-thon, i was with a few students that i had taught in china... they are in korea now to do their university entrance exams.... and they took me to a nearby hospital... and i went on the drip for a few hours, slept for ages, had my blood test, etc etc.... and now i feel realtively fine....

well, it was quite nice that i had my old students take me to the hospital... and pretty funny to hear the doctor tell me that i eat too much junk food... he said it wasnt the cholestrol or the fat that was harming me so much... it was the fact that my liver couldnt work effeciently enough to keep up with the dirty crap in the food... -.-

anyways... i think i'll stay off the burger for a while... ^^

the rainy season...

so my last post on the blog was about a lucky streak.... well.... just like sportsbetting... as soon as i posted a message on my blog, the luck changed ^^ damn u percentages!!! haha

so this week is supposedly the start of the rainy season here in korea...

if u look back on my blog, it was this time last year i had those massive floods outside the front of my house in china....

i just checked... it was EXACTLY july 2nd last year i posted that... haha~ go figure~

wow... i've been writing on this blog for over a year now.... lame~~~

i dont know if its because of the rain, but alot of people at work today are pretty bummed out... some of the teachers seem a little down today, and a few of my 'hyperactive' kids have been 'hypoactive' today....

i've been having some problems with my drainage in the bathroom these days... i think its clogged up down the bottom, so the water drains out very slowly.... its like a time bomb... u have to wash quickly, or the bathroom will flood over into the room.....

byron (canadian teacher) is leaving on monday, and he's spending a few nights at my place coz he had to move out of his old place... now the chances of my room flooding is higher.... meh~ its pretty much flooding outside coz of the rain... i might as well flood my room too inside~

i have a summer vacation at the end of this month... i pretty much get a break from 25th July to the 2nd August.... im still not sure what to do, where to go, go alone or with others...? meh~ i guess i'll need to think about that pretty soon too... -.-

ah wells~ i just hope it stops raining before my vacation.... i dont want to travel around in rain~!

july 2nd... happy birthday sam and bernie~

lucky streak~

so.... u like the photo??

there is an editing option on my mobile phone that allows me to do this to my face~ haha

what has been happening in korea these days....? well... alot has been happening... i've been on a lucky streak....

if u've ever read about the Martingale system for roulette, i'd like to say, it works.... the only difference is... i dont have the courage (nor the money) to play with an infinite bankroll

i use that system and hope that i dont lose 6 times in a row... im going to concede the fact that, if i choose between RED and BLACK, and lose 6 times in a row... then im having an unlucky day....

if i dont lose 6 times in a row.... im making money ^^

actually... about 2 weeks ago, i just cashed out and stopped sportsbetting... it just became too boring.... i thought, i'd look for a new activity... like... come home, watch korean tv, or goto PC and play games... ^^ its cheap, and i can save money....

the casinos in korea means free sushi, hamburgers, and drinks~~ ^^ so i guess going once in a while is ok.... if i lose a few bucks, im probably getting it back in sushi and jack-cokes.....

well... what im going thru right now is a lucky streak.... i think i've gambled and won enough before and lost enough before to know that this is just a lucky streak.... i just hope the streak continues ^^

-.-

the week with my cuz...

on june 29, my little cousin will goto the army... coz in korea its compulsory to go to the army...

well, he spent 2 weeks in my place, and i guess during those 2 weeks we did our best to stay out of trouble...

actually... we didnt do anything special.... well, for me, it was nothing special... it involved sleeping during the day, and playing during the wee hours....

i taught him how to play texas`hold'em... and boy was he as fast learner.... i guess if ur unorthodox and EXTREMELY lucky.... u will win poker... ^^

on the 2nd weekend, the two of us, along with 2 other cousins in seoul went down to the country to see our grandma in our hometown, Andong... that was nice... i think it was like our first trip since being little babies that we saw our grandma together....

a good thing about having my cousin here with me was that he would cook, clean and do the laundry while i was working... haha... training him well before he goes into the army~~ haha

well... he's telling me now that he only has 2 weeks to go before he has to goto the army....

성한.... Q하고 6은 절대로 좋은 패가 아니야!!! 군대 잘 갔다 와~~

on the train...

no photos for this post....

but i just wanted to post that im on a korean train now...

i came down to Andong... which is my hometown.... i came to see my grandma with my other cousins (cho 1, 3 and 5...) (note: i'm cho 4... haha)

anyways... why does the train internet work... but i cant get wireless on my laptop...???

ups and downs or sports....

the champions league final has ended.... and manchester united has lost 2-0 to barcelona..... so sad~~~

i guess u win some and lose some.....

on a brighter note, the bulldogs.... they won the wooden spoon last year, but this year they are flying high at first place.... they lost 2 points for having an extra player on the field once, which was just stupid.... and also a referees mistake also cost them another win....

its nice to know that they will be in the finals this year.... (fingers crossed)..... and maybe they will go on and win the premiership this year....

it is a bit early to say, but i also think the dodgers look good this year too.... but for the major league baseball, they play 162 games before the playoffs.... so that definitely has a loooooooooong way to go.....

meanwhile.... these days, my little cousin is staying at my place for the week.... he will go to the army next month, so before he goes to the army, he has decided to come to seoul and hang out here for a week.... its definitely fun to have him around here.... he's a funny character~~ ^^

the day at the baseball....

for the first time ever, i went to watch a korean baseball game.... it was the Bears vs Lions....

i heard from many people that the baseball is great here.... even people who dont like watching the game go for the atmosphere....

they were not wrong..... it was really fun.... and it was only 4 bucks!!! the best 4 dollars spent in korea so far~!!!

not only that, the game was great too~!!! home runs and alot of runs.... the Bears won 8-7.... which was bad.... coz i was going for the Lions...

it was the Bears home game... so i guess, the only mascot i could take a photo with was the bear.... pretty cool..... the bear makes my fat face look small~~ hahahahaha.....

finally~ my own photos...

i have a USB cable now that connects my phone to my computer....

so, now..... i can put my own photos on my blog, and i dont have to google for pictures to put on my blog~!!

ok the photos im putting up now.... this is the Suwon World Cup stadium....

i went here to watch the soccer game between korea and iraq.

its been a while since i went to watch..... but i guess i havent been able to put up the photos... ^^

in other news.... ^^

there really isnt much..... i just found odds in baseball that u cant lose..... they will more than double your money if one team wins.... and they will more than double ur money if the other team wins by at least 1 run....

i dont know how much u may know about betting odds.... but that is a "cant lose" bet..... it is actually.... IMPOSSIBLE to lose.... haha

BRILLIANT~~~!!

as always....

im still enjoying my half days of work.... i guess next week things will start getting back to normal with all the middle school kids coming back to class...

anyways, the picture today is the NBA playoffs logo....

i thought i'd put that on today's post because the NBA playoff matches are keeping my sportsbet account balance very beefed up... haha

im still spending the days sports betting online.... and when the NBA finishes, i think by then the Indian Premier League cricket will become more predictable.... most teams have played almost a handful of games... but its still a bit too early to say its predictable... i like predictable safe bet odds ^^

to spend the hours in the evening, im generally playing pool... (still)... but in the last week, i've played poker twice.... we have a new teacher at our school from New York, and he brought poker chips with him, and now that we have a handful of poker players and some poker chips, i think poker will be on the list of 'things to do to kill time in korea'....

ah well... what would life be like in korea without cheap gambling...?? -.-

half days of work....

the next 3 weeks of work should be pretty easy... (if it wasnt already easy enough~)

all the middle school kids have school exams coming up, so they dont come to their english academy classes during that time....

so for me.... i dont have any classes after 7pm for the next 3 weeks!!! woo hoo~~!!!

today is the first day, so im not exactly sure if im allowed to clock out and go home.... or if i still have to stay back until 10pm.... but i brought my laptop so i can bum around...

the photo for today's post seemed fitting coz its pretty much the no.1 leisure (besides gambling) that i do in korea.... we either play pocket ball, or 'sa-gu'.... 4 ball?? i dont know what they call it in english, but its pool without pockets..... u just have to try to hit 2 red balls with ur white ball without hitting the other person's ball..... does that make sense???

anyways, alot of koreans play that... and since pocketball was gettin pretty boring, i started playing 'sagu' with the other teachers here... we're all newbies at it.... but its pretty fun....

by the way... for all the people who are in australia, and love watching the footy... how good are the bulldogs going~!!! my next blog post will be about them... haha.... im just glad they flogged the eels.... hahaha

i have taken photos with my phone, but i dont have the cable to move it onto my computer.... once i get that cable, i should be able to put up more personal photos that are funny, rather than getting images from google....

well~~ unless im given extra tasks for the next 3 weeks, i guess i'll be online after 7pm (korean time)... which is 8pm aussie time..... so get on msn~!!! i havent spoken with people for ages~!!!

passing time... watching sports.....

i guess working late doesnt really give me the chance to go out and meet alot of interesting people.... of course, i dont have to goto work until 4pm... but since i dont sleep until the sun rises.... i dont wake up before noon....

after i get up at noon, there isnt much i can do except some grocery shopping, then get ready to goto work by 4pm....

i started sports betting online since i went back to australia last year... but i guess these days, this is what really keeps me ticking during the wee hours of the day.... it works out well, coz most of the sports that i can bet on are the baseball or basketball in the US, or the soccer in Europe...

this means, i can bet on it, and watch the entire game on my laptop, then goto sleep after i've cashed in some money... haha

i think most people who i've talked with would know that with sportsbet, they give u a free $50 to start with.... i've been using that 50 bucks, and still going strong....

last week, i hit the $700 mark.... and decided to cash in $500 of it, and i'll keep playing with the remaining 200 bucks.... nice way to make money huh???

i spend alot of the nights reading match previews, checking on player injuries, and checking their past home/away records.... hahahaha... lame.... i know.... but it keeps the time going, and makes my bets fairly safe....

i also went to the casino in korea with rory last week..... i only played 20000, and ended up winning 70000.... 70000 Korean Won..... thats like.... 70 bucks.... but it sounds cool when i say, i won 70 grand man~~!!!!

ah~ damn gambling.... this is getting boring too now.... i need a new hobby.... haha

any suggestions??? i've considered writing a book, and trying to get it published~~ haha

easter...

its easter.... i guess if u goto church, this is the week with alot meaning....

since i've been trying to go back to church these days, i'll tell u that it is a good week just to take a look at urself again.... but to be honest, although i believe there are things to be learnt at church, i still believe that what happens to me and how i live my life still depends highly on my attitude too...

tomorrow is good friday, and with the easter weekend, a few things come to my mind....

firstly, its obviously church.... i just remember all the easter services and all the easter sermons from church....

secondly, the easter show.... the easter show is so close to my house... every night there are fireworks, and my dogs will always bark because of the fireworks... not just my dogs... all the dogs in newington all bark... haha

the final thing about easter is easter eggs.... i remember the easter eggs that we used to paint in primary school.... then u take it home... and a couple of weeks later, it just stinks like $h!t in ur room....

well... however u are spending ur easter weekend... i hope its a good one....

i'll be working on good friday and easter monday.... easter isnt a holiday in korea.... -.-

korea vs japan.... again...

5 days after the baseball.... another "rivalry"??

this time, it was figure skating.... i know, i know... its figure skating.... but if ur korean, u will know.... kim yuna is a household name here, and most people woke up at 7am on a saturday and sunday morning to watch the figure skating....

including me... ^^

well... its not so much i like the figure skating.... i just think kim yuna is really cute.... haha

she broke the world record, and came first.... it was seen as a korea vs japan thing again, coz the only 2 girls who really contest for 1st are kim yuna and another jap girl....

i dont know how other people feel.... this doesnt really make up for the baseball final loss... but it definitely did take alot of media and attention away from the baseball and back on positive news....

^^