Let me tell ya...

Having looked through the blogs and the news reports following the Korea/Swizterland game, it would seem that Koreans are once again taking their complaints and poor losing to extravagant heights. Threats to blow up the Swiss embassy?? Come on. Sure, there were some bad calls in the game, but it comes down to one thing and one thing only: YOU HAVE TO SCORE GOALS TO WIN! Hell, just ask the US team, lol. What was the final score in the Korea game? Switzerland 2- Korea 0! If the second goal hadn't counted, what would have been the score in the game? Swizterland 1-Korea 0! Guess what?? Korea still is eliminated from the tournament (they would have been eliminated in a draw). C'est la vie.

I just finished watching the Portugal - Netherlands game and if any teams have the right to complain about absolutely HORRIBLE officiating it's those two. The ref completely lost control of the game early in the first half and ended up giving out a World Cup record 18 (19?) yellow cards and 4 reds. Craziness!

Vacations are BEAUTIFUL things!

When I left Korea to come visit my mother and uncle here in Crescent City, CA, I knew that I was tired. It had been a long hard semester, and I could feel the weight of it building the closer it came to ending. I guess I was more tired than I thought.

My schedule up until yesterday (yesterday being the first day since I've been here that I didn't take a nap) has been amazingly consistent. I get up around 5:30 am, watch the news with my uncle, have some breakfast, watch the World Cup games (which, thank God, are on at a reasonable time here), read for a while, take a 3-4 hour nap around 2pm, eat dinner, and finally hit the sack some where between 8:30 and 10 pm. I've been sleeping approximately 12-14 hours a day. I haven't slept that much consistently in years. Needless to say, the whole thing has been very theraputic. I actually feel rested for a change (although I do feel another nap coming on pretty soon).

All in all, the vacation has been exactly what I wanted; no pressure, no hassles, just pure and simple R & R. I'll have more to say about it once I get back home and have a chance to upload the photos I've taken.

World Cup Notes:
Alas, both the US and Korea have been eliminated from the World Cup. The US never had a chance considering how lousy they played against The Czechs and Ghana. The Italy game game gave me a spark of hope, but it was misguided at best. I thought Korea, on the other hand, had a great chance of advancing to the second round, but got beat by Switzerland today (although I thought they had a real chance until that ridiculous call on the second Swiss goal. That seemed to take the wind out of Korea). My problem now is who to root for. I guess I'll go with either Ghana or Australia simply because they are the biggest underdogs going into the second round.

Is it me - it could be, I don't know THAT much about soccer - or has the officiating in this tournament been atrocious? I'm not just talking about the US and Korean games (and there were some pretty horrible calls in those), but it seems that yellow and red cards were being given out for the most minor of fouls and pure muggings were not called at all. Korea was on the both ends of really bad calls. The first was in the game against France where the Korean goalie batted a ball away from the goal that was clearly across the line. It should have been a goal for France. Then today, the Swiss scored a goal that was given to them when it should have been offsides on the Swiss. The view from behind the net as the ball goes in clearly shows the side judge with his flag in the air, yet the goal was allowed. I certainly hope the officiating gets better for the knockout round.

Anyway, that's it for now. I think it's nap time.

Fishin' with dynamite's gonna get you a big one sooner or later.

It's seems like we finally got a big fish. We'll see how much effect Zarqawi's death has on the multi-headed Hydra that is al-Qaeda.

Out with my Freshmen

Normally, I don't go out with my freshmen classes because a) the classes are too large, and b) the students are just too young for the most part. This class is different; not in size, but in the fact that most of the students are juniors and seniors. I had a great semester with this group, so I figured what the hell.

They still like me at the moment. Of course, they haven't seen their grades yet either. hee hee

Dinner with my freshman class. The funny thing is that hardly any of them are actually freshmen.

Hyun-ah and me

Oh my God!! It's a CAMERA! AHHHH!!

Seung-Hee, Yours truly, and Dae-yeon

I love my job: Jung-ah, Heon-young, Hye-won, Ji-young, and Hyun-ah

Showing off my skills (think I got my ass kicked this game, lol).

Love Birds. Ain't they cute!

Holding court

The fun never stops

Tired.

I'm tired. My brain is tired, my body is tired, even my toes are tired. It's been a very long semester, which, thank God, is going to be over in two days. I'm sitting here staring at the stack of attendance sheets, grades, and other stuff that has to be done in the next two days. Makes me tired looking at it.

Fortunately, once I've plowed through the pile of paperwork and finished tabulating my grades, I'll be off for the States. I'm going to spend a blissful two weeks at my mom's house in northern California doing absolutely fuck all. I'm going to read (or I should say nap with a book on my chest), walk on the beach, drink the occasional beer, walk on the beach some more, and watch the sunset. I'm going to spend one frenetic day shopping my ass off for all the clothes and other stuff I need that I can't get here in Korea, but that's it. This is a full on, get-the-fuck-outta-Korea-for-a-bit-and-decompress kind of holiday.

I can't wait!