Homosexuality Isn’t a Choice. Discrimination Is.

We just had a bank holiday weekend and it was action packed. Coming to Asia on of the things I  wanted to see was some form of martial art display so on Friday Karl and I went to Namsangol Hanok Village to watch a taekwondo performance. The show merges dance and martial arts to create great entertainment. I’m not really into dance performances, neither am I overwhelmed by martial arts as I always considered the people that did them after school geeks (geeks that could kick my arse) but put them together and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

Martial arts are a bit weird really. If Karl had called me that morning and said 'Do you want to come round mine and watch me break some wooden planks?' I'd have said no thank you. But because these people are professional Asian wood-kickers I was well up for it.

Saturday came around and there was the much anticipated Korea Queer Festival to be enjoyed. I have never been to a gay pride festival before so I wasn’t too sure of what to expect. I asked a gay friend of mine and he told me to expect the unexpected.

"They have parades. There're no parades for how I get laid. They have parades... marching down the street to celebrate that they blow each other, fuck each other in the ass, and smush their vaginas together or whatever that one is. Whatever wonderful thing those folks are doing, it's none of my business." (Louis C.K.)

Karl and I arrived in Sinchon, the first person who welcomed me outside the station was someone who was working for the local clinic. “Free STI checks for everyone!” They really know their target market.

We had only been there a matter of minutes before we saw our first confrontation. Homosexuality is still taboo here in Korea, gay movements only started fighting discrimination laws in the 1990s (according to Wikipedia). The confrontation was between the thousands of representatives from the gay community and about 4 Christian nut-jobs. It started getting heated and had the police not intervened it probably would have resulted in violence.

In that situation who are the crazy people? The people who are attracted to the same gender or the guy dressed in his pyjamas telling everyone that they’re committing an “abomination” (Leviticus 18:22) and that they all “deserve to die” (Romans 1:32) because it was written in a book over 1,800 years ago. People used to believe that well preserved Beanie Babies would be worth a fortune one day, and that only happened in the 90s. Sometimes people are wrong. (Although, give it 1,800 years and my Beanie Baby collection could be worth £40).

We met up with a gay friend who came to shed light on the whole festival. Apparently, protesters are very common and they should be ignored (something I couldn't bring myself to do in this blog). Anyway, we continued through the crowds, we saw a lot of stands, a lot of love, and a lot of skin (from both genders, don’t worry). We enjoyed the stage performances too, many gay people, drag queens, and the like who were on stage showcasing their dancing and singing abilities. The highlight of the show was when a transgender (I think he/she was anyway) tried to sing Beyonce’s Crazy In Love but unfortunately he/she didn’t know the words… and was out of time… and was out of tune. To the crowds delight he/she still gave it a go and filled in the unknown words with “blah, blah, blah”. Very funny.

At the end of the show the parade started. This was certainly a first for me, not only was this my first time in attendance at a gay pride parade, it was also my first time partaking in the march. With a cocktail in hand, and wearing the gay pride flag as a cape I was fully immersed in the day, I was ready to throw on a pair of leather hot pants with the arsecheeks cut out.

The parade came to a halt only half-a-mile in. The Christian nuts had taken it upon themselves to stop everyone’s fun. They were sat in the middle of the road bringing an end to the festivities. The police were drafted in again, this time to protect the selfish, insane, prejudice, close-minded, homophobes. The thousands of parade marchers were growing restless, they were ready to throw buckets of cum and glitter on the Christians for ruining their fun. It’s a shame that a mere 20 or so Christians can ruin the fun of thousands on a day which is to be celebrated not targeted.

This is the kind of Christian I can get on board with.

The interruption was a perfect opportunity for a toilet break. I nipped into the nearest Tom N Toms only to find that there was only a single cubicle. I waited patiently, and as the guy in the cubicle left he was followed by another gentleman. I guess it was the day to be proud.

During the wait a friend of mine checked his Grinder app on his phone and it was crazy! An app which is designed to find the nearest gay person to you so you can meet and ‘hook up’. It’s slightly different than straight apps such as Tinder, which measure available singles in miles, Grinder measures available singles in feet. Lo and behold there was a gay man only 6 feet away, I could see him! He was ready to fuck!

Those kinds of Christians really bother me. What do they really expect when protesting at those events? All the gay people to say “I’ve seen the light, I’m now straight and a devout Christian!” No, of course that’s an unrealistic thing to expect. They’re gay, they cannot change who they are. All the Christians are doing is making gay people, and others hate their religion. People were at the festival to celebrate being gay, drink, party, and have a good time not to convert. We stayed a little longer before we got bored and found a nearby pub.

Sunday was soon upon us and we decided to do some sightseeing, we went to Changdeokgung Palace and the palace's Secret Gardens, as I write it on here it becomes far less secret. A less dramatic day than before but beautiful all the same.

A great weekend from start to finish. 

See You on the Other Side!

On the 25^th May, 2014 it had been 6 months since I left the UK. Nearly half way through and the time has gone so quickly. I’ve been quite lucky that I haven’t felt any homesickness, obviously it would have been nice to see friends and family during that period but it won’t be long until I’m back, and sparing any UKIP deportations everyone will be there waiting for me when I get home.

A reason why I possibly haven’t really felt any homesickness so far has been that I’ve been surrounded with familiar faces since leaving the UK. When I was in Thailand I met up with Amy and Kelsey, two girls from uni. In Australia, I met up with Ed and Amy, a couple of Bedford companions. I got to Korea and met up with Toner, a great friend from home. Soon after, Ben came out to visit for a week. In February, Karl, one of my best mates from uni, came to Korea to teach for the year. And most recently Kate, another mate from uni popped over to Korea to visit Karl and I as she was passing through Asia on her travels. In only a short period of time, I have gone from a tourist to a tour guide, as I showed Kate and her bum-chum Rose around the sights of Seoul. Although when most people think of Brendan the tour guide they immediately think of a flamboyant, overweight twat… Maybe it’s more accurate than I thought.

Kate and Rose arrived in Seoul to torrential rain. The heavens had opened despite my promises to Kate that it would be hot and sunny when they arrived. She was not impressed. We started the catch up with a few pints in the local, as we shared stories and got to know Rose a bit better. A quirky, fun individual to say the least!

Unfortunately, due to our teaching hours Karl and I couldn’t spend as much time as we had hoped with the girls during their stay, but this gave them some exploring of their own to do without us. There’s a lot to see and do in Soeul but when you’ve only got a week you have to start cramming. We suggested the truly touristy attractions; cat café, dog café, palaces, temples, museums, and of course soju and kimchee. Korea in a nut shell.

On Saturday we took a trip to the baseball. We found a good spot in the stand to watch the game and cracked the first beer open in the afternoon sunlight. It was nice for about 10 minutes but standing in the unbearable heat stops becoming fun very quickly. I soon became a hairy, sweaty mess. My chest was like a rain forest, my arse was like a swamp, and my bollocks had mushrooms growing on them. I spent most of the afternoon with my legs apart trying to give the twins some breathing space. And apparently the summer gets hotter here in Seoul, my heritage derives from Ireland and England, I wasn’t designed for the hot climates. I’m happy in the cold and rain, I’m a human slug.

I look so camp in this picture.

The baseball game was enjoyable despite “supporting” the team that got dicked 23-1. In attendance were Kate, Rose, Somi, Karl, Bernd, Angie, and I, we’re hardly what you’d call die hard baseball fans. Our excuse was to show Kate and Rose something different that they hadn’t experienced on their travels so far. In the crowd I happened to see this guy watching TV on his phone, upon further inspection he was watching the baseball game that was happening live in front of him.

If he had lifted his head up 20cm then he would have seen the game live. Baseball is hardly that interesting at the best of times, if you watch the game live and then watch the replay on your phone you’re only going to be bored twice.

As we were leaving the game we also saw this pair of sad acts.

“Together Since 2010.” So what? Rihanna and Chris Brown were together since 2008, and look how that turned out. (Although, based on the pictures Angie has been drawing of us maybe I shouldn’t comment on other cringey couples).

We showed the girls the highlights of the Hongdae night life. We went to the park and they got to meet the notorious Makgeolli Man.

Both Friday and Saturday night were filled with drunken adventures which ceased around 5am.

They said they had a great time in Korea, and would like to come back again. It was great having them here it’s just a shame it was only for a week. Korea is an awesome place, and you know the old saying ‘Once you go to Korea… you get gonorrhoea?’ I was trying to think of something more accurate, but that’ll do. 

Sport in Korea: Which is Better, Football or Baseball?

Football

I’ve been to a couple of football games in Korea now, both domestic and continental. I attended Seoul’s opening game of the season against Chunnam Dragons they started with the usual opening day procedures. When the game got underway the most noticeable difference to the English game that I’m used to is the considerable drop in quality and talent. Poor passing, no control, and shambolic organisation. I have been told that the best Koreans players get offers from abroad and head to Europe or Japan, and even those that can kick a ball straight get lured to oil-rich nations such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia leaving Korea’s domestic game lacking quality to say the least, even Emile Heskey could look good in this league… OK, maybe not.

Korea was lucky enough to joint host the World Cup with Japan in 2002, as a result Seoul got a brand new stadium which Seoul FC were fortunate to inherit after the tournament. The downside to this is that Seoul FC usually attracts crowds of around 15,000 which don’t quite fill the 67,000 seater stadium that the team plays in. The fans are too spread and the stadium looks empty. This is how a stadium would look if Joey Barton ever had a testimonial, no one would go.

I’ve also made an appearance at an Asian Champions League game, when Seoul took on Kawasaki Frontale. The Asian CL is different from the UEFA CL, I was expecting to hear that glorious, recognisable theme tune (The Champioooooons!). Instead I got a Korean rendition of If You’re Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands. Not quite the same.

I took my seat and before long the game was underway, I noticed the two guys in front of me had a feast of snacks to eat throughout the game, they even had a huge pizza.

This is what’s wrong with football today, the American influence has changed every sporting event into an eating competition. You don’t go to the football for the food. It’s called “The Beautiful Game” for a reason. It’s meant to be watched, observed, studied, it’s about passion, and creating an atmosphere, not filling your face with over-priced hot dogs. If you’re hungry, you have a dodgy pie before the game. Unfortunately too many clubs have gone down this route, and yes my club (Arsenal) is also guilty of this. Sure, we can boast that we have one of the highest incomes from match days in global football, but at what cost? Filling the stadium with plastic fans and out-pricing genuine fans creating one of the worst atmospheres in European football. The FA are guilty of this too, for too many reasons; for the over budget Wembley Stadium, milking fans, charging them £50+ for irrelevant friendlies – they’ve sold out. It’s a major shame… Maybe I overthought those two guys having pizza.

I moved in the second half and got amongst the signing fans, they were a delight. Real fans.

Seoul have lost the games that I have attended so far. Last season Seoul finished 4^th (surprise, surprise, I’m supporting the team that finished 4^th) and qualified for the Champions League. This season they’re 2^nd bottom and have scored a less than impressive 6 goals in 11 games. This demise has occurred since I have started “supporting” them, I’m sure they could do without my support.

Baseball

The most popular sport in Korea is baseball so for months I had wanted to go to a game. We decided to attend the Doosan Bears vs. LG Twins game, these are both Seoul based teams so it was pretty likely that this game would sell out. We came up with a plan to get to the stadium at 11am (3 hours before kick-off) to ensure that we got tickets. There was only one slight hiccup to our plan and that was that we went out drinking the night before and therefore slept in. We arrived at the stadium at 1:30pm (30 minutes before kick-off) and inevitably the game had sold out. This left us with 2 choices, call an end to our baseball adventure or find a ticket tout, in no time at all we found a tout.

They seem to be very common, all there to make a quick won. In very broken English we asked him how much he wanted for a ticket, he said ₩9,000 (£5). We agreed and he led us to though the subway station to the man with the tickets (it was very dodgy). We tried to give him the cash but he was refusing saying that he wanted more, he wanted ₩19,000 (£11). We weren’t happy about the increase in price but decided to pay it anyway as the game was starting very soon. So we handed him ₩19,000 and he said no again, we realised that in fact he wanted ₩90,000 (£52) for a ticket. We told him where to poke his ticket.

The game had started and we decided to wait 15 minutes for the ticket prices to come down a little and not long after we found another tout and got a ticket for the reasonable price of ₩15,000 (£9). We stocked up our beers for the afternoon and made our way into the stadium. We had standing tickets and found a good spot at the back of the stand. The sun was shining and I had a cold beer in my hand, I cared little about everything else around me.

I had no idea what I was watching. Scott tried to explain the rules to me but ultimately it’s just glorified rounders. The atmosphere was good and everyone else was really into it, although I couldn’t bring myself to cheer at a girls’ school sport.

Scott made a comment that made me chuckle. He said that he was impressed with the crowd chanted in unison. Well, yeah… that’s what all sports crowds do, don’t they? He went on to explain that in American sports there is no organisation with the chanting, everyone just shouts what they like when they like. ‘Murica.

After a while I realised that watching baseball is very much like watching cricket, you go along not because it’s a great sport but because it’s a nice day and you can get drunk. I did have fun, and I’d probably go again but when you have a choice to attend a good baseball game or a poor football game I will always go to the poor football game. 

For all of football's downfalls it is still adored worldwide, and baseball is just another bat-and-ball game. Football is the greatest sport on the planet. No questions asked. 

"Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more important than that."
Bill Shankley

Furry Felines, Horny Hounds, and Coffee

It’s taken a while but I finally got round to going to both a cat café and a dog café. Korea is renowned for these particular attractions so like the tourist that I am I went. I’m still not sure if I like them or not, on one hand these places pamper the animals, there’s a constant flow of customers coming in and giving the animals attention and treats, but on the other hand the animals are essentially caged all day. The good outweighs the bad so I think I’m fine with it.

Karl and I had our first man date in a dog café. I feel sorry for dogs in Korea, it’s the ultimate beauty contest, it’s almost like Russian roulette. If you’re a cute dog then you’ll end up in a café, if you’re a mutt then you’ll end up in the butchers (it’s not strictly legal but it still happens).

People in Korea (especially girls) love all things cute, so most of the dogs were tiny spaniels, poodles, or Chihuahuas; there were a few cool dogs there though. Dogs are fun to watch, they’re easily excited, running around, fighting, and more often than not they’re humping which is always funny. There was an army guy at the next table to Karl and I, he was there with his girlfriend. At one point I overheard him say “I didn’t come here to watch dog porn”. That was the main reason I was there, it was entertaining, I took like 40 pictures.

A few weeks later and Karl and I had our second man date, this time at a cat café. Karl doesn’t really like cats so he was slightly reluctant to go. The first thing I noticed was the lack of enthusiasm that cats generally have. They’d be lying down and act like “Oh look, more people. So what?” There were many Koreans also in the café and they were speaking Korean to the cats and it dawned on me that the cats probably know more Korean than I do.

The cats have free reign of the café, they will walk all over the counters, I really hate that. I wasn’t too keen on the coffee in these animal cafes. It’s probably not worth thinking about that the same people that clean up after the animals also make the coffee, like I said I’d rather not think about it.

The cats generally do nothing unless you give them a treat. The other customers bought some chicken and the cats all rush to them. Having only spent a short amount of time there you soon start to realise that cats are sluts. Cat cafés are like strip clubs and the cats are the strippers, they’re only interested in you if you tip them. They will sit on your lap if you pay them.

Whereas dogs, they’re more like the drunk girl at a party. They put on a show for everyone and don’t expect anything in return. Dogs and drunk girls are just happy to be getting the attention.

So which do I like more, cats or dogs? Well, that’s the same as asking which do I like more, strippers or drunk girls? Let’s just say I like cats and dogs equally.

The Melee in Hongdae - Street Fighting, Lanterns, and Suwon

I’m starting to notice a bit of a recurring theme with the stories I have been writing on this blog. It seems rather regular that a story starts with “We were drinking in a park when… “ and this story is no different.

It was Friday night and through a friend of a friend we were drinking with a group of maybe ten French guys. Generally, the relationship between Britain and France is antagonistic, but after a few drinks with these guys I was having a great night. An easy icebreaker between European males is to talk football, they supported Lille and Arsenal is basically French so we had a lot to talk about. After a few drinks I started to realise that I share many similarities with the stereotypical frog. For instance; French people are rude and obnoxious, and I’m rude and obnoxious. French people rarely shave, and I rarely shave. The French are known for being great lovers, and I’m… OK I’m not that similar to them. Anyway, we were drinking in Hongdae park when a Korean bloke approached us and he was asking us if we wanted to fight him. It turned out that this guy is a professional boxer and was giving people the opportunity to pay him to fight him. So you pay him to get your arse kicked. You know what, I’m good. I don’t know if this guy was training for a fight and wanted some different competition, or maybe he was just after an ego boost but he was not short of opponents, one being one of the French guys who was out with us. He was drunk which made the fight all the easier for the sober professional. There was some basic equipment, gloves, headgear, and a bloke with a smart phone to time the rounds so you know it’s legit. There was also a sign tied to a tree which explained the rules.

Here is some of round 1 (notice the drunk guy with the makgeolli).

Some of round 2.

Unfortunately I ran out of memory to capture round 3 but it was a blood bath. The boxer didn’t want to fight the third round stating that he’d batter him, which inevitably happened but the French guy was persistent (I know, a French guy who wants to fight – that’s unheard of!). The fight finally finished and the French guy was covered in blood and his face was black and blue. The boxer finished the fight a little sweatier than before. Was it worth it? Definitely not.

We continued drinking in Hongdae but the drama stopped there.

The following day we went to the Lotus Lantern Festival which was spread out across Seoul. We checked out a few of the Buddhist Temples (Bongeunsa and Jogyesa) and watched the parade come through Dongdaemun. It was pretty cool. I mean, essentially it’s only fancy origami with a couple of candles but impressive all the same.

We had our term break this week, a couple of days off during the week. We went down to Suwon to see Rabel and to explore Suwon. It was great we walked around the city and walked the length of the fortress walls. A great day of sightseeing.

After a full day of sightseeing we rounded the day off with a Noraebang (karaoke singing room). I tolerate these places and I’m often forced to sing even when I don’t want to, I went along with the guys this time but made it clear that I was coming for the beer. Very soon into it while the guys were singing I got a really strange impulse… to sing! This had never happened before. I sang an Arctic Monkeys song (poorly) and I really enjoyed it! Before I could gather my thoughts I was lining up another and by the end of the night I had sung Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Spice Girls, Shaggy, and Frozen (when in Korea, do as the Koreans do). I thoroughly enjoyed the karaoke and I never thought that would happen in my lifetime.

Back at work today but we’ve got another long weekend ahead of us. I could really get used to these two-and-a-half day working weeks. 

Veels geluk, Petro! Seemeeu Poespas! (Busan!)

It was our first weekend out of Seoul for a while and it was to visit Petro in Busan for her birthday. We took the train and it was my first time on the KTX (Korean Train Express) Korea’s high-speed train. It’s basically the exact same as the National Rail system in the UK… except that it runs on time, is reliable, is quick, they offer good customer service, the prices don’t rise every week, and the trains aren’t cancelled if there are a few leaves on the track. Basically the same.

We arrived in Busan and met Petro and the rest of the peasants. Many drinks were had and we checked-in to the pension at 3am.

For those that don’t know what a pension is, it’s a cheap guest house. It’s one room where by you sleep on the floor. When looking for a room price often dictates where you stay and sleeping on the floor is generally fine but with copious amounts of alcohol and an uncomfortable night led to the worst hangover I’ve ever had. That’s not an exaggeration, it was the worst hangover I’ve ever had. I felt horrendous. People often say that, it’s an overused phrase, but I felt so bad that morning that if someone had given me a rope I’d have made good use of it. It was a life low point. If I got hangovers like that every time I drank I would give up alcohol.

Busan is on the coast, and when you go you have to go to the beach. Unfortunately for us it was pissing down with rain and was bloody freezing but in true British style and bit of rain wasn’t going to stop us. It’s the equivalent of going to Brighton or Skegness, you have to go to the beach regardless of the weather. After the beach we went sightseeing around Gamcheon Cultural Village, a quaint place full of colour, art, and too many stairs.

We meandered around an interesting market and I stepped back into the 90s. We found an electronics shop that haven’t updated their stock since 1990. This was their shop window.

Seriously how do they make a living? Who still needs to buy a CD Walkman, a Dictaphone, a cassette player, or an old CRT television? Seriously? When was the last time they sold something? It was probably when Will Smith bought a cassette player when they were filming the intro for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Afterwards we found The Pub. A pub actually called The Pub. That’s such a great name. Karl and I have been thinking of opening up a decent British pub in Seoul and that would be the perfect name to steal. We also considered that once our pub is established of branching out into the exotic dancing industry and we were going to call the club The Titty Bar, two perfect names for two perfect places. One day… We arrived at The Pub just as my hangover wore off.

The drinks kept on coming and we had another night out in the university district of Busan. We went down to the beach armed with fireworks to celebrate Petro’s birthday with a bang! This seemed like a nice idea but 15 or so drunk people letting off explosives is actually a stupid terrifying idea. Worse of all someone had the brainwave to give the big-headed mong (Karl) the fireworks. This is a man who I hardly trust to hold a cigarette in his hand let alone gunpowder and a lit fuse. Luckily everyone came away unscathed.

Not entirely sure where we went after the beach but it was a good night and like most good nights there was the lure of a kebab. Upon closer inspection Karl and I noticed the chap selling the delights of the intoxicated was Turkish. Regardless of how drunk we get our hatred for Turkish people will never diminish. Karl and I have made up our minds and we have sided with the Cypriots, for this reason we refused the kebabs despite how delicious they looked. Along with Bof (the influencer), as a unity we also hate all things from Wolverhampton, Tottenham, and Derby, the four worst places on the earth.

Another night on the pension floor and to my delight… no hangover! This time around it was Karl who had the hangover and I was laughing at him. We stepped outside and to our surprise it was warm and there were clear skies. Not only were they clear but they were also blue, I didn’t think blue skies existed in Korea, as it turns out not all of the country is filled with pollution. We went back to the beach to retake all the pictures.

We headed to the pub for lunch and again in truly British fashion we had fish and chips by the seaside. One of the best parts of the weekend was seeing Karl’s cheeky smile when he realised the pub did gravy. The northerner went ahead and ruined his meal by flooding his plate with gravy, it was moronic but he was in heaven.

We opted for an afternoon cruise along the coast to finish off the weekend. It was delightful. The water was a little choppy which led to a rocky boat ride. Throughout the cruise they played some dodgy music, it almost sounded like weird Northern Korean propaganda music, we were supporting the regime and riding the waves at the same time!

We docked and made it safely back onto land. We all survived a Korean boat trip.

We walked down the beach and we noticed this guy.

Yeah, that’s a man in a thong. I mentioned earlier that there were blue skies and it was reasonably warm but it wasn’t that warm… actually scratch that, it’s never that warm! It’s April in Busan, not July on Copacabana Beach! There are children about, put that away!

We said our goodbyes and made our way to Busan Station to get the KTX back to Seoul, we checked our train tickets and realised that we’d missed our train by about an hour and a half. We never thought to check the time we were returning to Seoul, we really are a pair of mongs. We had to buy new tickets which meant we were standing for two and a half hours on the way back north. All-in-all it was a great weekend. It was awesome to catch up with Petro, Leon, Michael, Mikey, and meet many more new friends! 

Yes, I know… ooooh! New friend friends!

Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down this Wall!

The cherry blossoms came and went last week and Korea went crazy for them. Everyone was telling me to go out and see them before it was too late. So I did just that, I soon realised how my life has changed. I left my apartment on two different occasions to go and look at flowers. We care so little about nature in the Fennell household that we haven’t even bothered to put up a Christmas tree in the last two years.  The flowers were nice, and it gave me the opportunity to feature in the most Asian picture I’m ever likely to be in.

During the week I also managed to find a football team to play for. I’d be craving to play football having not kicked a ball in over 4 months. I turned up and no one spoke English and rather predictably I couldn’t speak Korean but as we all know I had no concerns, football is a universal language and I got on just fine. Playing with an entire team that you don’t know can be awkward but it makes it even more so when you can’t communicate at all. Hopefully it doesn't lead to me picking up a stupid accent like Joey Barton.

I watched Arsenal not win again on Saturday night. Despite not winning they still managed to (unconvincingly) progress to the FA Cup final. It’s slightly disappointing to say that the most celebrated goal of the season was a late equaliser against Wigan but even so football is about success and we won a huge game, an FA Cup semi-final. Having said that Arsenal have been getting a lot of stick about celebrating the victory too much as it was “just Wigan”. But it’s more than that, the celebrations were about getting to the final, getting the monkey off our backs, the possibility of tasting success for the first time in almost a decade, it shows how much this win meant to the players and the fans. In 21 games against Wigan we’ve beaten them 15 times so it’s not the victory we we’re celebrating. When it seems that the media is constantly against you, every set back is mocked, and Arsenal’s lack of a trophy for 9 years is highlighted every game, and when the team qualifies for the FA Cup final it’s still marked as they shouldn’t celebrate as they’ve only beaten Wigan (who are the current cup holders and the team who knocked out the favourites in the previous round). You can only tolerate this for so long so I say they can poke their opinion up their arses. I’m rather bored of hearing the same old drivel from the likes of Andy Townsend, Garth Crooks, Mark Lawrenson, Jamie Radknapp, Stan Collymore, David Pleat, Roy Keane, Michael Owen, Alan Shearer, the list goes on… Why aren’t these punditry jobs given to statisticians who can back up opinions with facts and figures, or to respected journalists who have a record of being unbiased and informative? Instead they go to former professionals who offer no insight. As Karl Pilkington put it these people are like dung beetles pushing bullshit around the room.

Arsenal won the penalty shoot-out, they progressed to the FA Cup final, and I for one am going to enjoy it. I’m just hoping we can see another fortunate result in the final against Hull City (just less stressful this time, please).

On Sunday we did a spot of sightseeing and went to Berlin Square. It was less of a square and more of a corner. Interesting to see the wall but it is still only 3 blocks of concrete.

Here are a series of pictures of me with famous walls. Wall-to-wall walls.

The Berlin Wall

The Great Wall of China

Hadrian’s Wall

Wall-e

No bullshit. 

After we went to an all you can drink makgeolli bar. Makgeolli’s not bad, it’s basically alcoholic milk. All you can drink is always a challenge, not the best idea on a Sunday evening but it’s never stopped me before.

Anyway, off to Busan this weekend for a peasant reunion.