Rambles – New York & Spa Days

This morning I woke up extra early and went for a fancy haircut. For the first time in my life, I paid more than £7 for a chop. It was interesting, but I’m not sure if it’s something I’ll be doing regularly at £23 a go. After the barbers, I went next door and bought myself skincare products. I came home, I used them, and it felt magic. I have absolutely no idea what brought this on, but I’ll continue on the theme tomorrow as I’ll likely go get some contact lenses and maybe a new shirt. I promise this won’t end in a sunbed…

                                                   

This morning I also resolved that I’ll be heading to New York in November for a weekend. I messaged my cousin Sean and asked if he’d be interested, he said yes but after he’s 21 in February, but that suits me as I think I’d like to go alone the first time anyway. You couldn’t pay me to go to New York in the summer with that heat, but November sounds perfect. There’s a UFC card there in the second weekend of November, and I think I may get myself over to that. More on this story as it develops.

                                                   

Yesterday I opened up an old camera that I hadn’t switched on in a few years and found around 150 photos of a trip to Japan I took with an ex in 2013. Talk about a kick in the teeth.

 

Life Chat – Some Background

I’m going to spend a fair amount of time on this page talking about two things; my upcoming move over to Korea and football. In this post I’m going to offer some background on how I was introduced to both and, most importantly, why I spent the past two summers travelling around football stadiums there. I hope it makes some semblance of sense, and I’ll try to add more about my experiences when I get the opportunity. 

I made my first trip to Korea just over a year ago in May of 2015 after hearing a 2NE1 song on a Microsoft advert in the February of that year. I opened the shazam app, found the song and spent the subsequent evening flying through Korean pop, culture and sports videos on youtube. I knew very little about Korea or Korean pop, and had no particular interest in Korean culture or language at the time. I’d tried some Korean food in the past, and watched a Korean drama, but I’d never really had much of an interest in going until this particular evening, truth me told. I had a friend who was studying there, I knew of an active Celtic supporters club in Seoul and I had 4 weeks holidays arranged for May with no plans made. By the time I went to bed, I was booked up, and just a couple of months later I was in Seoul.

I’ll never forget the first time I walked out of exit 7 of Jongno-3ga station. I was a bit rough, having travelled to Incheon via Istanbul, and was lugging my large suitcase with me around the busy Seoul subway. It was a Friday evening, and the sky was an odd shade of orangey-blue that I hadn’t ever encountered before. The streets were packed with groups of people eating around small red tents that littered the pavements and tight alleyways, with the noise from diners and the busy road they sat next to giving me the impression I had walked in to the hub of the city rather than a small northern neighbourhood. I was instantly charmed by the sight. Something about working people enjoying a meal at the end of the week in such a setting resonated with me, and I think I made a decision within minutes that Korea was somewhere I would be comfortable.

I’ve never considered myself a groundhopper, but I am a firm believer that travelling to watch football offers an insight in to a society that otherwise cannot be obtained. I’ve had some of the best experiences of my life and met some of my best friends on the back of watching the game in various locations around the world, even when I have little to no emotional attachment to the sides on the field. Having been lucky enough to travel extensively whilst watching football in Japan before I made my way to Korea, the passion and emotion seen on the slopes of football stadiums there is in stark contrast to life outside the stadium. For me, this reflects a sort of vulnerability that comes with watching your team play; you may not support the best side in the world, but they’re your team, and they may be one of the few ever-presents in your life. That is a deeply personal bond, and something I try to respect wherever I watch a game.

As is always the case, preparation is the key on my travels. Rather than turning up and hoping for the best, I try to consume these experiences, and wrap myself around them as much as I possibly can. I watch everything at the match, and run through a sort of mental check list throughout the course of the day. The night before the game, I’ll pour over soccerway and pick up what statistics and information I can about both teams, making sure I wear a colour appropriate to the section I’m sitting in, or one that is at least neutral. When going to the stadium, I’m eyeing up the people on the trains, trying to see if there’ll be a big crowd at the game and who is wearing their colours under their jacket. Upon arriving at the venue, I’m looking to see if the fans are segregated, who is the most popular player on the back of the jerseys, how accessible is the stadium, what facilities are on offer outside. I’m very careful when picking my seat too. It’s important to find the right balance between being close to the action in the stands, but having a good view of what’s happening on the field too. I’m absolutely fascinated by the ultras, so I try to sit close enough that I can see the faces of those that sit behind the goal, but at the same time I try to maintain enough distance so as not to interrupt their efforts, as I can say from experience that there is nothing more demoralising than screaming at the top of your voice only to turn around and see the person behind you drinking a beer with their feet up.

It’s not always the case, but sometimes the match taking place on the field is overshadowed by what’s happening in the stands. In truth, I’m not overly concerned with the quality of football on the field. I live in Glasgow, Scotland, and could take in any number of English Premier League matches each season if I wished, but I’d take any K-League challenge game over Manchester United vs Chelsea for a match day experience. Those big money games are easy to watch, or to attend. They’re spectacles, tourist destinations, and they’re very impressive in their own right, but the people I want to sit amongst are the folk that travel 3 hours to a midweek game to be one of 6 people in the away section. Why? Those people want to be there. They’ve gone out of their way to make an irrational decision and, for me, that’s where the passion is in football, and that’s what I found in abundance in Korea.

My first ever K-League game was probably the most underwhelming I’ve seen throughout my first trip to Korea. The day after arriving in Seoul, I went to see FC Seoul vs Jeonnam Dragons. Truth be told, I was attending solely to see former Celtic player Cha Du Ri play one more time before he retired at the end of the season. FC Seoul won 3-0, but the game was a bit of a non-event as Jeonnam never showed up. The game was my first experience of Korean fans, and I tried to arrive as early as possible to take my sea. It was warm, of course, but there was a decent crowd of around 18,000, the stadium was incredible and I was pleasantly surprised at the price of a beer, as the mark up for food and drinks inside the stadium wasn’t so bad. As I sought shade to take a breather from the burning sun, I noticed a group of lads around school age getting tore in to pizzas. The tone was set and I wouldn’t be disappointed.

In the coming weeks, I would see a handful of other games around the greater Seoul area, but by far the stand-out experience was watching a side called Seoul E-Land FC at Jamsil. When I heard that a second division side were playing in a 70,000 seater olympic stadium, I was interested. When I heard they played in leopard print, were managed by a guy from Scotland and had been founded just a few months earlier, I was sold. My first E-Land game was at home whilst they were in the midst of an incredible run of form that saw them win six consecutive games, scoring for fun in the process. The experience of watching a game from the temporary stand that sat on the running track of the Olympic stadium along coupled with the quality on the field made it an easy choice for me, Seoul E-Land were my team in Korea and, as if I needed an excuse to return to Korea, I set about getting back over to see them again.

A year to the day, I would be back in Jamsil. This time I would be prepared, having spent the year studying Korean in Glasgow. I was keen to try and share my experiences on this trip, and so I brought my twenty year old cousin Sean along, someone who had never really travelled out with Europe and someone who had no real interest in Korean football. We planned our itinerary months in advance, and would aim to make it to around 10 different games in the three weeks we would spend in Korea. It’s difficult to justify why you’re going to spend 3 hours on a bus on a Wednesday night to see a second division game in a city that’s known for having a very nice supermarket…

Rambles – Monday, Monday & 새벽

It’s 6.37am on Monday September 5th 2016 as I sit down to write this. I’m listening to Explosions in the Sky, and I woke up so early due to the fact I fell asleep at 7.45pm yesterday evening after a big Sunday dinner with my family. Monday morning is, without a doubt, my favourite time of the week. Monday is the eraser to whatever has come before. Why?

A few reasons. My friend Catherine used to work in a bar in Glasgow that was, for the most part, frequented by an older crowd. Sometimes I’d go in to get her after work, or I’d head in to visit during lunch breaks, and some of the stuff people would get up to whilst drunk was unreal. I never seen anything too sinister, mostly just people acting the clown, but it always surprised me to see grown men in a buttoned down shirt doing push-ups on a dance floor whilst listening to an Eminem song. I always think about those people on a Monday morning. We’ve all had the fear after a night out, that feeling of overbearing shame for whatever it is you’ve been up to the night before, but I like to think of Monday morning as a clean slate. Whatever the excesses of the weekend, whatever you’ve been up to the week before; Monday morning offers an opportunity to draw a line in the sand and move forward. Diets are started, habits are kicked, fitness goals are pursued with renewed vigour.. Monday morning is magic.

                                                 

Whenever I decide to wake up, the first thing I do is tell the time in Korean. I look at my phone and translate the time in my head before saying it out loud. Not only is it good practice, but the sheer amount of brain cells involved in the process cranks my brain in to production and wakes me up. This morning I woke up at 5.05am, which in Korean is 새벽 오시 오분 (pronounced: Sebyog oh shi oh bun). In the Korean language, they start at the largest time counter and work their way in from there. I rarely wake up early enough to use it, but sebyog covers the hours of 1-6am, and translates literally as dawn or sunrise. Therefore, the time I’ve written would translate as dawn 5.05am. I love the idea of identifying the different parts of the day in blocks as the Koreans do. 새벽 is by far my favourite of the lot, and a quick google search of the word will show why. Apparently caused by pollution making it’s way over from China, Korea has the most bizarre and beautiful bright orange skies I’ve ever seen. Mornings and evenings seem to last forever as the temperature hovers around bearable levels before the baking afternoon sun kicks in and ruins your day. I’m looking forward to living with them on a daily basis.

I’m off to start my week. Clean slate.

 

Life Chat – Injuries, Studies, MacBooks and Adventures

I went to the osteopath on Monday morning at 7.30am and left an hour later a different person. I barely slept on Sunday night, such was the pain I was suffering. The good doctor lay me down, dangled my leg over the edge of the table and pushed my shoulder in the opposite direction. A huge crunching noise followed, which was massively satisfying. I then got some acupuncture, and some electric therapy using small needles in my back to combat inflammation. Within 24 hours, I was in the garden using kettle bells and bending forward. “Job done”, I thought.

Yesterday afternoon I got a call from the NHS following on from my appointment last week. They had a last minute appointment available with a physiotherapist in Springburn and wanted to know if i could make it. I could, and I did, and I learned an awful lot. As it turns out, readjusting the spine in the manner that the osteopath did doesn’t really do much for me in the long run. What happens when your spine is readjusted is that your spine suffers a trauma, and as a result of that trauma your brain kicks in and sends all kinds of endorphins to the area affected, mitigating the pain you feel for a short period of time after the action has been carried out. My physio today put me through the motions and deducted that, from what I could do, my problems were not an injury, but rather damage to my nerves, and that whilst they could have been caused by an injury, they weren’t any longer. That’s good in the sense that it means I have no long-lasting injuries to worry about, that I’m not going to be looking at a long-term injury to my spine or back. It also means that I’m able to slowly get myself back to training in the next month. However, the physio thinks that the pain I’ve suffered in my lower back has caused my lower back to stiffen significantly, and that the nerves in that area have become extremely sensitive, impacting my ability to move freely. I was given a routine to carry out 3 times per day, and I’ll supplement that myself with some yoga and light cycling in the coming weeks.

Mum and I went for a coffee afterwards. That was nice.

Whilst injured and unable to box, I bought myself a nice pair of adidas boxing gloves and have hung them on my wall. My goal is to get back to the gym on the 1st of October and wear them. Until then, I think I’ll have to be very careful of my diet and movements. No alcohol until October 1st either. Discipline is good, though.

                                                                                                                                                                                         

I received an email yesterday afternoon telling me that the module choices I have selected for my upcoming year at Strathclyde had been sent out in error, and that I won’t be going to study Japanese history in semester one. Instead, that course has been moved to semester two, and I’ll be studying Indian society in semester one. I’m delighted with that, as they were previously in the same semester so I’m happy to be able to select them both.

I start back on September 13th, with a welcome day. I’m not looking forward to it at all.

                                                                                                                                                                                  

My ‘cheap macbook’ ticket renewed last week. I’m not sure what to do with it. The macbook air I have at the moment is fantastic, and is still as quick as it was on the day I bought it. There’s also the highly likely possibility that something new will come out soon enough, so I guess I’d better wait and see on that front.

I’ll be back with more information on that soon.

                                                                                                                                                                                    

I met with Mark yesterday, who will be my manager when I go to Korea. It was nice to get the chance to ask him about some of the intricacies of life over there. Flats, bills, my role in the company etc. I’ll lean heavily on Mark in my first few months in Korea, and speaking with him makes me realise quite how far a ways I have to go before I’m ready for the challenge that life over there will present. I’m very glad to be making the move in August/September, when it’ll be cooling down quite substantially, but I’m under no illusions as to how difficult this will be.

I’ll end this life chat here because I’ve drifted on to looking at Korean mobile phone contracts…

                                                                                                                                                                                      

Song of the weeeeeeeeeeeeeek #1

박채영 :O

Rambles – Social Media

Where to start? The beginning. Myspace. June 2006. I think that was about my first serious exposure to social media. Prompted by friends to create an account and save them the hassle of email, within a few months I had grown huge groups of friends in Glasgow, and an even wider group of friends I knew but hadn’t ever met. Within a year, bebo appeared on the scene, myspace disappeared, then Facebook showed up, then twitter, then instagram, then bebo disappeared we were left with Facebook, instagram and twitter. Funnily enough, I was sitting trawling through old emails from around 10 years ago on Saturday whilst resting my back (more on that later) when I found the original Facebook ‘invite’ email from my friend Yuki dating back to May 2007, back when you needed to be referred to gain an account…

I’ve always had a bit of a bizarre relationship with social media. Perhaps it came along at the correct time for me to adjust, or perhaps it’s that initial exposure to myspace where users could customise a lot more than just their profiles, but I’ve never struggled to understand how social media works and also quite how powerful a tool it can be. As a result, I feel like I’ve really been able to harness it to my advantage. In 2013 I found myself sitting at a player of the year award ceremony on the other side of the world dressed in a kilt with a guy I had met the day before, having spent the weekend taking photographs with random members of the public and fielding questions from the national footballing media who seemed utterly bemused by my presence. I used twitter to gather thousands of followers, and I found myself stuck in a bit of a bubble with it. My every action would be carried out with a view to playing to an audience. I even moved to the other side of the world to chase what I perceived to be my calling. It wasn’t. It was tiring and draining for my partner, and it wasn’t sustainable. When she eventually left, I realised that all the followers in the world didn’t matter. They didn’t exist. None of it did.

I’ve been lucky enough to have made many friends on my travels. Truth be told, those people I don’t see on a day to day basis are the sole reason I maintain any sort of social media presence. I enjoy using my applications as a news feed, and I’m sure that I’ll sit down at some point in the future and reflect on all my adventures using them, but I don’t have a good relationship with them now. I think I’ve been burned before, and I’m reluctant to use them to any great length as a result of that.

Today I was watching one of my favourite channels on youtube called “Do Stuff” talk about originality. They mentioned another blogger, Casey Neistat. I hadn’t ever seen his videos before this afternoon, but they’re beautiful. He has an eye for a great shot, they’re well edited and very bright. I’m inspired to try and do something similar when I go on my adventures. Tonight I’m going to write up another quick update on my injury and some other things I’ve got going on, and then I’m going to go back to January and watch his videos up until now. Try and make sense of what’s going on and who he is. Maybe learn some things.

 

Life Chat – Injury

Injuries have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Not mine, mostly, but in every sport I’ve watched, injuries have always lurked in the background. The first serious and significant injury I can remember was when Henrik Larsson broke his leg, or when my mum broke her finger chasing me upstairs. Since then, injuries have become an every day part of my life, especially given my bizarre need to stay up to the minute with every piece of news I can devour on my favourite athletes. UFC fighters, boxers, etc. I spend my life analysing injuries and their potential ramifications for bouts, sponsors, fans, promoters and media, but what happens when I get injured?

In October of last year I was enjoying a day off of work playing FIFA on my PS4. I was sitting on my mattress, as I normally would do, but on this day I felt a slight tingle at the base of my spine. It wasn’t painful, but when I lay down immediately afterwards I could still feel it. I assumed I’d maybe just had a spasm or pulled a small muscle in my lower back, but as time went on it became clearer and clearer that I hadn’t. I became aware that this could be serious on a bus through to Edinburgh just a week or two later. I wasn’t able to sit still on the bus, and found myself contorting my back in to increasingly bizarre positions to try and find relief. Within a month, the pain had travelled up my back to my shoulder blade. I’d come home from football or muay thai bent over with a pulsing pain that shot throughout my whole back.

In March, I travelled to Dublin only to find myself constrained to my bed in the hotel room for 2 of the 4 days I was in town. Movement, of any sort, by this point was almost unbearable. I had lost most of the range of motion in my legs and from a lying position was barely able to lift them at all. Such was the pain, I decided I’d have to see a chiropractor. The morning I arrived back in Glasgow I visited one. When he contorted and cracked my spine, the feeling of relief I had was incredible. For a month or so after that, things were better. I went to Korea in May for a month and, perhaps due an increase in food and alcohol consumption, found myself back to square one upon my return. I attempted to battle through the pain and returned to Muay Thai, but it became quickly apparent that I wasn’t going to be able to spar or grapple without serious pain in my back. For the entire summer I’ve struggled with significant back pain.

This Tuesday in work, I was lying down fitting cables underneath a table. I did the same on Wednesday, and by Thursday I could barely walk. On Friday, I woke up and couldn’t move my legs. That was enough. I called in to to work and told them I couldn’t make it in. I phoned the chiropractor and made an appointment with them for this coming Monday morning, the earliest they had, and I made an appointment to see my GP that morning. Whilst she wasn’t able to offer a definitive diagnosis with the tools at her disposal, the pain I was in indicated that I was likely suffering from a slipped disk in my lower spine which was pressing against my sciatic nerve. When I sat and read out my symptoms and the events that had led me there, I was almost embarrassed that I’d let this lie for so long. 10 months. I can’t remember what it feels like to bend forward without feeling discomfort or pain.

When I think back on it, the issues I’ve had with my back over the past year have had quite a serious impact on my life out with the obvious physical pain that comes with such an ailment. I think I’ve found myself to be more irritable, to be more susceptible to weight gain as a result of not moving as much, to look at the physical feats of others with envy, for the first time, as opposed to seeing them as a challenge or something to aspire to. I’ve also found myself self-medicating, I think, as I definitely drink alcohol more than the once per week/two weeks I did previously. I was handed a large box of pills that, I must say are lovely, given a sick like for two weeks and told sternly never to suffer in silence with such an injury for that length of time again.

I’m in a better position than most to deal with this sort of issue. I receive free private healthcare from my employers, and unlimited physiotherapy. I’ll use that. I’m lying on my bed now in some discomfort, but I feel quite calm as I know I’m at least on the path to recovery now. I think my attitude towards this injury has been as big a factor as the ailment itself. I’ve perpetually told myself it’ll pass in time, but I don’t think I really believed that. I’m moving away in around a year, and I’ve set myself a target of being at my absolute physical peak before that.

Time to get moving.

30 for 30

Alright?! I’m Jamie. I’m 25 years old, and on Thursday the 31st of October 2019, I’ll turn 30. I know, that’s a long while away but I was inspired by my mate Brendan recently to put together a list of goals and tasks that I want to accomplish by the time I’m 30 years old.

As I write this, I’ve got 1792 days to complete my list. A lot of the items here are things I’ve done before but, in retrospect, feel I could have done differently or perhaps didn’t take full advantage of. I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to start your own!

 

1. Become fluent in Italian. 

I’m quite good at Italian, me. My listening is good and I enjoy a lot of Italian music, but since 2008 I haven’t really made much of an effort to improve at all.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: None.

2. Score a goal at Celtic Park.

I came agonisingly close to this a few years back. Playing up front in a charity match, I broke through one on one and curled a shot past the ‘keeper… only to hit the post. I collapsed in a bundle. I wince almost every time I think about that fateful afternoon in May 2012. This one is personal.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: None. I won’t be completing this challenge this year as I’m on holiday on the day that the game is scheduled to take place.

3. Gain my blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 

I love BJJ. I love watching it, studying it, talking about it and practising it. There’s something very humbling about training in the martial arts, and BJJ is one of my favourites.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: None.

4. Play an acoustic set or open mic night. 

I don’t sing enough. I don’t play guitar enough. Hence…

UPDATE 10.3.2016: On the path! I also got very close to providing backing vocals for a gig at the roundhouse in London. This one should be done before the year is out.

5. See the pyramids.

The pyramids are mental. I want to see them for myself.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: None.

6. Fire a gun.

I’m not sure why but I’ve always wanted to fire a powerful gun at a target. I’m anti-gun, but there’s something I find fascinating about them that draws me towards this goal.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: Made it to Las Vegas, stayed in a hotel that offered a trip to a firing range, spent more time firing in to birds than firing at targets…Perhaps I can get this one done in Thailand.

7. Train Muay Thai in Thailand.

This is the most pressing item on my bucket list for me. I’ve trained Muay Thai for a long time, so to get back to Thailand and get stuck in again is something I’m really keen on doing. I’m looking at March or April 2015 as a potential date.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: I’ll have no issues completing this, but it didn’t happen in March or April! She is desperate to return to Thailand and I could be doing with some proper training before I’m going to be able to box, so this would tie in well.

8. Refrain from alcohol for 365 days.

I went a bit mental over the festive period this year, so I reckon a year off the sauce wouldn’t be a bad thing.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: Why did I ever add this to my list? Went a bit mental over the festive period this year too..

9. Gain a promotion in my current job.

Moving away from home and leaving my job gave me a sense of perspective that I didn’t have when I was there previously. I know what I want to do now and I know how to go about it. My next step is to achieve it.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: I got to the final stage interview for a promotion in October but was unsuccessful ultimately, a decision that actually seems to have worked out well in hindsight given how much the job requirements of the role in question have changed. I made a lateral move for a short period, but with the amount of movement that’s about to take place in the next year this could be a possibility if I actually want to progress.

10. Run a marathon.

My mate Dave ran a marathon once, and the photo he took of his blisters would put you off marathons for life. Fortunately for me, I’m a bit daft.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: One of the ‘physically fit’ challenges. I had been struggling with a back injury since December but now that’s resolved and the better weather is in I should be in a better place to achieve these goals over the summer. 26 miles but? ufft.

11. Climb Mt. Fuji. 

I arrived in Japan last year just 2 days before the climbing season ended. I was a bit gutted, but I’ll get up there some day before I’m 30!

UPDATE 10.3.2016: Given that I’ll only spend 4 days in Japan this year, I’d say this one is unlikely. The problem with this one is that the climbing season is really only July-September, but those months are an absolute bawache in Japan because of the heat at that time of year which inherently makes me want to stay away.

12. Walk the West Highland Way. 

I first learned about the WHW from my late friend Reamonn, who spoke positively and at great length about it. Since his passing, I’ve always said I’ll do the whole thing on my own.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: Another one I should have done by the end of summer.

13. Hunt, kill and eat my own food. 

I like food, but I’m also very aware that I probably don’t know half as much about where it comes from as I should. Listening to a podcast about hunting recently inspired me to consider the possibility of hunting for my own meat.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: None.

14. See Celtic win away from home in Europe. 

I’ve been to see Celtic play away from home in Europe a handful of times, and whilst I’ve saw us knock Barcelona out of the UEFA cup, I’ve yet to see us win.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: This one isn’t in my hands, and doesn’t look to be happening any time soon. A win at home would be welcome these days…

15. Compete in a boxing match.

For as long as I’ve trained, I’ve never found myself confident enough in my physical conditioning to compete in boxing. In retrospect, this seems like a bit of a cop-out.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: None.

16. Meet Kazushi Sakuraba. 

My favourite MMA fighter of all time. I’ve came close on a couple of occasions, but his renewed involvement in the pro-wrestling scene in Japan might make him a wee bit more accessible.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: 4 days in Japan in May. I’ll see if it’s possible. I’ve been trying to assemble a collection of sponsors etc on Instagram to contact and ask how/where to meet him… he’s back training again so hopefully that pins him down a bit.

17. Learn to drive. 

It’s getting silly now.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: What is it with birds and driving? I’m quite alright taking the shoelace express..

18. Visit Cuba. 

Whilst glad to hear of the US relaxing it’s antiquated anti-Cuban legislation last week, I hope the influx of tourism from the US and the revenue it brings won’t dilute the wonderful culture of Cuba. I need to get there quick though, just in case.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: I came ridiculously close to the one. My cousin Sean turned 20 last month so I said we could go anywhere in the world he wanted. Initially he chose the US, but the fact he couldn’t have a beer in most states meant that was quickly squashed. Then he chose Cuba and we spent a month planning it, got guidebooks and ridiculous tropical shirts. Literally on the day we went to book flights he chose to go to Tokyo and Seoul, having sat on Facebook the night before and looked at my photos.

19. See Yokohama F.Marinos play again.

The friends I’ve made in the process of following and learning about that side are some of my closest, and it would be a great pity not to take in a match with those people again.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: DONE. May 27th 2015. Kawasaki Frontale at the Nippatsu Mitsuzawa. A 2-1 loss.

20. See a live UFC event. 

I want to see Conor McGregor vs Jose Aldo for the belt in Dublin in April/May or JoJo Calderwood vs Carla Esparza at the Hydro in August. Make it happen!

UPDATE 10.3.2016: DONE. I saw Conor McGregor vs Jose Aldo at the MGM grand at UFC 194. Jesus, did I just say that? I booked my flights, hotel and accommodation whilst drunk, 5 days before the fight took place. Ever woke up with a hangover, a trip to Vegas booked and a £1500 hole in your bank account? Naw?

21. Visit the US. 

I’ve spent that much time in Asia in the past 10 years that I’ve kind of neglected everywhere else. Also, food.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: Meeting EGJ from LA towards the end of 2015 really put the idea of visiting America to the forefront of my mind but when things fizzled out a bit I jumped the gun and went to Vegas. Tell ye what but, I’ve got stories…

22. Read the novels of Ernest Hemingway.

There are 10 novels, as far as I can count. I’ve read 3 of them so far and have meant to continue on since then.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: None.

23. Reunite with the Tokyo CSC. 

Some of the best experiences I had during my time in Japan were with the Tokyo CSC. I’d love to meet them all again, whether it be in Tokyo or my native Scotland.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: Nobu, the head of the Tokyo CSC, was in Glasgow when I was in Tokyo last year… couldn’t make it up. I did, however, manage to meet and have a pint with the Seoul CSC, who were a great bunch. Again, I return to Tokyo on May 28th so will perhaps propose a meet up of some sort.

UPDATE 19.8.2016: I met up with the lads in the Tsurayacho hub in Yokohama on my trip over in May. We drank the beer and sang the rebs and all is right in the world again.

24. Have an article published.

I’ve had work published before, but I feel I could definitely have done more. With the possibility of the UFC coming to Scotland in the next year, I feel like I should perhaps step-up my interest and write more.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: I have done some fucking cool stuff in the past few years, but I haven’t bothered my arse to publish any of it. That being said, I did make an appearance on a Korean football podcast, and I also produced and published my own series of ‘mini-podcasts’ on the J-league at the request of a Japanese football website. I’m taking this one.

25. See James Taylor live. 

I’m not a big fan of live music, but I’ve listened to James Taylor since I was 11 or 12 and would love to take my Dad to see him live.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: On tour in North America currently… get a move on Jamesy boy.

26. Buy a house. 

I’ll try and push this one off for 2 or 3 years, but I’d like to own my own home before the age of 30.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: Well on course. I spent the second half of 2015 hoarding money and could pretty much get this done within the next year if I fancied. No rush, though.

UPDATE 19.8.2016: Was preparing to make an offer on a house in Germiston but it was taken clean off the market within 3 or 4 days of going up. It was a nice idea, but this one seems increasingly unlikely given the fact I’ll be moving away within 12 months.

27. Raise £1000 for charity.

Perhaps this could tie in with one of or all of points 15, 12, 10 or 4. I don’t do enough for charity, in my opinion.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: None.

28. Grow a beard

The sort of beard that kids are scared of. The sort of beard that gets you funny looks when you step in to an airport. The sort of beard that people just want to play with, but wouldn’t dare.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: DONE. After getting past 4 weeks of scratching away at my face in October, I’m now the proud owner of a shite ginger beard.

29. Travel in Ireland

I still maintain I haven’t spent enough time in Ireland, I maintain. Cycling is a nice way to travel. With cars or trains you can sometimes go a wee bit too fast, with walking it’s a bit too slow, but I’ll take what I can get.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: I went in February of 2015 for a few days, and I’m heading over to Dublin in 2 weeks for the centenary celebrations of the 1916 Easter Rising with Sean.My Irish heritage is an integral part of my identity, and I will make these trips a frequent occurrence for the remainder of my life.

30. Make it to 30. 

This one might sound a bit silly but with the amount of stuff I’ve got to get through in the next 5 years, it might be a struggle. How will I go? Maybe on a firing range in the US whilst speaking Italian and wearing my blue belt in jiu jitsu. Seems fun.

UPDATE 10.3.2016: None.

SCORE SO FAR: 6/30 

UPDATE 10.3.2016: If only I’d fired that gun in Vegas, got that promotion, played that gig or booked that flight to Cuba… Still, I guess I’m on course given that I’ll have 6 done by the end of the month.

As a side note, I’ve done some other things too.. Last year I spent a month in South Korea, where I followed a second division football team named Seoul E-Land FC around the country. They play in leopard print, were founded after this blog was first started, are deeply religious and are managed by a guy from Falkirk. Their fans, as new to the team as I was, were a deeply passionate bunch and their enthusiasm was infectious to the point where I’ve come home and followed the fortunes of the team quite closely.

Since returning from Seoul, I’ve been taking an intensive Korean language class and will look to take my TOPIK level one test in Paris in October, which will indicate an ability to communicate in basic written and spoken Korean with a knowledge of at least 800 words. I’m not quite sure why I’m learning Korean yet, as I had no plans to travel there this summer, but it’s a challenge and it offers me an insight to a society and culture that I knew next to nothing about a year ago but am quickly learning.

I’ve mucked around a lot when it came to my education over the years. I returned to full-time education in 2013 after taking a 4 year gap, and then proceeded to take another year to travel to Japan… I seem to have cracked it this time though, and have passed the first half of my second year comfortably. If, and it’s a big if, I can pass my exams in May then I’m guaranteed a place at Strathclyde University in the summer. That would be nice, but it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen.

 

UPDATE 19.8.2016: I passed my exams, I’m heading to university next month. I was in Noge, Yokohama when I got the news. I sprinted up and down the street like I’d potted the winner in the World Cup final. What a relief. Strathclyde University are going to let me study Japanese history, can you believe that? It’s cheating. I’ll also be studying War, Terrorism and Conflict, Chinese politics and Genocide in the 20th century.

I spent another few weeks in Seoul this summer and seem to have landed myself a nice wee job with friends, if all goes to plan. I’m still studying Korean everyday, but I took a short break after coming back in the summer after I realised that once I began really studying again, that would pretty much be me for the next 6-7-8 years or however long I stay there. Going back to Korea with a good command of the language made my experience quite different, but I can’t say it let me down in any way. I’m excited for the year ahead, and the opportunities that lie at the end of it in Seoul