We finished up the dart season last night against our neighbor bar, the Bless U Blessed Bulls. First place for us was not mathematically impossible, but we had to win three more legs than the Alley Ratz in the final game and we had the stronger opponent. So, we went in knowing every leg was important. Blessed Bulls had clinched the wild card slot so they were just playing for pride. And they are one proud bunch.

Cuatro got us started out right by taking his match 3-0. Mario was next and he has been struggling a little the past few weeks. He dropped the cricket leg, but came from behind in the next two ’01 games to secure a 2-1 win. Lonnie followed and had the misfortune of drawing Scott as his opponent. Lonnie threw some good darts, but lost two close legs, resulting in an 0-3.

I was matched up with Craig. We had also played when our teams met earlier in the season, and I had pulled out a 2-1 victory. He was looking for a little revenge last night I expect. Anyway, I managed to take the first cricket leg and was feeling confident going into the ’01 game. Confidence doesn’t take the place of throwing good darts however, and Craig punished me by outing while I still in the high hundreds. But that was nothing compared to the ass kicking I took in the third leg. Craig took the diddle and called cricket. He closed 20’s to start and I hit one. He threw a 19 and a 20 for points. I missed 3 at the 19. He hit 4 19s, I answered with 2 18s. Not looking good, but I’ve come back from bigger deficits. Craig then hit the triple 18, triple 17, and triple 16 for the rare and coveted 9 mark. And that was that. I did manage to throw three single bulls in a meaningless gesture prior to be dispatched by Craig.

Koichi and Craig then took Jim and Mario 3-0 in ’01 doubles, while Cuatro and I followed up with 3-0 win in cricket doubles. Which put us at 9-9 going into the team game. That game came down to the wire as well, but Lonnie managed a double 3 out which gave Take it Easy a 10-9 victory for the night. It doesn’t get any closer than we played it last night and we really appreciated the competition and sportsmanship of the Blessed Bulls.

Playoffs start next week….

One thing about the expat lifestyle is you get to meet and interact with lots of folks from other lands who are also on a quest of discovery. I have certainly encountered more Canadians here in Korea than I did in all my years of living in relatively close proximity to the Great White North. And having made some friends amongst these strange and mysterious people I have learned that the stereotypical view many Americans hold of our northern cousins just doesn’t hold up on close examination. In fact, I have found that Canadians are in many ways people in their own right. Go figure. (that was intended as satirical humor, just in case you missed it. Don’t want this post to be used as motivation to fire up the Blessed Bulls prior to our Monday matchup).

What prompted this post was a couple of things. First, I find this link to a story about a survey being conducted to determine “the worst Canadian of all time”. Seems that some folks want to establish that not all Canucks are polite, kind, and generous. The article says that Celine Dion and Shania Twain are in the running, but of course the leader is some hockey guy named Harold Ballard. And if you have heard of him, I expect you are Canadian (or at least related to one).

My vote, if I had one, which I don’t, being as how like most Americans I know little of that mysterious land (although I expect I could name at least five provinces if someone held a gun to my head), would be for the Canadian English teacher I encountered on last week’s river cruise. Now, this wasn’t really a hoity-toity affair, but most people dressed appropriately for the occassion. And the young cadre of ill-groomed, blue jeaned and t-shirted young people hanging out at the stern just screamed English teachers. Hey, live and let live and all that. I even borrowed a cigarette lighter from one of them. Now, they weren’t being particularly rude or loud or anything. But their wimpy facial hair and goatees just screamed liberal and their superior attitude reaked of disdain for anything as uncouth as an ignorant American. I knew they weren’t french (lack of capitalization intentional) as there were no berets and the women had shaved their legs and armpits. So, they had to be Canadian, right? Or maybe I just read too much into it. Whatever. (and yeah, I am still being satrical. Although, I guess if you have to continuously point that out, it nullifies the satire, doesn’t it?)

At the end of the cruise we had docked but folks were still milling about drinking wine, chatting and enjoying the fine April evening. Then one of the aforementioned individuals, a male in his early 20s, began removing his clothing. There were at least 50 people on the fantail plus another hundred or so walking along the Han riverside. He got down to his boxers, climbed up on the railing, and announced he was going to do a backflip into the river. And to the shock of the more reserved patrons and the amusement of his friends, he proceeded to do so. It was pretty insane. He swam around a little and I walked over to the rail and noted there was no way he could climb back on board and given the height of the dock (and lack of ladders) and the flood levee that constitutes the banks of the Han, he was going to have to be swimming for quite some time. Given his apparent state of inebriation I had visions of a tragic end to an otherwise pleasant day.

After 10 minutes or so, one of his friends climbed over the railing and perched precariously on the small outcrop at the stern and offered his arm, which was taken, and then another gent helped hoist him out of the water and back on board. The swimmer stood there grinning and dripping on the deck and must have enjoyed the attention, because he then jumped back into the river. You know, I’m sure he imagined himself the cool daredevil, but if he had heard the comments being muttered by the passengers standing near me, he might have been ashamed even in his drunken state of mind. Meanwhile, all these Koreans are lining the riverside snapping photos. God only knows what they were saying, but I don’t expect they were impressed. Eventually he was again pulled from the river and someone asked his friends where the swimmer was from. One of the gals loudly proclaimed “today he is an American!” Which kind of pissed me off and confirmed my earlier suspicions regarding his country of origin. I’ll bet he also has a maple leaf on his backpack.

But in all honesty I will say he is the exception to the otherwise fine cadre of Canadians I have had the pleasure of interacting with here in the land of the morning calm. So, here’s a shout out to Jenn of I’ve Got Two Shoes fame. My first Canadian buddy who I hope decides to stay in Korea, takes a job in Seoul, and joins the dart league. And Von Jackass, a smart and witty guy. Then there is Keel, the online novelist. Here’s a taste from Chapter 4 (which I hadn’t read before writing this post, but makes me feel less bad for good naturedly ragging on those who remained loyal to the Crown):

Although terrorism had not yet made a mark on Canada, it had sickened him to see what had befallen his historical brothers to the south – the brothers that had rebelled against the King – the black sheep of the family. They were still family though, even if they didn’t know it and acted like a spoiled kid sometimes. Keel had worked with American Special Forces in his past and had made lifelong friends with some of them. They were his brothers in arms and he felt the two countries were brothers as well. Brothers that had a common historical background, even if one had broken away from the empire at an early age while the other hadn’t.

And finally a guy I actually admire, The Goat. Of course, he is from Alberta which from what I’ve heard is not much like the rest of Canada, at least in attitude. You need to check out this video on his blog which is funny as hell and is exactly how I intended to introduce myself to Jenn should we ever meet in the 3D world.

The Goat is also a real creative guy and a fierce dart competitor. Leave a number open with him in cricket at your peril. His update of a Johnny Cash song (left in my comments to the previous post) is classic. In fact, it deserves posting in its own right:

(sung to the tune of “Don’t take your guns to town”)

A young shooter named The Goat grew restless on the farm
A bovidae filled with wonderlust who really meant no harm
He changed his clothes and shined his shoes
And combed his light hair down
And his wife cried as he walked out

Don’t take your darts to the ‘Twan babe
Leave your darts at home Goat
Don’t take your darts to the ‘Twan

So, who says Canadians don’t have a sense of humor?

UPDATE: Jenn contributes this interesting link of popular Canadian misconceptions…

Yes, I am alive and relatively well. Wanted to clear that up.

Saturday I took a wine cruise on the Han river. It was supposed to be a group outing with a bunch of people from work, but in the end there were just 3 of us. A good time was had and much wine was consumed. Which I guess was the point.

Sunday I took the cable car to Seoul Tower. First time I had been up there. A tad hazy, but still a spectacular view.

Last night we managed to take the Alley Ratz 12-7. That may have been enough to put us in first place by percentage points, but the Ratz still have a makeup game to play this week with the Blessed Bulls so that could change. We finish the year with the Bless U guys on Monday so they will be deciding one way or the other who wins the division.

Sorry I’ve been away this long. More sorry I still don’t have anything to say.

Last Saturday I lost my glasses. I looked all over the house for the damn things to no avail. I figured if they were at the house the cleaning ajumma would find them. Alas, it was not to be. I even went back to the last bar I had visited that night but no luck (they didn’t speak English there so I had to do that whole hilarious pantomime routine). Anyway, this morning they appeared out of the blue in the gap between my nightstand and the bed. A place I know I had looked for them at least twice. That’s the thing about losing your glasses, you need them to find them.

Yeah, I know this is without a doubt the most lame post I have ever written. Don’t hate me because my life is full of such wonder and excitement.

Actually, I have been wearing my three year old glasses all week. Other than having no depth perception and barely being able to read typeface on the computer monitor they still work fine.

Funny thing is I went 11-1 in dart legs this week and threw enough marks to move back into the top spot in my division. Hopefully I am out of my slump as we have the stretch run coming up and our team is 8 legs out of first. Now I just have to decide which glasses to wear Monday night.

On a topic that is more interesting than my eyewear (to me at least) I am hosting a small dinner party tonight. I am having the Korean friends who took me to the soju hut a couple of weeks ago over. Menu includes tossed salad with all the fixin’s, sweet taters, and grilled rib eye steak. Appetizers will be polish sausage (also cooked on the grill) and boiled shrimp. For dessert I am baking a carrot cake which I will serve with vanilla ice cream. My plan is that they will leave knowing why Americans are so fat.

Well, today it is raining some but it has been pretty damn pleasant these days. Springtime in the land of the morning calm is definitely the prettiest time of the year. Jendalay and gaenalee are in bloom and the cherry blossoms are at their peak. Here’s a picture taken near my office on the Yongsan military base:

Ok, so I actually took this photo last spring, but they look the same this year, trust me. Now, with the yellow dust blowing in from Mongolia the sky is not usually that blue, but we do have our days.

There really is a lot to love about this country.

Sunday we played our makeup match with Jeckles from Gecko’s. Everyone played well and that resulted in us giving them a 15-4 spanking.

Last night we hooked up with the team from Hollywood Grill, FFOD. These guys have gotten to be our nemesis–not in a bad way–they are good sports and all, just they always seem to find what it takes to beat us. We came out of singles down 9-3 and wound up losing 11-8. I was proud of the guys for not going down without a fight, but we just couldn’t get the winning darts going last night.

On a personal note, I am starting to work out of my slump. I know I’m throwing better when the 5-marks and tons start coming, and I had a couple of each last night and several more on Sunday. I’m still way to inconsistent though and can’t quite figure out why that is. Nothing to do but keep on keeping on.

We probably had the most fun when the Bless U Blessed Bulls guys showed up after their match and we just threw some games for the hell of it. League games are very intense for me. I love the competition but I do tend to get wound up a little bit. Just relaxing and throwing for sport (and rounds of beer) is a nice way to relax and remember why we love the game. Now, I will admit that in my games with the Goat I am playing for pride as well, but still. The Goat and I teamed up in doubles later and we were unstoppable (ok, I only played the one game in doubles, but we done good).

So, it is coming down to crunch time. Take it Easy is clinging to second place and after next week we have three tough match-ups to finish the season: Alley Rats, Eberhardt, and Blessed Bulls. Then a single elimination tournament where the pressure is really on.

Yeah, its all good.

Today was my first day back in the office after a four day weekend. No, it was not a mini-vacation, it was sick leave to deal with a minor medical issue. No worries, all is well.

So I had the normal chore of catching up with email and the like, but thankfully nothing real stressful to deal with. I knew going in that I had to be at work for a teleconference with the Office of Personnel Management in DC at 2100. What I didn’t expect was a Video Teleconference from 2200-0100 with the Pentagon. Around midnight I figured out that what they were talking about didn’t affect our function, so I skated on out of there. Now I am home trying to unwind. The good thing is my boss said I could stay home till noon tomorrow. Woo Hoo!

In between I had my first level two Korean lesson. I am going to like this a lot more because I am getting one-on-one tutoring, which is what I need. Tonight we worked on double vowels and double consonants. There is apparently a distinction between many of these sounds, but damn, I am struggling to hear it. I don’t have Hangul software (yet) so I can’t show you the symbols, but let’s just say that we and wei sound the same coming out of my mouth at this point. Anyway, my tutor (a nice high school lad) thought my pronunciation was generally good and he didn’t seem as frustrated as I was at my inability to replicate the nuances in articulating those combinations.

Kevin from Hairy Chasms left a helpful comment on things I can do to work on my reading. Things like reading maps and menus Korean. A useful tip that I will incorporate into my learning activities. I have also started reading random signs and the Hangul versions of the subway stops. It does help with the pronunciation and builds confidence. I’m probably too hard on myself, but language acquisition doesn’t come easy for me. At least Spanish was familiar, but Korean is totally outside my realm of experience (yeah, yeah, I have been here two years, but mostly in Itaewon which is of course nothing like Korea).

I have been resisting writing in Hangul, prefering to Romanize my translations. I know, I know. But honestly, I can’t read my own writing and I think it helps me pronounce when I can visually see what I am trying to say. We’ll see.

Sliders took us down tonight 15-4. We played better than the score, one dart here or there would have made a big difference in the outcome. But we didn’t throw them and I am more than a little disgusted.

Ah well.

Maybe. Finished up this months Challenge League last night with Grant and I taking 4 of 6 legs, good enough to clinch the championship. Still not where I want to be, but I did have a 7-mark, several 5-marks, and two ton-40s. Don’t know where those darts were Monday (or last Sunday when Grant and I went 0-6). Its a funny game.

This Sunday we will have the ending tournament and we will probably start the next round of Challenge League in a week. Craig, VJ, and Colin: I hope you guys can find the time to play. We have a lot of fun and it is a great way to get some really focused practice against a variety of players. Yeah, I know you are all busy and have family obligations, but even if you play all your games on Thursday we’d love to have you. That goes for any other dart players out there.

Leave a comment here if you are interested.