First blog!

Well hi,

I've seen a few of these over the years and kept up with my friend Sam in Korea and also my good friend Bill who regularly blogs away from Gwangju South Korea so i thought i'd give it a go. Sure, it can't be that hard to keep an update of what's going on in Freerville... The only hard part will be the getting to how i am and where i am, in story terms that's an epic!!

Who am I? well i'd have to take a long hard look in the mirror to answer that... I'm 36, I've got 5 wonderful kids, a beautiful wife and many would say that makes me a lucky man! Luck, lucky, unlucky... the old fates of luck have certainly paid a huge part in shaping my life so far and since being born dead in Rugby England 1973 (my dad had left the hospital ward thinking i was a gonner before i choked into life!) it's been a roller coaster ride. I had a restaurant of my own with a 3 bedroom flat, wife and 3 kids at the age of 24... i had nothing at the age of 28 and was lying comatose with a broken back and ruptured internal organs, dead again! The story in between and since will take a few of these old blogs to cover but i'll give it a go if you'll bear with me.

I'll start off gently though and introduce you to life in Korea, we've just had a bank holiday and went down to Gwangju to visit Bill and Crystal. They're long time friends now, we've known each other since my first time in Korea back starting in 2002. Bill's a yank, but a nice one! The first nice American i can remember meeting as it happens, of which i regularly remind him! We both have Korean wives and they love to get together to slag us off in tandem... i swear they can chat non-stop for 3-4 hours without taking a breath!! I'm sure it's not all about being married to us 'foreigners' but some of it must be!!

So that was the story this weekend just gone, we headed down in pretty good time and only got lost after arriving in Gwangju (this is better than getting lost before we get there!). Bill had to come out and rescue is and we ended up in a restaurant that was owned by a relative of Crystal. The whole point of the weekend was to catch the Carling cup final and enjoy it in good company in a bar with a big screen and english commentary (a neccessity for premier league games as i'm sure i will explain at some stage). The weekend progressed nicely, me and Bill even managing to get out for a few jars on Saturday and take in a Korean rockabilly band! Yep, there is such a thing and they were actually pretty good. I mean i'd had a lot of beer by the time they started but i think i remeber them being loud and raucus with real toe tapping tunes.

Sunday arrived and the nerves set in for me, i knew this game was probably too important for us (Aston Villa) and didn't matter enough to Manchester United for them to be under any pressure. The babysitter arrived (thanks Hillary) and we headed to a bar named Speakeasy in Gwangju (Half irish owned and half huge American bloke who could probably look down on Peter Crouch!). A crowd of friends and aquaintences arrived, the game kicked off and the mighty Villa went and scored, the adrenaline pumped, the belief surged and then Manchester United did what they invariably do and kicked or asses! Matt, another 2002-2004 Korea vet and genuine good guy made the trip to visit and gloat!! He's a Man utd fan unfortunately and with half of South Korea also supporting them (the Korean national captain plays for Man Utd) the little band of me and Bill and (half heartedly as Park was playing) my wife were in the minority from the kick off! Wembley 2010 was not to be happy day after all... did i really expect it to, well in a word yes, i thought that we would win this cup and my analytical expertise was again found wanting! Anyway... it wasn't to be and as someone somewhere once said (i don't believe a word of it but) "It's only a game". And so a hangover later and a goodbye to our gracious hosts and we head home to Cheonan. The we is me my wife Jeongju, son Cade and baby (2 and a half now, still calling her baby!) Lillianna.

I'll be back with some fresh updates and some more in depth historical Royness any day now!