Conor Meagher Fan Club

The film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan opened in theaters January 25th in Korea for some odd reason. I wasn’t going to question it, because it’s a movie I’ve wanted to see ever since it was in production. Plus, everybody I know had seen it except me. So after a busy weekend of flag football and dinner dates, I tried to catch it last night with my friend Kevin. Though it was only a week since it last opened, theaters were pulling it left and right, so it was now or never. I told my co-worker at work that there was only one time left I could see it and where it was. He didn’t believe that it was the only time, so he did a quick search and checked the theater he saw it at just a couple days ago. “Borat, 9:10pm at Artreon”, he said. So I sighed in relief and told my friend to meet me there instead of the other show at 11:45pm which was 30 minutes away. That night after work I met Kevin at the theater with excitement, but he said in disbelieve that there was no showing of Borat that day and only Blood Diamond which is written similar to Borat in Korean writing. Apparently, my co-worker had read the show times in Korean incorrectly and mistaken Blood Diamond for Borat. So after the disappointing news, we had to go to plan B, which was to see the 11:45pm showing in Gangbyeon 30 minutes away by subway. Since we had a couple hours to kill, we decided to eat something and check out the local arcades. After a couple hours of Pop-A-Shot, we let time slip and it was already 11pm. We then headed for the subway, but had to wait 10+ minutes because it was the last train. So the total ride took more then the average 30 minute ride. We finally made it to Gangbyeon Station and ran to the theater next door. Since it was almost midnight all the surrounding stores were closes and locked off. It was like a maze trying to find which door would let us in. We finally got a door open and headed for the elevator even though we no idea which floor the theaters were on. 9th Floor, it was a lucky guess. Out of breath, we went to the ticket counter and asked for 2 tickets to Borat. The manager, I’m guessing since she wasn’t in high school, told us in Korean that we could not buy tickets. We demanded for an answer. Her reason was because they weren’t allowed to sell tickets after a certain period and the computers wouldn’t print the tickets either. It was like midnight which was 15 minutes after it started! After standing in shock for about a minute, I huddled with Kevin and drew up a new plan because I now knew that this would be the last showing of it in the Seoul area, so we could not give up. The new plan was to buy tickets to another movie, Blood Diamond ironically enough, and sneak into Borat. It’s the old switch-a-roo, we all did it as kids. After buying the tickets we went to the ticketman to try to work our magic. He stopped us from entering and told us we had to wait 15 minutes because the movie wasn’t cleaned yet. Denied again! After contemplating bribing him or making a break for it, we decided not to mess with the ticketman who was using his walkie talkie. We thought he might be a snitch. So we waited out the 15 minutes and I made a fool of myself trying to order a Fanta in Korean. Ordering something is nothing difficult for me, it’s just saying the Korean version (Konglish) of Fanta is hard. Quick Korean lesson: the Korean language doesn’t have a “f” sound, so when English words are spoke in Korean, the “f” sound becomes a “p” sound. For example, the English word “fan” (as in fans of a music group) is pronounced in Korean as “paen”. Pretty easy, but from some reason I have yet to find, the soft drink in Konglish is pronounced “hwan-ta”. Back to the story. After the time has passed, we got our tickets torn and preceded to the theaters. Another thing that is hard to explain in Korean is that the theaters don’t have the movie titles on top of the doors. Maybe it’s because every Korean I know likes to movie hop and I guess that’s what we were doing too. After looking back a couple times at ticketman to make sure the coast was clear, we made our move and snuck into another theater. Thankfully, it was the 11:45pm showing of Borat. We had a couple laughs and didn’t get kicked out, but we only saw the last 30 minutes of it. That was end of the adventure. Was it worth it? Probably not, because I can download it now, but it makes for a good story.

Yesterday, I got the athletic juices flowing again when I was asked to play in a flag football game by my co-worker Darren. It was basically two expat hockey teams in Seoul who wanted to compete in another sport while drinking beer. I brought my friend Elliot, from Yonsei University, because I only knew Darren and they needed a couple people. Open areas are a premium in Korea and especially when they have grass, but one of the players was an US Military lieutenant who got us into Yongsan Garrison US Army Base which is a restricted area. After getting inside the base, it was like we were in another world. Well, more like a bunch of military facilities with grass and people who look like me. We had to walk for about 10 minutes to the field. I kept my eyes open for Taco Bell which is only available on US Military bases in Korea. Oh, what I would do for just one Grilled Stuft Burrito… But Elliot and I were unsuccessful in our search, plus we had to stay with the group. The game was coined as the Seoul Bowl and it worked out really well. Good weather, enough players, fair teams, and plenty of beer. I played for the Seoul Chiefs and had quite a game. I threw and caught for 1 touchdown and was fierce on defense with 2 batted down balls. I’d be in the mix for MVP if they awarded one. Most importantly, the Chiefs won the game by getting ahead early and playing Bears-like defense in the second half. The only bad part about it was that I’m sore today.

These days I’ve became accustom to getting a 1600ml bottle of Korean Beer and some snacks on Saturday night for the weekly Premiership games. Lo and behold, it’s Saturday night and I’m enjoying a good night of footy on my computer. Liverpool is hosting Chelsea in a very important match. Even though Chelsea won the Premiership last year, they look like they need to be relegated to the Championship division. Liverpool is up 2-0… Tomorrow night though is the big game. Manchester United (My Park Ji-sung bandwagon team) v. Arsenal (Mike’s Team) will decide who gets to talk trash the most in Korea. I’m hoping The U. will not let me down.

Even though it was the most painful NFL game to watch, I wrote a running diary while watching the Chiefs 2007 AFC Wildcard game. Read it, if you want a couple laughs.

http://yes.iloveconor.com/index.php?showtopic=44

Since I listed no 2006 items in my Year in Review post, I’ll list some for the year of the pig.

My Second Korean TV Appearance (watch it)
Yes! Forums (http://yes.iloveconor.com)
Summer in KC (again)
Graduate School

Today I got a Christmas card from my 1st grade student, Joey. Notice how it says “I like phonics class best.” Guess who’s his phonics teacher? Yours truly.

Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when it’s Pete and Clare. I can’t image never meeting and working with them in Korea. We’ve had so many good times and wonderful memories in the short time I’ve known them. Korea won’t be the same without them. One the good thing is I get to go to Europe to see them.

Do you like surprises? I’m working on a couple.

This is too much. Thank god for YouTube.

Full Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0xBVFl0II

Broadcast Video: http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/nbc_off_exc_lazyscranton_20061116_0500.shtml

What I’m thankful for. I’m thankful for…

• Loved ones
• My wonderful girlfriend Jeong-in
• Friends from near and far
• A good steady job
• My new Samsung 32″ LCD TV
• A Chiefs 19-10 win over the Donkeys
• An Islanders team over .500
• Mark Teahan, Alex Gordon, and Billy Butler
• A Democratic majority in the House & Senate
• And many more things…

This a great step towards how to achieve progress in America. Too bad it took an unjust war, hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, billions of taxes dollars wasted, innocent people imprisoned, constitutional rights ignored, an amoral GOP, promises never kept, scare tactics, consistent lies to save political face, and many other damaging things. I hope the American people will take back their country and hold the so-called leaders accountable.
It’s been a long 6 years.

Democrats Win Control of Congress
WASHINGTON November 9, 2006, 6:24 a.m. ET

In a rout once considered almost inconceivable, Democrats won a 51st seat in the Senate and regained total control of Congress after 12 years of near-domination by the Republican Party.

The shift dramatically alters the government’s balance of power, leaving President Bush without GOP congressional control to drive his legislative agenda. Democrats hailed the results and issued calls for bipartisanship even as they vowed to investigate administration policies and decisions.

Democrats completed their sweep Wednesday evening by ousting Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia, the last of six GOP incumbents to lose re-election bids in a midterm election marked by deep dissatisfaction with the president and the war in Iraq.

Democrats had 229 seats in the House, 11 more than the number necessary to hold the barest of majorities in the 435-member chamber.

“In Iraq and here at home, Americans have made clear they are tired of the failures of the last six years,” said Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, in line to become Senate Majority leader when Congress reconvenes in January.

As watershed elections go, this one rivaled the GOP’s takeover in 1994, which made Newt Gingrich speaker of the House, the first Republican to run the House since the Eisenhower administration. This time the shift comes in the midst of an unpopular war, a Congress scarred by scandal and just two years from a wide-open presidential contest.

Allen lost to Democrat Jim Webb, a former Republican who served as Navy secretary in the Reagan administration. A count by The Associated Press showed Webb with 1,172,538 votes and Allen with 1,165,302, a difference of 7,236. Allen was awaiting the result statewide postelection canvass of votes and did not concede the race.

Democrats will have nine new senators on their side of the aisle as a result of Tuesday’s balloting. Six of them defeated sitting Republican senators from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Rhode Island, Montana and Virginia. The other three replaced retiring senators from Maryland, Minnesota and Vermont.

Their ideologies are as varied as their home states. Bernie Sanders, an independent who will replace Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords, is a Socialist who has served in the House and voted with Democrats since 1990. Bob Casey Jr., who defeated Republican Sen. Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, is an anti-abortion moderate. Webb once declared that the sight of President Clinton returning a Marine’s salute infuriated him.

Besides the Webb-Allen race, the Montana Senate contest also was too tight to call early Wednesday. But by midday, Democrat Jon Tester outdistanced Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, who had to fight off campaign miscues as well as his ties to Jack Abramoff, the once super-lobbyist caught in an influence-peddling scheme.

In the House, 10 races remained too tight to call, with three of them leaning to the Democrats. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who would become the first female speaker in history, called for harmony and said Democrats would not abuse their new status.

She said she would be “the speaker of the House, not the speaker of the Democrats.” She said Democrats would aggressively conduct oversight of the administration, but said any talk of impeachment of President Bush “is off the table.”

In the Senate, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, the head of the Democrats’ Senate campaign committee, said, “We had a tough and partisan election, but the American people and every Democratic senator — and I’ve spoken to just about all of them — want to work with the president in a bipartisan way.”