davidsmeaton.com

wow … 2008 was a hell of a year. for me, it was probably the busiest and craziest year of my life.

the year started with a bang. first came the big d, followed by quitting my university job and starting work at an adult education school. i really missed my university position. it was such a fun, cruisy job. moving to the adult school was hell on earth. i spent the entire year waking up at 5.40 am, having to be at school by 6.20 am. i began classes every day at 6.30 am.  the school had its ups and downs. the schedule was terrible, but my students were always fantastic. the management was moronic, but the actual classes were fairly easy … overall, however, i’ll be very glad to leave that school … worst. job. ever.

i’ve saved a lot of money this year … a bi-products of working like a dog. that’s definitely been the biggest highlight of the year, since it has opened up a lot of doors in terms of future options. it’s hard to believe that i worked four jobs this year. i had money coming in from everywhere. just when i thought i couldn’t get busier, i’d pick up a job editing a thousand page textbook, or some other assignment which would keep me up late at night, make me tired and grumpy, but keep the bank account ticking along nicely. i have to be honest and i can definitely say that i know now how it feels to be korean - working long hours, getting very little sleep, having no social life, and focusing on the money … it’s a terrible way to live, and i definitely couldn’t do it forever.

this has also been a good year for photography. i picked up a few odd jobs, made a little bit of money, bought some lenses and gear, started a photography club, published columns in korea’s english newspaper, made a bunch of friends and taken heaps of photos. i’ve learned a lot and had a lot of fun with photography this year. i think i’ve improved and i can take away a lot more skills. but i’ve still got a lot to learn, especially with editing, but there’s plenty of time to work on that.

i bought my first leica this year. my film camera was so much fun … and just what i needed to mix things up a bit. i got to play with film, as well as do some printing and developing. the leica is going with craig back to australia. hopefully he’ll get some use out of it for the next few years.

my website has done well. i’ve started getting traffic and making a few friends. the site has been through a few redesigns as i try and find my style. the design that i’ve got now is hopefully the design that i will keep for a while. it’s fantastically minimal. i bought a few domains and played around with internet stuff.

i don’t usually talk about my relationships on my blog, but i did have a good relationship this year. i know i have not always been a perfect guy, but i’ve learned a lot from my mistakes.

i started reading books again, which was nice. i tried to learn the ukulele, but gave up. i tried to learn korean and spanish, but gave up. i tried to spend more time learning php and css, but gave up too. i attribute my failures to a lack of sleep and lack of time, rather than a lack of willpower!

liverpool had a good year. despite the lack of trophies, they fought hard and played well. the signings of torres and keane have been huge for the club. liverpool finish the year on top of the table, for the first time in 12 years. here’s hoping that they can hold on until may and take home the league title.

rubberchicken winging his way to korea in december was the cherry on the cake. i hadn’t seen my little buddy in three years, so it was good to hang out with him. happy new years mate!

the year will finish tonight and now i have to look forward to 2009.

my resolutions are to travel, take more photos, learn spanish, work as little as possible. i’m not a big ‘resolutions’ person, and 2009 is a difficult year to make promises, but i’m hoping that it’ll be a good year with much more fun and much more freedom.

to all my friends and family, happy new year. i wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009.

today seoul got its first snow of the year. there was a flutter of snow this morning, but in the afternoon the snow came down steadily for about an hour. i got a few text messages from friends who were excited about the snow … i took a few photos from my office window, but i don’t expect anything decent from the shots.

last year i saw the first decent snow at the end of october … however this year has been unusually warm right up until last weekend. on monday the weather dropped through the floor and it’s been freezing cold. followed quickly by the first snow of the season.

… it’s gonna be a chilly winter. rubber chicken better be prepared or he’s gonna freeze his arse off!

it’s been a busy week … and a little stressful at the same time.

i’ve been trying to organise my last few months in korea. my contract for my school finishes at the end of december. i wanted to stay on for two more months so that i can leave korea in march, when the weather’s a little warmer.

however it seemed like i wasn’t going to be able to stay. that put me in a bit of a panic. it means i’d lose my apartment in 8 weeks and i’d need to start acting fast to make all the necessary arrangements. so last weekend i started selling off the stuff i can’t keep. i sold my umpc, cd player, guitar, webcam, blender, tripods, electronic junk, as well as a few other bits and pieces. i’m selling a bit more today and tomorrow as well. i also started packing and throwing out unwanted clothes.

but last night i got a reprieve. my boss said that i can stay for two extra months. it was quite a relief. i’m going to continue selling off my unwanted household goods, but i’m secure in the fact that i don’t have to move and find other work for two months in january and february. it also means the rubberchicken will have somewhere to stay when he arrives.

this morning i have been lazing about the house waiting for people to pick up items they’re buying. i’ve used the time to re-design my website’s colour scheme. while i like my site’s design, i think the colours were a bit hodge podge. so i’ve narrowed the entire site down to 3 basic colours (blue, gray, black), as well as white for the background. i also changed the default fonts and the link mouseovers … the site looks heaps better!

while i’m still busy, i have a bit of breathing space. i think i’ll go out this afternoon and get my film developed. i can enjoy the rest of my weekend, watch the liverpool game tonight, and sleep in tomorrow.