Before we get to the good stuff (a Patriots Super Bowl win), let's get caught up on everything that's been happening in January. It turned out to be quite a busy month!

As expected, my classes were all really huge. I think I had a total of about 155 students. That's actually not the most I've ever had, but that sure is a lot. To make matters worse, we expanded the class from one month to two, so I had to come up with an entire month's worth of new material. Not only was I planning out the syllabus and such, but I was also writing essays for the class and trying to find useful information on the Internet. Needless to say, I was quite busy all month long. Some of it worked out well and some things flopped, but I guess the only way to improve the class is to keep modifying it and making it better.

Outside of teaching, I've been working on making new friends. I learned that my friend Mike is leaving in March, and Rob is leaving after his wedding (March 13), which means I'm losing two of my best friends here. And since I'll be here for at least six more months, I need to meet new people. To some extent, I've had some success. I met a few new teachers at work, and one night went out with my friend Caroline and her friends from work. They were mostly "foreigners" (American, Canadian, English, Kiwi) and we had a really great time. I will hopefully meet up with them again sometime.

I also met some of Vivi's friends from her English conversation club. I was a but nervous about this. On a number of occassions, Vivi suggested that I meet them, but I thought it would be really awkward. Then she wanted me to go to their Christmas party. Originally I agreed, but then reconsidered and backed out. I just thought it would be awkward being the only foreigner and the only person who didn't speak Korean.

Anyway, last Saturday, I finally gave in and went to meet them. When Vivi met me at the subway station, she said "everyone is really excited about meeting you" and I thought "oh God, what is this going to be like?" But I actually had a really great time. Everyone spoke English, of course, and most of them spoke it just about perfectly. Vivi's best friend was there, along with her best friend's cousin, who is Korean but grew up in Germany. He prefers speaking English, so we talked a lot that night. I was actually a little sad when the night was over because I was having a lot of fun. I guess sometimes I like to be the center of attention...

I went to see "Return of the King" again. I made sure that I didn't drink anything all day before going to the theater. Even still, it was hard not to squirm towards the end. I guess I can't sit still for very long. I don't understand why they had to make the ending so freakin' long. We also saw "The Last Samurai". I almost started laughing at the part where Tom Cruise was screaming "Sake! SAKE!" I mean, how could you not find that funny? But I guess it was supposed to be sad.

During the middle of the month, we had a five-day break for Lunar New Year. The night before the holiday started, it snowed and I went out with some folks from work (two Korean-Canadian, two plain old Korean). We went to a typical Korean "hof", and we ordered soju. This is some pretty evil Korean alcohol (I bought Andy some for Christmas and I suspect it will still be there NEXT Christmas) and I don't like it at all. But, to be honest, I only hate it when I drink it straight; it's pretty bearable if you mix it with Sprite, for instance. Anyway, we decided to get "apple soju", which decidedly tasted (and looked) like medicine. But you couldn't taste the horrible liquor, at least. Then we got "yogurt soju". It's just like it sounds: that watery "drinking yogurt" stuff with alcohol in it. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that bad. I'm not sure I've converted or anything like that, but I guess it was okay.

Two days later was Lunar New Year's Day. The city was SO quiet. It was so strange. Traditionally, people spend the day with their family, so there was hardly anyone around that day. Rob and I went to the "foreigner neighborhood", Itaewon, for lunch. I had a few Sam Adams and then we hit a few other bars. We drank a ridiculous amount of Hoegaarden and I do recall that I had a burrito for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. So it was definitely a multi-cultural day.

And now... the SUPER BOWL!

Well, the Patriots are my favorite football team, but I am never really sure where they rank on my list of favorite teams overall. Behind the Red Sox? I'm not really sure. I think so. So I was pretty excited about the Super Bowl, but not losing sleep over it. I guess the victory two years ago has held me over and so there's no novelty to the Patriots being in the Super Bowl (especially since they were expected to win). In fact, I didn't even set my alarm (the game started at 8:30am here, which is an hour before my usual wake-up time).

As expected, it was pretty dull at first, and I was surprised that the Pats missed two field goals. But it certainly picked up in the last few minutes of the first half. I felt pretty confident in the 14-10 lead at halftime.

I missed the Janet Jackson thing entirely. I usually don't watch Super Bowl halftime shows, so I turned off the TV. I had some work to do, too. Next time I'll just put it on "mute" instead. Of course, they didn't mention it during the second half, so I didn't find out about it until much later. But isn't it so obvious that everything was planned? Sheesh, what a world.

I admit I wasn't paying much attention during the third quarter. I had stuff to prepare for my class and I was afraid that there wouldn't be much time in between the end of the game and the start of my class. I guess I didn't miss much anyway.

But the fourth quarter was crazy. I told Rob I would call him at the end of the 3rd (he was watching the game at his apartment) but I waited until the Patriots scored on the second play of the 4th quarter to call him. It was 21-10 at that point and I didn't even say "hello" to Rob when I called; I just said "awwww yeah".

When the Panthers made it 21-16, I was getting nervous, but didn't have that "yet another New England sports team blows big game" feeling. I have to admit, I would have gone for two points in that situation, too. Yes, it came back to haunt Carolina, but at that time, I don't see the point of being down four points; you still need a touchdown to take the lead.

I was actually taking a shower when the Pats drove downfield for what looked like the last crushing blow. I was in the middle of shaving when I poked my head out of the bathroom.... just in time to see Brady throw an interception in the end zone. D'oh!! Did I jinx them? I hope not.

Then Carolina made it 22-21 on a long pass play, and I think I swore so loud, I'm sure my neighbors must have heard it. I remember hearing during the week that the Patriots hadn't trailed in a game since BEFORE the baseball playoffs had started! Is that right? I think so. That's a long freakin time. Again, I agree with going for two in that situation, even though in hindsight it didn't work out.

Somehow I had a feeling that the Pats would pull it out. But I definitely didn't foresee how things would end. The Pats drove and scored a TD on a pass play to a LINEBACKER. Then they went for two (I think it was the first time all year) and at 29-22, I thought "wow, they actually did it". I actually allowed myself to feel that the lead was big enough and the Patriots would win. What's wrong with me?? Have I been outside of New England for so long that I forgot about blown leads???

Of course, the Panthers struck back immediately, kicked the point after, and it was tied at 29. And there was Greg Gumbel rambling on about how, two years earlier, Ricky Proehl (the guy who caught the tying TD pass) had similarly caught a last-minute Super Bowl-tying TD pass when he was on the Rams. Gumbel failed to mention that the Patriots came back and WON that game.

Like I said, I think I just knew the Patriots were going to win. Just in the same way that I knew the Sox would lose Game 7, I knew that Brady would pull this one off. Can we compare him to Joe Montana? Maybe not yet, but he's getting there. I never understood the rule about kickoffs that go out of bounds; I think it's a pretty cruel punishment for the kicking team. But with the ball at the 40, needing just 30 yards to get into FG distance, and 68 seconds on the clock, I was shaking so much that I couldn't even sit down.

All week I've been reading The Sports Guy (an espn.com columnist), who is a HUGE Boston sports fan, talk about the game. And he discussed whether Adam Vinatieri had achieved sports immortality by kicking the game-winner against the Rams two years ago. He concluded that, even if Vinatieri missed a big kick this time around, we couldn't crucify him because he had won it for us in the past. As much as that made sense at the time, while I was standing there watching the game, I thought "if he misses this kick... if he misses THREE attempts in this game.... the Boston media will definitely be calling for his head." I honestly believe that.

But it didn't matter, did it?

Two Super Bowls in three years. I guess this means I have to stop referring to him as "Marcia Brady" now. As my good friend Eric (who recently became a father... yay!) pointed out, I was in New England for their two Super Bowl losses, and on the other side of the world for their two wins. So I guess I'll have to stay away for a while longer.

The nice thing is that the Super Bowl was the *beginning* of my day here, so it put me in a good mood all day.