School Festival Highlights and Singing in Korean

On Wednesday, there was no school, as the students and faculty were putting on a festival of sorts. In America, this would most likely be called an Assembly, or maybe in H.S. it would be called a Variety Show. Parents were invited to attend and so many students participated that it was actually held over two separate two-hour blocks of time so that people could go home and eat. (During the actual school day, community members were invited to come to the school to see student made displays set up in the hallways, like the open houses I remember having in elementary school.)

The festival itself was quite entertaining. One notable act was a beat-boxer who, if he were to post on YouTube.com, would probably become one of the top 10 videos within a week. Another was a dynamic duo who performed a Korean dance-style called “Popping,” which seemed like a combination of the smoother elements of American hip-hop dance and the Robot. There was also a rock session performed by many students dressed in various styles of rock fashion. They would switch off depending on what song they were doing, so it was usually a five-man/woman band. The only song I understood was Avril Lavigne’s (which, I have discovered, no Korean can pronounce) “Sk8er Boi”, but generally the songs were well performed.

Finally, the broadcasting club performed a radio drama, something which I wish would come back in the United States. (I used to listen to old radio shows with my dad on Wednesday nights. KNEX 1070 would broadcast them, and I always like them, especially The Adventures of Pancho and Cisco.) The direction was probably the most interesting part. One person actually conducted all the sound cues and dialogue, including dynamics changes and fade-outs. I could not understand anything that was going on in the actual dialogue, of course, except for at the very end. At that point, I heard a car crash, the words omeo, omeo, omeo (Mother) about a gogooglezillion of times, an ambulance, more omeo’s, a steady beep-beep-beep, one long final beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee… and at last a few more omeo’s. Ah, I thought. Omeo has died. My co-teachers cried. I didn’t have sufficient build-up in the plot to accomplish the same depth of emotion, unfortunately. At least that gave me an opportunity to practice traditional Korean male stoicism.

The teachers and myself also performed. We sang two songs. Actually they sang, and I mumbled loudly and on pitch as both songs were in Korean minus the last line of the second song, which read “Hap-py Bir-th Day to you.” (That’s right, folks. You can apparently sing a “th” according to Korean phonology. I’m learning something new everyday!) We all wore black pants, white button-down shirts, and red bowties. A few high school girls screamed my name. It was a good time.

As I said, there were two sets to the festival, and in between people went home for dinner. The teachers, however, all decided to eat together at a local restaurant, where the teachers I had not eaten with yet asked the ubiquitous questions, “Can you eat hot food?” Spicy food, you mean? “Yes, spicy food.” And also, “You have a girlfriend?” No. (The next part I was not prepared for.) “Can we make a blind date for you?”

A la Moe from The Simpsons: “WHA?!?!”

I said, “Maybe.” Problem is, I’m pretty sure they want to set me up with one of the other English teachers. Despite the fact that she’s very pretty and I get along fairly well with her, I’m not too keen on dating her for a couple of reasons. One, we work together. If things go sour, they could go really sour. Two, she lives in a little separate apartment literally attached to the house I live in, and while that could be fantastic while dating, if things go sour, they could go really sour as in the previous scenario. In truth though, I’m just not too keen on getting attached to anyone this year. Everything about my situation is so temporary that I want to be able to pull up roots if I need to without regrets. (I had to learn that the hard way…)