Droppin' the Bomb

Well, my work week ended up with me dropping the Atomic Bomb at work. In a good way. We have the Annual Winter Gala coming up next month and the Korean teachers are freaking out. The "Gala" is where the students perform at the Daechi Cultural Arts Center here in Gangnam for their parents. Now, this is a big deal because the Academy I work for is pretty much a business more than it is a school. The parents pay some serious money for their sons and daughters to go to this school. After all, my school is the premium and largest (and therefor the best) English teaching school in all of Korea. Yeah, I'm pretty proud of it as well. They hire only Americans to teach the students. My theory can be summed up in my assumption that Canadian and/or Europeans have an undesirable accent that the kids pick up on and it makes for an undesirable English speaking Korean. It's just a theory. I also believe that Alien technology has produced Kevlar, Fiber Optics, and Spam, so whatever.

So as the Korean teachers are freaking out and trying to plan some sort of intricate sketch or play for their students, I have been quietly sitting on the sidelines and waiting to drop my Hiroshima on the administration. Everyone has been asking me what I plan on doing with my students and why I have been so laxadaisical (spelling??). So today, on my two hour lunch break I went back to my apartment and learned this song that my students always like singing while they work (which is f-ing so amusing and genuine). I came back to work with my guitar, asked my administrator and director if it would be alright to have the students sing a few songs while I played guitar for the Winter Gala. Their faces lit up like I've never seen. They thought it was the best idea.

My students acted like they have never seen a musical instrument before. They each had to grab my pick and strum my guitar. They each reacted like it was the best damn thing they've ever done. It was hilarious and so awesome, except for the 5,000 little Korean fingerprints all over my guitar..lol. The kids were so into it. So we practiced a few times and I wondered what they would be like in front of an actual audience. I understood that they infact are going to have to perform in front of about 300 people, so I knew I had to get them out of their "stagefright" and soon. Enter the auditorium and the "help". I dragged the kids down to the auditorium and brought my guitar. While I was going downstairs, the cleaning laidies and kitchen ladies saw me (they love me because I speak Korean to them and I'm very nice to them) and they smiled and said "Hey there, Mr. Guitar Man." So I told them to follow me for a concert. And they did. I'm like the American Pied Piper in Korea.

So the auditorium has 20 cleaning and kitchen ladies, and me and my class. I start to play and the kids start singing like little Korean angels. This one girl Alice (I can't play favorites as a teacher, but she's my favorite) was so freekin' adorable. She has the highest pitched voice but remembered every single word of the song perfectly. As we did the song, all the Korean kitchen ladies and cleaning ladies took out their cell phones and took pictures of me and my students. It was one of those unforgetable moments in my life that I don't think I infact could forget. It was great. Once again, when I picked up my guitar I turned into my alter-ego and just went with it. Everyone loved it and my Korean coworkers (girls of course..lol) want me to serenade them. No problem. All in good time. All in good time.

Hence, the Administration loves me, as I will definitely make the parents happy with this one. Just doin' my job.

PS-By the way, can you even tell me that that Arnold picture up top is not f-ing the most funniest picture you have ever seen.......................I thought not. That's the face I have when my Korean students blow my mind.............They're such smart little bastards.............I love them all so much.