Hello again!
Guess what? Yep. I totally forgot to write about Halloween in my last message. I knew there was something I was forgetting … and then I forgot that I was forgetting something … and here I am now, writing about it later. Oh, memory … how I wish you were better sometimes.
So, Halloween; it was a lot of fun. From what I gather, that holiday isn't much of a big deal over here. I did dress up for the occasion because we celebrated it at school, but I think that happened primarily (if not only) because we are an English school, so we try to teach about English (American) culture as well as English language. Our schedule for the day was switched around a bit because Don and another teacher read scary Halloween stories to the kids throughout the day, so we ended up teaching for only a little while on Monday, and the rest of the day we had snacks or other things to do. Now, I know that you're probably chomping at the bit to know about my costume. Whatever could I possibly have been? A superhero? A teletubby? An angry bird? Nope. I was none other than a bad (mad?) scientist. You know, the kind whose experiment just blew up in his face. haha. (the aforementioned potentials were, by the way, costumes from some of my coworkers) The idea came to me a couple days before Halloween, so I didn't end up pulling things together until the night before, but I think it came together fairly well. I had thought this to be a funny, lighthearted costume; no big deal, right? Well, as it turned out, apparently some of the kids were actually scared of a black-faced me because I had gelled/spiked my hair and used black eye shadow to darken my whole face (minus the spot that my glasses would sit). I even had black-rimmed glasses whose lenses I had colored for the occasion as well. Now, most of the kids found my costume funny, I think, but there were those exceptions whose reactions made the whole experience all the better. One boy, as he washed his hands outside our teachers' room, noticed me casually and immediately did a double-take, which wasn't just a glance -- it was a full-fledged stare. I'm pretty sure that had I stopped and stood there longer, his eyes would have remained locked on me the whole time. And there were a couple kids who normally are rather affectionate during class, but one of them in particular, would not smile when I was around. He maintained a straight face during my time in has class, and I'm almost certain that there was a hint of fear in the back of his eyes. What had been intended as a funny thing … remained a funny thing … but for entirely different reasons than I had anticipated. Beyond the kids' shock at just my appearance, I was a little shocked at how hard it was to explain what I was trying to imitate. In reflecting upon this later, I had banked on the idea that cartoons or other kid-friendly media would have shown them some kind of scientist or character whose experiment goes haywire and blows up. I remember seeing this kind of thing all the time as a kid, so I still don't know if this notion is lacking from Korean kids' lives or it's just the age factor coming into play. The kids are pretty young after all. The closest that any of the little kids came to understand was to call me a doctor (because of my lab coat), but that still didn't cut it. Now, when I went to teach the older kids later in the day, most all of them understood what I was portraying; whether or not they found it funny was another issue … but that I'll definitely attribute to the age factor.
It's now later in the week (Friday, to be exact), and I'm just wrapping up an impromptu holiday -- Pepero Day! In South Korea there's a treat called Pepero, which essentially a small pretzel dipped in chocolate (that was created in 1983). For the last X number of years, Pepero Day has been celebrated on November 11th because "11/11" just so happens to look like 4 pepero sticks. Go figure. Whatever the case may be, I ended up getting a bunch of pepero today, and they were delicious. haha. Also, one other thing before I send this out: last night we had the big performance that I've written about before. It was quite the show, let me tell you. Each age group had different kinds of talents to showcase, so while we started with violins and a chorus setting, we ended the night with a fan dance and drum ensemble. Some of the groups were a little ridiculous (and unfortunately due to limited space on my memory card, those are ones you won't get to see), yet others far exceeded my expectations … and all of them were super cute. Korean kids just have a way of doing that, you know? Ok, maybe you don't … at least not until you watch some of the videos below. Right now I've just posted them to youtube, and I haven't given them names or descriptions; I'll try to add those details as soon as I can. For now, though, I encourage you to scope them out. The kids that I actually teach are spread out among the different groups, although video with the single highest concentration is a fashion show starring … da da … 3 year olds (who, remember, are 2 by American standards). haha. That video especially is super cute. Also, I do ask your pardon for the video quality … I was up in the balcony, and one guy sitting a couple rows in front of my just couldn't keep his head still at times, so … hopefully none of you has motion sickness? haha.
Alright. If I'm successful (and it's the reason this is such a short message to begin with), this message will be leaving Korea headed to you at exactly the perfect moment fitting Pepero Day: 11:11pm on 11/11/11. Enjoy ;).
Much love to you all.
pfn,
bg
ps- if you want to check out some of the performances, look here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5cugvaC9IE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnQjcGU2EJI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb-w4ZhrOR0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-hW2ZxlnV0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBAzNo66B6o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLICT6NfooA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQtmDsezkwM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrXXMnQyyH8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXn4MGyVAgQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1NlHUA2nUw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siluILd1DO4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc7E7zMHklo
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