Abba tribute band

I had a heart warming teaching moment this week with my little ones- oh they are sweet!

I've volunteered to help out with "English Club" here at Yun Hyang once a week, where I work with about 9 grade 3-4 students who are well above their peers when it comes to English. The kids have even given themselves English names: Steve, Chris, Leo, Alexander, Hanna, Annie, Sarah, Eva and Ellie. This is above my regular teaching hours, and I'm told that I should absolutely not do it if I'm not getting paid- but so far this is the highlight of my week. Who am I kidding, they're too cute to resist.

As it turns out this week, all of the public schools in the area have to participate in an English Presentation on December 16th; and send a small group of students to present a song, skit or story. Naturally my co-teacher only tells me this the day before- apologetically asking if I know anything that's easy for them to learn. I thought it might be fun to do something Canadian- so I printed off a few songs, figuring we could run through them and let them decide. I came up with Land of the Silver Birch (my favourite from Brownies), Canada in my Pocket (from McKay Public), and The Cat Came Back- because who doesn't love a little Fred Penner? Of the 3 the Cat Came Back was the winner... well, kind of.

What they really love, is Abba and the Beatles. Elementary kids in Korea love Abba and the Beatles?? Yes, now you know! They insisted I put on "Thank you for the Music", from Mamma Mia. http://youtube.com/watch?v=rZnBI8j_6JI I didn't have the lyrics or anything prepared, but I played it anyway because they seemed to love it so much- and did they ever blow me away! If you've ever been to see your favourite singer, and hear them play your favourite song that just moves you to tears- this was it. They had everything: enthusiasm, passion, good looks... I think I could make a little Abba tribute band out of them! Ellie especially- she could belt out that song like she really was the girl with the golden hair. So listen to the song if you don't know it- and picture little Korean kids singing with all their heart. It just touches you deep down inside!


The rest of the week was especially productive- I was busy doing something just about every night. Dinner with Ali and Lisa; Lizzie's Birthday party (Fun Korean cake fact: You know how at home, tomatoes walk that fine line between fruit and vegetable? Well in Korea, they're fruit. They are so fruity in fact, that they put little cherry tomatos on birthday cakes, right beside the strawberries and kiwis.); Fantasty Movie night, and a little bit of February vacation planning kept me on my toes.
I had some big accomplishments too: I got my internet hooked up, activated a cell phone, and bought a used keyboard to keep my beginner piano skills growing. It was not an easy process- but I'm very thankful to my co-teacher for helping me out in getting everything signed and activated- it's so nice to be connected to the world again!

Today's English translation gone wrong:
On a dog-bone shaped pencil case: "The delicious bone smell made our mouth water"
mmmm Not incorrect, so much as very odd.