It's been a long, drawn out, continuous rehearsal for the Donghak Middle School Teacher rock band. Koreans are perfectionists when it comes to performing something in front of a large group of people. I personally think we practice too much. After all, it's only two pop-rock songs we're playing. But alas, the practices have intensified with only a few days leading up to the schools bi-annual two-day festival celebration.
Monday evening I went back to school for the second time that day for our 9pm-12am practice. My band mates teach class after regular school hours, so in the meantime I went home and relaxed. The temperature was frigid outside that night, as it seemingly turned winter in the spand of a day. My students were pouring out of the school like a big group at a restaurant, where the last person gets stuck with the bill. As they were giddily leaving, a 7th grade girl student came up to me and said, "Teacher! Look in my backpack!" Inside wrapped in a blanket was the smallest kitten I'd ever seen. I thought it was a toy at first. "Who's cat is this?" "Is it yours?" I asked pointing at the girl. "No, not mine teacher." I asked all the other girls standing around the kitten, but it was no ones. "Outside cat, teacher," they explained. The bastard kitten of an alley cat! I had several concerns regarding the situation. "Girls, it might have a disease..." I explained. "Oh no, teacher. No germ," they replied. Then I mentioned parents finding out about a stray cat and they quickly realized their dilemma. They held the cat out towards me..."Teacher, please you take it!" It was hard to resist, but like my mom, I'm just not much of a cat person.
There are seven classes in each grade, and each one chooses a class 'uniform' for the today's festival. There are some pretty funny one's. For example, the onesie pajama in the style of a dinosaur or teddy bear, with the animals head coming up over you like a sweatshirt hood. Another class is wearing hospital gowns. The energy in the school resembles an ant colony. I can't wait.
I'll start the morning off playing a speed English game, where the students try to get me to guess a word (like catchphrase, except I'm the only one guessing). I'll then be an American Idol style judge for the English singing contest, critiquing the students lyrical knowledge. They better hope I'm more like Ellen Degeneres today, and not Simon. The afternoon is a sporting event outside, so I'll get some needed sunshine. The night time is the main event. We practiced in a studio the night before, and the manager let us borrow their amazing keyboard for tonight's performance. So pumped. We have a pretty cool intro rendition of 'Crazy Train' that we practiced last night. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures or video of the festivities. Be back shortly.
