Christmas Show

Christmas was an awkward time for me around the office because most of my coworkers adored the season and I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. I asked not to take part in the Secret Santa gift exchange between the teachers, and the head teacher started to object then remembered my last name and assumed that I'm Jewish. I didn't bother correcting him (I'm actually an anti-consumerism athiest) since he was letting me opt out. The Christmas carols were unavoidable, though, especially since every class of kindergarten students had to practice a musical number for a Christmas show for the parents. While the other teachers jostled to claim their favorite carols, I tried to find something that didn't make me want to puncture my eardrums. I actually managed to unearth a metal version of Silver Bells where you could still clearly make out the lyrics, and my students actually liked it. My class' Korean teacher, who mostly took care of the kids during lunches and breaks, thought that the parents wouldn't approve, however, so I had them sing regular old Silver Bells. She thought it was too hard for the students to learn the words even though they were mostly getting it, so I told her to pick something. She further insisted that we practice the songs to the point of skipping out on class material to do so. In Korea appearances matter at least as much as substance, which is why the school was renting out this huge performance hall for the Christmas show in the first place, and why the kids being able to stand there and sing along with a song while doing a few dance moves was seen as excellence in English, regardless of whether or not they understood what they were singing.

I honestly don't remember what song my class ended up singing, but they sure looked cute doing so.

As I attempted to wrangle my main class into their seats, I was able to record the other class that I taught, performing the song that Becky had them prepare. Junseo made a great Santa since he was so much taller than his classmates.

Other classes had amusing props:

The performances all went fairly well, and a week long winter break followed.