dance, monkey, dance!

This past Thursday night was one of the most incredibly uncomfortable and simultaneously wonderful nights I have experienced thus far in Korea.

On Thursday, my school, Kyungwha Girl's High School, had national testing to rank them among other schools/students in the nation (similar to California's STAR testing I guess).  This took all day and was taken very seriously by both the students and teachers.  Teachers were just in the classes to supervise and luckily for me, they decided I could just chill at my desk instead of sitting bored in a classroom.  Sitting with Internet is much less boring than sitting in a classroom of 40 students! This provided me time to lesson plan for next week (St. Patricks Day lesson!) and catch up with people online - so nice.

That evening, we had a banquet dinner at the beautiful Alliance Hotel, a hotel with multiple huge conference rooms or halls which are often rented out for wedding receptions etc.  The school sponsored the dinner and all of the faculty and staff were invited.  It was a huge buffet dinner with fancy tables and trays and trays of food. I didn't recognize most of the food (welcome to my life), but my co-teacher tried to explain the food as best she could and I tried anything I didn't recognize!  A few interesting items on my plate - kimbap (similar to California sushi rolls...), some mushy japanese ball thing, random bits of chicken, marinated raw meat (yes, you read that right...it was like strips of raw beef marinated...not bad tasting actually and I didn't get sick!), and many other unidentifiable objects. It was all delicious for the most part (mashi-asayo!) and because I sat with mostly other English teachers I could participate in much of the conversation!

all of my co-teachers!

The young woman on the far right in the tan coat is my main co-teacher, with the English name of Amy.  She picked me up initially, has helped me with my apartment, schedule, etc., and is basically amazing.  I am SO grateful for her and her willingness to help me.  She studied abroad for a year in Washington so she understands American culture and has wonderful English.  The rest of the table are English teachers I work with and who have welcomed me so willingly!  The two people on the right (the man and the first woman to the left) are not my co-teachers although he does have a desk in our teacher's room!

Story about him:  I sat next to him during the dinner and after the dinner but pre-entertainment, he kept looking like he wanted to say something but wouldn't.  I didn't think he spoke any English and I actually thought he didn't like me because I see him all the time, he always avoids eye contact (which isn't weird in Korea, but his is excessive avoidance) and  he hasn't said a word to me since I've been here when most teachers have at least said hello.  He finally turns to me and says in very broken English, "Hello. I want to introduce myself but my English is very bad. My name is ..... (I honestly don't remember it, I'll need to ask my co-teacher for it again) and I've been too nervous to talk to you because of my bad English" I wanted to hug the guy!  Poor teacher was embarrassed about his lack of English skills when they weren't horrible at all! I then tried to tell him it's okay he doesn't speak English well because I don't speak Korean...at all.  I tried to intentionally make a fool of myself and say the few phrases I know in Korean so he didn't feel bad. It was so interesting to know that people are intimidated by me when I am the one intimidated by them! 

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On to the entertaining part of the evening.  So Koreans are all about "saving face" in everyday life.  For example, they won't acknowledge if you trip or burp or whatnot so as not to embarrass you.  However, they love public humiliation and think they are laughing with you and not at you.  That being said, we had a MC comedian to facilitate our festivities after the meal.  Apparently he was very funny and was interacting with the audience, I couldn't say for sure because I just smiled when everyone laughed.  Of course he noticed that I was there and tried to speak to me in Korean which got a few laughs and also made me do this cheer thing by myself when I didn't even know what I was saying.   It was making all of the teachers laugh so I was okay with this.  However, then the karaoke began.  If you know me at all, you know I don't sing in public and no one would want me to.  "Sing A Song" at camp was my worst enemy. The karaoke was entertaining as most of the teachers had drank a little bit and have no shame at belting out a song even if they are blatantly tone deaf.  

sorry it's blurry, but they were really getting into it!

some important lady (she talked a lot) of the school singing away

back up dancers?

I tried to inconspicuously video a few - this is the man who sits across from me in the teacher's room - he and I are friends and he tries to speak English to me almost every day!

Of course I again was called out and tried to convince me to karaoke.  Absolutely not. No, thank you. Fine then, they say, you must participate in a dance off. As this was the most ridiculous thing I could imagine at a fancy banquet in front of the entire staff including principal, etc., I of course agreed.  Yes, I participated in a ridiculous dance off with old teachers with my new school in Korea. 

Many, many laughs later with my hands tired from clapping to each and every karaoke song, I headed home.  As I walked home (it was very close to my apartment), I realized how genuinely fully happy and grateful I am to be here, in this country and doing what I'm doing.  I am exactly where God wants me for this year, whether it is hard or easy, I'm so joyful just to be given this opportunity.  Once I got back to my building, I found two letters in my mailbox from friends back in the United States.  I don't know if I'm doing justice to how I felt that night, but I was completely content.  I'm here. and SO glad I am.