End of the Semester Happiness

I'm ecstatic about the semester being over, though possibly not as much as my students. Bounding in and out of the English room, crowding around me, asking for the millionth time about the photos by my desk, wanting to play UNO, and sneaking up on/scaring the bejeezus out of me.

 

Teacher Outing: CATS

With the end of the semester finally here, the Doam teachers headed to Seoul to see CATS the musical. My co-teacher SK kept telling me that she heard it was going to be the Original Broadway version, and I didn't realize that meant the musical would be in English. That discovery when the lights went down, the music started, and the first words were sung was so nice.

Having never seen, knowingly heard any of the music from, or read anything pertaining to Andrew Lloyd Webber's CATS, I have never liked CATS. I have never gotten a good vibe from it. I would see stills of the Broadway actors in costume and I would quite consciously screw my nose up. Even pop culture references, such as on Modern Family, couldn't convince me to want to see it. But I was very happy to have the experience in Korea, with Korean actors and surrounded by a Korean audience. 

Does Not Compute: Korea Perspective

"Yes. No. Does not compute." I remember my older brother and his scrawny best friend sitting in the way back seats of the van playing this idiotic robot role play game. I was sitting in the middle seats and getting increasingly angry at my failure to ask a question that didn't win. Turns out, that game is for real. There are a lot of things that are so apparent to me that my Korean co-workers just don't understand.

For an example, here is a question I've been getting a lot lately at my schools: "So, why aren't you staying for the rest of the year?" Fair enough, I respond as best I can, "Well my contract was for one year, and I miss my family and friends. I'm very sad to leave Korea and will miss you and all the students very much."  Honest, simple, battabing-battaboo. 

Doesn't register to my co-workers. "Why are you quitting?" I was talking with a friend and she mentioned that the teachers at her school asked why she was quitting come September. Our GEPIK contracts are for one year -- it's not quitting if we don't renew. It's just moving on to something different. When I brought up the contract when I was similarly asked "But why aren't you staying?", my co-teacher shot back that most teachers stay for at least two years. That may be true, but *face palm* that may be true.