Every week I get some damned song stuck in my head about "Nice to meet you" or "It's a pen!" or "Where are you from?" By the end of the week, I usually change the words to these songs to something along the lines of "Please, God, kill me now." This week, I had the distinct pleasure of learning "Excuse me, sir, is this York Street?" Sometimes they put different words to standard childrens' songs like "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" and whatnot, but "York Street" is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Unless it's entered public domain by now, Peter, Paul, and Mary (God rest her soul) will have a legal field day when they find out the melody of "Puff the Magic Dragon" was used, probably without their permission, by the Korean government to teach the smaller, younger Koreans English. And if you thought "Puff the Magic Dragon" had lame lyrics, wait until you get a load of this (don't forget to sing along):
Oh, well, excuse me, sir
is this York Street?
Sorry, sorry, I don't know
sorry, I don't know.
Oh, oh, excuse me, ma'am
where is York Street?
Go straight and turn left
turn left at the corner!
And here's the other thing I don't understand. This song is for sixth graders. These kids are 11 or so years old. Some of them have entered puberty. The last thing they want to do is sing along to some crappy childrens' tune. But, we must teach-uh by de cullicurum. Whatever, I still get a paycheck despite the nagging thought in the back of my brain that these songs are somehow shortening my life.
In other news, I got to teach my first afternoon (extra-curricular) class of fifth graders today. Them kids'r smart. I look forward to doing both that class and the sixth grade version next week. I get to do whatever I want. But I'll have to jump the teachers' training course hurdle before I can enjoy my Friday.
Don't cry for me, Virginia, but this will again be my last post until Sunday or Monday. I will once again be traveling the great Korean tundra in search of life's offerings. This time, I plan on hitting up Daejeon to visit my orientation roommate. Our respective city baseball teams are playing each other there, so we're planning on catching the game and then having a night on the town afterwards. I'll let you know how Korean baseball goes and if it's any more exciting to watch than the American version. If it's like anything else in Korea, it'll be somewhere between a tragic car accident and a troupe of clowns juggling chainsaws. Love me do.
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