Educational Dancing

I got a couple extra days off this week for the 'School Festival.' At least that's the direct translation of the eventt; I might call it something more like 'High Schoolers doing K-pop dances on stage in front of old people.' In all seriousness though, it was a great time since I didn't have to teach any classes, just sit around, eat food and practice my Korean in the Gyomushil. Though I was a bit surprised to see risque dancing out of high school girls--all in front of adults and various notable personages that apparently have some connection to the school. And by risque I mean 6 girls lined up with matching 1-inch shorts doing body pumps and aerial maneuvers that banish the likes of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey to Sunday School sock hops. Okay, I might exaggerate a little bit, but some of this just seemed out of place at a daytime high school event--all the more so because it was a demonstration of the 'caliber' of Jungang High School students in front of the said visitors. To top it all off they had an array of treats and students serving food and teas throughout the day. It's always kind of funny when they get all dressed up in the traditional Hanbok to serve you tea and Ddok, and then proceed to spill it everywhere when they're attempting to pour for the first time. I guess I have high standards for pouring though, since I worked in a chemistry lab for 3 years. To top it all off, they were serving Makkoli for W2,000 a pop ($2, standard price) out in front of the auditorium. Not only were teachers sitting around drinking on school property, but all the imbibing was going on during school hours while the kids danced and strutted around on stage. I mean, I'm not really surprised at something like this anymore, but it is enlightening--again and again--to see how different things are between two societies.

Sitting here now on a rainy Sunday afternoon watching Formula 1 on TV...the same Formula 1 that I went to go watch yesterday. I'll give you an update on all that here in the next couple days, I just though I'd mention how equally odd and amusing it is to watch something on TV that you can hear from the window.