Pop Music

Korean boy bands don't hold a candle to what we have in the states. I mean, it's night and day. I was eating some chicken and watching a group of four Korean guys in their twenties try to be like the Backstreet Boys in concert. They failed miserably. Nick, Howie, Brian, AJ, and Kevin would have been disgusted with such a dismal performance. First of all, they looked surprised to be on stage. As far as I'm concerned, rule number one when performing for thousands of teenage girls is you have to own the stage. You make those screaming fans feel like they've been invited into your house, let them in, wine and dine them, and then kick them out begging for more. And don't even get me started on the dancing. Justin Timberlake might have slit his wrists. Their half-hearted moves were sub-par at best and the emotion was practically nonexistent. When you're singing about heartbreak and loss, you need to show it to me on your face, in your moves, and in your voice. These guys were smiling. SMILING! I don't see Nick Lache with a grin on his face while he's singing about how Jessica Simpson might leave him. Give me puppy eyes, pain, and a cracking voice here and there, but don't give me wide-eyed surprise. Overall, two thumbs way down.

I have to write report cards for kids that I don't even know. One of the Korean teachers approached me today with a stack of student files asking me to write evaluations for July. Telling her I wasn't in Korea in July didn't seem to phase her, but for some reason it made perfect sense to me. As it turns out, the teacher I replaced left without completing them. All I can say to that is the teacher that replaces me has a stack of evaluations coming his way. That's just the nature of this place. For how hard some Koreans work, they sure do resemble some of the flaky Californians that came to know all too well the last two years. I can't really complain though. I'm getting paid and extra hundred dollars a month for teaching the best students in the school. These kids are great and the material almost challenges me sometimes, which makes class time fly by and is quite rewarding. I only have a six hour block of time with an hour of break that I work anyway. Not too demanding.

I'm done. Until next time...