Christmas Eve Concert

Sunday night I got a phone call from my future co-teacher at the boys school: he wanted me to come sing Christmas carols at a Christmas party he was hosting for all the kids at his apartment complex on Christmas Eve. He explained that word had gone around at Munchang that I was a good singer, and though we had never met, he thought I would be a nice addition to their festivities. Of course I accepted even though I already had plans (celebrating with the orphanage) because I haven't had many opportunities to bond with my co-teachers and this one seemed perfect.

Well, I was in for a surprise.

I was expecting the Christmas party to be at something like a community room among the apartments and I figured there would be just a few kids there, but no, no, no--it was a full concert! On the street! He pulled up to this little corner park amongst the towering apartment buildings and I was surprised to see that I would be singing with an instrumental jazz band and that the crowds were already gathering! Now, yes, I am a good singer. (Can I be honest about that?) But I don't perform I only sing for friends or in class. I was so nervous. Being a foreigner alone attracts enough attention but put me on a stage with a mic in my hands? I'm sure that I have reached the celebrity status of Angelina Jolie! I'm sure of it. There was even a traffic jam as people--children and adults--clamored to see what was going on! Oh, embarrassing beyond belief!

However, things went amazingly well. At first I was getting a little stressed out among the confusion, disorganization and difficult language complexities, but eventually I just stopped and prayed that God would give me peace and joy in the moment and wow! He did! I had so much fun singing and passing out candy to all the kids! I got them dancing and singing songs and having so much fun! My co-teacher was wearing a Santa costume and would give out candy from his Santa sack while I went around and got kids excited--apparently I was Mrs. Clause??

To add to the night's festivities, Mrs. Ree (the teacher from Munchang who wanted me to meet her son) came and actually brought her son Dong Il with her!! Waah! Not only did I have to sing on a stage, in public, in front of strangers, but I was being set up on a psuedo-blind date and he was there too!!! Oh, what a way to make an impression! He was super nice though and actually looked like he was having fun despite the fact that he had to wait until the entire concert was over before we really had a chance to talk. He even offered to hold my camera bag for me and took these wonderful photos of the concert!

Afterwards, we went to dinner with his mom at a pizza place down the street. It was really nice and I really enjoyed talking with him. There wasn't a dull moment. He's really intelligent, my age, and loves to travel. I had such a good time that I invited him to join my Christmas breakfast party the next day (I had made plans to celebrate Christmas with Courtney and Tyler by having a good ol' American breakfast feast).

They brought me home around 9 pm where I found Courtney still sick and sleeping in my bed! :) lol. She's been camping out at my place off and on. We talked for a little bit but were interrupted when my friend Frankie (the English stalker-lol) sent me a message, begging me to come out with him and his friend. I obliged. So he picked me up and gave Courtney a ride home because she wasn't feeling good enough to go out and then he and his friend treated me to drinks, food and norae bang (karaoke). In Korea, when you want to do karaoke, you go to a building where you rent a room for the hour and sing there--thus the term "norae bang" (literally: sing room). Norae bangs usually have disco lights, music books, a tv screen, good sound systems, couches, and plenty of food and drinks to order. We had a great time; good enough to sing ourselves hoarse. They brought me home at 2 am and I collapsed onto my bed. What a wonderful, exciting Christmas Eve! I hope your Christmas was just as good!

Norae bang photos to follow as well as a post about Christmas day and how the breakfast went...

This kid was just so amazed to see Santa Clause! He was so cute! I love his expression!

Busting a groove with Santa and trying to get the kids involved.

Me and some cute kids posing for a photo.

Oh, I had so much fun!

My co-teacher introducing me to the crowd before I started singing.

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer...

We wish you a merry Christmas... Yep, that's my band... Sax, trumpet, clarinet, trombone... I can't believe I actually sang with them and we had never even met before that night!

This is the Mrs. Ree--the one who introduced me to her son. I figured it would be funny if I got her to dance with me. It was great. Her son loved it! She's actually a pretty fun lady--really open minded and adventurous!

More Rudolph... :) Oh, so much fun! The things you do as a foreigner... lol. Those of you who've done work in other countries know exactly what I'm talking about! Nightly news reports, television shows, game shows, concerts, you name it!