Live from Seoul. . . *updated with video footage*

Tuesday afternoon, sky blue body bags filled the SLP foyer. The culmination of screaming children running around the school and the stress from the Christmas concert, made me want to zip myself in one of the bags and hide from it all. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take cover, nor was there enough room to conceal me from the whirlwind of anxiety swirling about in the office. Instead, I had to organize the contents in the bags. I pulled royal blue tutus lined with silver sequined rick rack out and examined them. They were so precious. We didn't have time to do a dress rehearsal, so I could only hope that they fit everyone. The next day was the Christmas concert. Changing into costumes was such a pandemonium with the children running shouldn't be a problem. We tacked and pulled straps up, but they still beared resemblance to the bikinis that body builders wear. The situation was hopeless, but at least we weren't exposing our students anymore.around, costumes flying in the air, and lights flashing from the door way. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought that we were planning some huge event with celebrities. Finally all twenty of my ballerinas were dressed, but there just a few problems. The first problem was that the tutus did not fit like they did in the catalogue. Instead of looking like darling little ballerinas, they looked like Las Vegas show girls. The V neck on the bodice went down entirely too low for 6 year olds, not to mention, there was a nude colored panel that gave the illusion that the V neck dragged all the way down to their belly buttons. Think Jennifer Lopez in her infamous green chiffon dress. Thankfully, I have some experience in fixing such problems from working at David's Bridal. If I can make a size 16 wedding gown fit a size 20 woman, then this shouldn't be a problem. We tacked and pulled straps up, but they still beared resemblance to the bikinis that body builders wear. The situation was hopeless, but at least we weren't exposing our students anymore.Rock, Paper, Scissors: The boys played games to keep them entertained before going on stage.

It was so painfully cold. I felt so bad for them.



Lined up and ready to go!

The second problem in our wardrobe change started with the foul smell that crept into my olfactory organs. At first I just ignored it, thinking that it was just a stink that was lingering from former performers. I realized later that my hypothesis was wrong when I was trying to organize all the students' clothes. M's (we'll keep his name a secret) clothes were scattered about the room and he was gathering everything. I noticed that as he was trying to decide what things were his, he was sniffing them. At first I just thought that this was his way to find them, because some people's belongings do tend to have a distinct scent. This was not the case as I quickly learned when I lifted up a white turtleneck that had a disgusting brown stain on the sleeve. EW and M quickly claimed it and I asked him what it was. He looked shocked and froze. Putting all the facts together, I came to the conclusion that he had an accident. My partner teacher informed David, one of the only men on our staff and we cleared the situation up. Apparently, M was really sick Tuesday night, but his parents insisted that he come to the Christmas concert. Poor guy.

After four months, spending about everyday with my students, they have started to take on my personality. They are free spirited, creative, random, and clumsy just like me. This mixture doesn't work so well with big events. Practice has been hard. In choir, I was always the one who stood out the most at concerts. This was not because I had the best singing voice, but because I am tone deaf and I have a squeaky singing voice. My family would always pick on me after the shows, leading to future self conscience problems. I am surprised that I actually had enough courage to muster out any song in front of my students in order to teach them, and on top of that, I teach Kids Pop (aka music). haha. Those poor kids who have been subjected to my singing. Well, I was actually impressed. My students did very well with their song, minus a few students who completely froze from nerves. Ballet, however, is another story. This is where my lack of coordination rubbed off on my students (actually thinking about this now, I don't know if this is actually possible). First, June Seo was the first in one of the lines and completely misled the students, nearly running them all into the giant inflatable backdrop of a neon pearlescent winter wonderland. In practice, they always had a hard time getting the turns the same. Eventually, this was a detail that I soon failed to notice, because it was so difficult to get them all to turn Right. So for the performance, the turns were, well, special. Then the best part was when Sung Min ran straight into the microphone. A description won't do this mishap any justice, so you just need to watch the video (SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS ENTRY-the funny part happens just after the one minute mark) if you want a big laugh. My friend Amber was doing commentary for the performances and her response to their dance was "Wow, that was dramatic!"

So that was the Holly Jolly SLP Christmas Concert.This is my director with the opening speech. I am in loooove with her shoes!

After they were finished, they finally got to relax and enjoy the show.

The video above is the one I was telling you about in the story

And this is their Christmas song- they froze a bit and were sort of confused ^^