Just a Superstar kind of day…



In grand Korean style, my univeristy is hosting a number of recruitment events for highschool students. As part of the program, the English teachers have been asked to participate. “No problem”, thought I. …

My task was simple. I had to go up on stage; introduce myself; and give a quick, fun quiz. Reality was a little less unobtrusive. I found myself standing at the back of a dark, crowded auditorium, waiting (along with a Chinese exchange student) for our names to be called. When our names were finally called, the lights dimmed, a popular rock song started booming, and a spotlight followed us down the long aisle as hundreds of highschool students cheered. I felt like The Ultimate Warrior and Oprah all at the same time. Once we’d finished the proscribed quiz show (and the MC co-erced me into singing a few bars of Yesterday by the Beatles), we made our way back down the aisle as students reached out their arms to touch us/shake our hands. Afterwards, some of them approached us to get their pictures taken.

Just another day in the life of a foreigner.