All the children are (expected to be) above average

Hello, Internet, it has been a while. Sorry for the delay in posts, you'd think with all the nothing going on here, I'd have lots of time to write.

So the news from Lake Woebegone is slim. We are finally out of intensive period, the month-long pseudo-vacation from regular school during which our students come earlier and stay longer than they do during regular classes. (This is ostensibly so they can be so awesome that every specialized high school in the country will beg for the glory of their attendance and they will be guaranteed success wherever they go. I think there is some absence of comprehension about the notion of averages at work here). I no longer have to arrive at work at the unGodly hour of 1:00 p.m., but have returned to the infinitely more reasonable 3:00 p.m. (don't hate, people, I worked 1 - 10:40 on most days and 12 - 10:40 on Wednesdays... Wednesdays full of children whose behavior can only be explained by their repeated possession by a variety of demonic spirits so creative in their spreading of discord and horror that it defies documentation). Today marks the second day back in the 3 - 11 swing. Admittedly, the world is emptier when I go home at night, but I consider it a worthwhile sacrifice, wild partier though I am.

In non-school news, I may soon be part of a choir. The Camarata Music Company is a Seoul-based organization of foreign-born and Korean singers who get together and sing classical things. They even have a mostly-expat orchestra. I arrived just in time to miss their performance of Messiah, but they are starting a new season, the first major performance of which will be the Faure Requiem (forgive my lack of accents, I have no idea how to make that magic happen on Windows). The first rehearsal is on Saturday at 4, and those interested in performing with the group for the first time are to show up at 3:30 for a range test. I have to say, oh my readers and oh the delight of my inbox, I am remotely unnerved by the prospect of joining a group without auditions. For those not aware, my performance standards are obscenely high. In extremely specialized circumstances I have managed to ignore them, but they are still, by and large, a roadblock to my enjoyment of group performance. I fear that a part-determination is not a stringent enough test to ensure optimality. On the other hand, would I rather not get into a choir with high audition standards and have to find another place to sing, or suck it up and enjoy what I can? Ask me again in April.

In yet other news, friends and relations, my schedule is not the most fascinating thing in the world. I have talked phonetics with some of the other teachers, regarding how to manufacture sounds in English correctly, and that was fun, but now there's a lot of thumb twiddling involved. I kind of want to kick past-me in the pants for saying, "I want a strict curriculum for which I am not at all responsible!" because it's making for a lot of teaching to the book and teaching to the test, and a lot of it is really boring and frustrating. I spend at least five minutes per class correcting the textbook with which I must teach. I am displeased. Between that and the "no fun" rule, I feel a distinct hard place forming just opposite the rock of TOEFL prep. Suggestions welcome, as always.

So that's the news from Lake SeoDaejeon, where all the women are strong, and all the men are good-looking...