January
This month started off normal, and then took a turn
for the weird. NYE here in Foshan was rather low key. With the exception
this chocolate and rice Krispy treat cake shaped like a velociraptor, my
evening wasn’t special. It would have been great to party in a bigger city like Shanghai, but there is the people factor, which makes outdoor celebrations problematic. And this year the crowds were so intense in Shanghai that a few people died. There was some sort of stampede along the bund and dozens of people were crushed to death!
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| Yes, this is a cake. |
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| Coco, on the left made the cake for husband John. |
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| All smiles. |
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| Roarrr! |
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| It was delicious! |
I’m On A Boat...But No One Can Understand Me
Part of being a kindergarten teacher is being in touch
with that silly part of you, the part that will do anything to get a reaction
from another person. I have never purposefully pursued this part of myself, but
in the course of this job I have found myself doing things that would have
seemed impossible two years ago. One of them being performing this this song
and dance alongside my students in front of their parents.
I remember back in March of last year, the first time I sang
and acted out “Wheels On The Bus” in front of the students, I was petrified. I
was covered in sweat and my heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to
pass out. But then the moment passed. The children laughed and took part. After
that it was easy the channel the ridiculous part of my brain. It’s like I’m a
comedian that does anything for a laugh.
Prior to this job, one of my greatest fears was public
speaking. I can say with confidence that once my contract is done, that fear
will be a thing of the past.
The school I work for has another location in the suburbs of
Foshan, a community called Sanshui. As part of the parent appreciation day at
the new school, the entire student body put on a performance. Some students put
on plays. Some danced. Some played instruments. Some sang songs. The foreign
teachers were asked to perform as well. To which we answered of course, but
we’re not going to just perform, we’re going to rap! The organizer looked
baffled but, said sure. Over Christmas Dinner we watched silly videos on
youtube, on of them being “I’m On A Boat” by the comedy group Lonely Island. If
you’re never seen it, take a look here, it’s hilarious and ridiculous. BTW, lots of profanity:
So when it came to choose our song, as a joke, I proposed the above. To my surprise, they others said YES! With child like
enthusiasm, Kristen found a censored version of the song, Rachael downloaded
the lyrics, Aylin and Jacob agreed to be back up dancers, and verses were assigned!
No way out now Musser!
Fuck!
Despite my reservations about performing, everything went well. In our version we replaced "fuck/motherfucker" with "mom & dad" and "shit" with "tricks". I did slip once toward the end and let a "motherfucker" out. Actually I didn't slip, but I covered the mic to muffle the sound. Out of 300+ people, maybe 10, including us, spoke english, so I think my slip would have been fine. I glanced out at the audience and it was a sea of people who looked like this:
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| Say what? |
It also looked a lot like this, except of course, everyone was Chinese:
Of all the video and pictures taken, these are the only pictures I have to show for the day. I've heard there was video taken by the school, but I have yet yo get a hold of it.
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| Tongue action right before going on stage. Kristen is behind me. |
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Rachael in the front, Aylin on the right, Jacob on the left.
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| Peace. |
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| My GQ audition photo. |
A few more weeks and I'll be in America for vacation! Weeeeeeeee!
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