Day 24: Uptown Girl

It is with great pleasure that I announce to all of you that "My Love" has been officially retired at school!

THANK GOD!!!

We had beaten that song to death, at least 8 times over, and I think even the kids were gonna vomit if they had to sing it one more bloody time! ;-) Today we started learning a new song, and yes, it's another Westlife song (what can I say, boy band pop music is king in Korea!) This time it's actually a Westlife cover song - yep, it's the Billy Joel classic "Uptown Girl!" I have to confess that I'm a huge fan of this song (both the Billy Joel and the bubbly Westlife version) and was actually as excited as the kids were when it was announced that it was going to be our new vocal project. We debued the video today in class and it's actually wonderfully cute and cheesy. The 5 Westlife guys play the role of the staff at a 50's diner, being forced to serve a group of very rude and obnoxious 'uptown boys'. All of a sudden, mid-way through the song, who walks in to the diner? Why it's THE uptown girl of all uptown girls, Claudia Schiffer! Of course, by the end of the video, she chooses the Westlife boys (her 'downtown men') and they leave the diner behind, Miss Schiffer in hand, with the uptown boys left behind in shock. It's a funny video and worth downloading from the 'net to check out.

What was unexpectedly amusing today was how I had to explain to the class (and my teacher) what exactly an uptown girl was. I think I did a great job in explaining the cultural nuances between what is meant to be 'uptown' versus 'downtown', and why someone would sing a song about this. Class differences, economic backgrounds separating potential lovers, and what it means to be working in the service industry, yet be able to leave your job mid-shift with the world's hottest supermodel, all had to be explained in simple details for the Koreans, who eagerly ate up this Western sociological paradigm. (See, teaching English is much more than just teaching vocabulary and grammar!!!) :-) It's funny cause these are all things that I've never really thought about before, but had to think over carefully before explaining everything. It just goes to show that there's so many aspects to Western culture (or any culture for that matter) that a native doesn't even think about, until someone from another culture asks you to explain something that you've always either just taken for granted, or had been 'programmed' to understand from when you were a child.

I think it would be *fascinating* if someone did like a Masters in Education thesis, or an anthropological study, on "What It Means To Be An Uptown Girl." Any takers? :-)