"Tears of Heaven" Musical

I spent the Lunar New Year's holiday with my grandmother in Geochang. As expected, I ate lots of good homecooked food, but was fed too much food, gained weight, didn't go outside much, bonded with my grandmother, and...watched a lot of TV. But Lunar New Year holiday isn't what inspired me to blog. On Saturday, I hurried up back home so I could unpack, get ready, and head into Seoul to watch the musical "Tears of Heaven!" To be honest, after attending the "Tears of Heaven" preview concert, I was not impressed with the acting nor the singing. I had my doubts about the quality of the musical, but I watched it anyways because as a fan, I still wanted to see Kim Junsu perform and to support him. But, on Saturday, I was thoroughly impressed. I fell in love with the musical and became a Kim Junsu fan all over again. The thrilling reviews this musical is receiving are deserved.
The musical told the story of a love triangle between a Korean soldier, a U.S. Colonel, and a Vietnamese show girl. The setting was Saigon during the Vietnam War. The events seemed almost predictable, but they' weren't! There was a continual unexpected turn of events throughout the entire story. I enjoyed it because it included a little bit of everything: family love, betrayal, true love, convenient love, deceit, action, and an epilogue (I always love it when theres an epilogue, and we get to find out what happens to the characteres). There was also a little comedy in the musical: I may have been laughing because it was Junsu saying those lines, but nonetheless, it had the whole audience laughing!
The choreography and the lights were impressively artistic. There was one dance which depicted the death that haunted anyone, anytime, anywhere so well. It's not a history to get excited about, but the choreography with the actors falling slowly one by one, in tempo with the music was genius. The lights were colorfully, well-synced with the tempo and mood of the music, so the musical was a delight to my eyes too!
Brad Little is a world-renown musical actor who plays the part of the U.S. Colonel, and his voice gave me the chills. He has a deep, resounding voice and charismatic acting that adds to the seriousness of the musical.
The music was wonderful. The songs were all newly composed (by the Frank Wildhorn). The musical pieces and lyrics help to tell this beautiful love story. My favorite song is "Can You Hear Me?" It was sung a few times throughout the musical, but I didn't tire of hearing it. Another one of my favorites is "The Tiger and the Dove." Remember to listen carefully to this one because it's an important, concluding puzzle piece to this musical.
One added bonus of this musical is that all of the dialogue and the lyrics were translated: Korean dialogue was translated to English and English dialogue was translated to Korean. It was very foreigner friendly!
I wish everybody could watch this musical. I wish everybody could watch Kim Junsu perform. His acting was remarkable. This was a very emotional drama, and he personified his character so well. The performance I watched had him acting with Yoong Gong Ju: I give her high praise as a musical actress. She and Junsu had a believable romantic chemistry, and it takes two superb actors to achieve that. I definitely don't mind watching this again...

Back from Winter Break

On Sunday night, all I could think about was, "I can't believe winter vacation's already over! I can't believe I have to be on time for work tomorrow. I can't believe I start work again tomorrow." School has been in session for three days now and honestly, it's not really "in session." (The seven days of school between winter vacation and spring vacation are mainly dedicated to sending off our 6th grade graduates.) My co-teacher was smart and had us finish the book material before we went on vacation. So, we've been having fun talks with the students about their vacations, handing out end-of-the-year gifts, and spending a majority of the class time watching a movie! The rest of the day is dedicated to doing whatever I want to do! All right! Actually, It's getting boring. The other GEPIK teachers I've talked to are bored too. I've exhausted facebook, playing games on yahoo, checking my email, catching up on the news, etc. I think I'll take a book tomorrow.

Today, one of my favorite 5th graders told me he's moving to Daegu. No more dancing boy at my school anymore; No more Minseok to brighten my day. I'm really bummed... During winter vacation, I was telling Jessica that I don't like change. I get attached to my situation (especially to the people around me). I don't even have the best relationship with Mr.Han, but I was still a little sad to hear that he's not going to be an English teacher in the new school year. I might freak out if Dong Eun isn't my co-teacher anymore...

I also learned that my school is changing the entire English system for the new school year. I'm teaching different grade levels, and 5th and 6th graders are having three periods of English each week. It's a big change, considering they used to have two periods of English. This means I'll have to teach 24 hours each week (woohoo overtime pay, but boo more work). It also means I have to fit the extra English periods into my schedule, so there will be days when I'll have to teach without breaks in-between periods. It also means Jessica and I will have different lunch times certain days of the week. On a side note, I recently realized that I always use the pronoun "we" now. I'm trying to kick the habit, but it shows how much time I spend with Jessica! It's going to be a sad separation when our contracts are over. I can't believe I'm almost halfway through.