My first teaching job in Korea was at Boston Campus Foreign Language Institute in Seoul and included teaching kindergartners. I was responsible for a wonderful class of students called Dolphins L. Although they weren’t considered the highest-performing English students at the school, our hard work throughout the year resulted in a very impressive performance of my adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens in December 2004.
Above you can see me and my students rehearse “Mr. Scrooge”, the first of two musical numbers I wrote for our little play. Despite the poor audio and video quality, I think you can get a sense of how fun it was.
Below are higher-quality versions of “Mr. Scrooge” (which occurs after Mr. Scrooge turns away two donation collectors) and “A Changed Man” (which everyone sings at the end). Although I recorded this in an empty classroom, with a cheap gooseneck computer mic and a cold (for “A Changed Man”), I’m actually fairly impressed with the sound quality. I used whatever was the newest version of Music Maker (PC) in 2004.
Mr. Scrooge
Music and lyrics by Charles Ian Chun
Mr. Scrooge,
We have no food.
Help us on this Christmas Day.
Bah, humbug!
Bah, humbug!
I am not going to help you!
Mr. Scrooge,
We have no coal.
Keep us warm for just one day.
I have coal.
I have coal.
I have coal, but none for you!
Mr. Scrooge . . .
Bah, humbug!
Mr. Scrooge . . .
Go away!
Mr. Scrooge . . .
I am not going to help you!
A Changed Man
Music and lyrics by Charles Ian Chun
On Christmas Day,
(On Christmas Day)
A man has changed.
(A man has changed)
On Christmas Day,
(On Christmas Day)
A man has changed.
(A man has changed)
He was greedy, but
now he gives away.
Now he’s happy and
finally changed his ways.
And we can share this Christmas Day!
Of course, my students had to learn their lines — lots of them for a few of the students. As I knew we would never have enough time to rehearse when we had other lessons to cover, I spent several late evenings at Boston Campus to record the entire play for my students to listen to and memorize (kids are sponges, right?). Although you might be able to hear the influence of many, many years of being a fan of old-time radio shows, it unfortunately didn’t make me much of an actor. Still, I enjoyed the experience. More importantly, the kids loved it and learned their lines.
