Koreans Ain't Got Nuttin' on Us

I-Y-C: Where I AND YOU CONNECT! The sea of white-polos sporting orange sleeves waved their arms over their heads in time with the booming music. The girl and boy to my left and right tugged my arms up, urging me to stand and join in with the group. Everyone stood and sung out with happy, earnest faces. The entire auditorium converged in a rousing chorus of "I-Y-C":

By our hearts, we dry all the tears,
By our brains, we design future,
By our hands, we improve the world, make the better place.

I-Y-C, I and You Connect, we can make this life warmer
I-Y-C, keep one's hands in hands, aiming to world without borders.

I'm not going to lie; I was a little afraid.

We were guests of the youth center across from my guesthouse in Ho Chi Minh City. The center is something of a Vietnamese YMCA, only with a much more collective, socialist perspective on helping others. The program we attended attracted maybe 300 or more students, mostly members of the club.

The program, however, was targeted towards non-members.

I sat down next to a sweet girl whose name (I think) was Hac. She had a chic pixie haircut and snazzy purple eyeglasses, as well as the uniform IYC white polo with neon orange sleeves.

"Herro! MynameisHachowareyoudoing?"

"You should join IYC. Ilikeitsomuchwedofun."

We had a lovely conversation, but I felt more like a customer speaking to a salesperson rather than one out-of-place U.S. college kid to a Vietnamese highschooler. Anyhow, the program began with a few fun icebreakers, and I started to think about that popular movie "Titanic," starring Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

We all began to dance, following the leaders onstage in their wacky, quasi-80s moves (Kate and Leo meet each other aboard the ship, each feeling as though they were from another world and unable to connect.)

The first game is an icebreaker (the Titanic takes off pretty smoothly, crunching up floating ice easily), in which we pass paper rice-hats down the row by placing them on the person's head next to you and then passing them back. During this time the IYC song is playing to pump us up. Rows that finished stood up and swayed with arms in the air to the IYC song.

The program leaders introduce a competitive game and asked for volunteers in 3 teams. All three teams have two foreigners and two IYC reps--Matt and Samson were chosen for groups 1 and 2, and we discovered another bunch of Americans plus a reticent English gal named Harriet. The goal of the game is to listen to a song that's playing, figure out the language of the song (Chinese/Thai/French, etc), and then match that language to the 8 foreign "I Love You"s written on big paper hearts. (Kate and Leo get to know another very well.)

The groups prepared to leave the stage, but the hosts asked that they stay on for another game. And then another. The first was a guessing game about a survey of foreign students that made zero sense to every foreign student there.

Example:

Q: What places do foreign students most often be in countries?

A: Playing sports (as opposed to other choices: bars/cafes, class, traveling)


Q: Do foreign students join in social activities?

A: Very few (as opposed to these choices: many, often, never)


Q: What do foreign students find most difficult in Ho Chi Minh City?

A: Accommodation (as opposed to communication, exercise, transportation)

And so you see, our groups did not come in first. We were very confused. The next game was a guessing game focusing on other cultures: "a tartan skirt...a shamrock...a KILT!" and "cherry tree...(photo of George Washington)...GEORGE WASHINGTON!" and other such.

Finally, the teams descended and it was time for the guests to share a bit of our culture with IYC. Now, we'd been told that we had to sing and dance or some other entertainment for a few minutes, so we’d worked up a passable a cappella arrangement of “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent. Check it out if you get a chance.

(Titanic approaches; we see the crowds of eager Vietnamese students awaiting certain embarrassing antics.)

“Please welcome our visitors from KOREA!” We looked around, nonplussed, and then the lights dimmed.

BA-NUH, BA-DUH DUH, BA-NUH, BA-DUH DUH—a powerful, rhythmic backbeat resonated in the stadium and one lone Korean fellow, cute guy with a cool haircut, advanced out in a black dance costume reminiscent of the 20s.

He danced like a pro—keeping time and making sharp, break-dancing movements. Then three more came to join him. The crowd cheered wildly. Then five more came out to join him. We just sat, openmouthed and horrified, knowing we’d have to perform next.

(Captain! Captain! The Titanic is approaching an iceberg!!!)

Then the fog machines and neon flashing lights turned on, turning the Korean break-dancers into a pop sensation for IYC. Gaping in our seats and breaking into cold sweats, we checked the exits and prayed they’d forget us.

(Great Scot, the iceberg is enormous!!!! Turn the ship!!!! Turn the ship!!!!)

After THREE choreographed and ticket-worthy dances by the Korean group, the hosts asked for the next group: the CET program from America.

We walked up the stairs to the front of the stage, stepping gingerly over the sound cables. We gathered a little to the left of center stage, slightly huddling and leaning toward the back wall. Rob bravely took the mike and gave us an honest introduction: “We’re the CET program from North Carolina, United States. We don’t have costumes…or fog or lights…but we have a song we’d like to share with you. Thank you for letting us be here.”

And then one of the two microphones was passed to me. We started out timidly with out piano-imitation: da, dum, duh-duh-duh, duh dum da…da, dum, duh-duh-duh, duh dum da….

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure…measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee

In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife

…How about love?

And so forth—we divided the group up into parts, and Tom and I each took a solo, stepping forth and giving it all we had. We gave them some pop star moves, doing the grape vine left and right, stretching out hands to the audience, and other desperate attempts to express enthusiasm. The crowd LOVED US! (We know because they said in unison WE LOVE YOU!!!)

(The Titanic is saved! The iceberg was avoided! No gash in the side, no compartments filling up, no “Don’t let go, Jack!”)

Shortly afterwards we shuffled out of the auditorium, our way made difficult by the IYC students thrusting membership sign-up cards in our faces. I’m not sure that any of us made it out without at least putting half-true information on the cards. I tried to tell my buddy Hac that I live in a different nation and thus couldn’t come to meetings, but she insisted that should I ever visit Viet Nam again that I could come. Yeah. That’s a different kind of logic.

Anyhow, it was remarkable, and we all went out afterwards for dinner at one of DiDi’s favorite places to debrief and relax after the intense recruitment. The food was DELICIOUS—tasty noodles, pork and greens, homemade chilled yoghurt for dessert, then traveling to a boba tea bar for dessert after that. Eatin’ well in Saigon!

(Titanic makes it to America, Jack and Rose get hitched, and Hollywood comes out with a sequel and TV series.)

P.S. Many apologies for the lack of visual representation--my camera ran out of batteries!