Kickin' it in Geumchon

James, one of the other English teachers that I work with, kept mentioning the EV Boys when we went to downtown Uijeongbu the other night. They're a trio of English teachers that work at a school called the English Village (hence EV Boys). It's a performing arts/English school, so needless to say the instructors there are rather creative when it comes to things like this. The great thing about this video is it's pretty much universal when it comes to the expat experience in a suburb area in South Korea. It's exactly what Uijeongbu looks like, and the cultural things they mention are everywhere. The article below is courtesy of www.Korea.net/news.

A quick side note: the chorus says
Kickin' it in Geumchon
Oh, Oh
Kamsa hamneeda
Anyong haseyo

These are the first two words I learned here. They mean "thank you very much" and "hello/goodbye" respectively, and are the two most common phrases i've heard.

All the other things they mention (pig faces, the 80's plastic visors, the dunkin donuts, kimchi everywhere, cass beer, saying uh after every word, fruitloop balls instead of peanuts at the bars, etc) are prevalent everywhere. 



Where is Geumchon?
About 20 kilometers northwest of Seoul is where the Gyeonggi English Village, Paju Camp is situated. Christian Zonts, the song's chief author and EV Boyz founder, Brian Petersen and Mike Nance all live and work there as English instructors/entertainers – the hip term these days is "edutainers." All three are from the United States and have been in Korea for 11 months, 14 months and almost two years, respectively. 

When they want to leave the sanctuary of the Village, Geumchon is the nearest large town. It is no different from most urban areas outside the major Korean cities, with a mixture of traditional and modern. In the words of the EV Boyz "Geumchon is a small town but we make the most of it." Christian was inspired one day to sit down and write a song about his experience as a foreigner living and hanging out in Korea. Brian and Mike joined and added their own flavor to the mix.

The result is a Beastie Boys soundalike with a cheerful and catchy refrain as well as playful lyrics. The EV Boyz make reference to the local movie theater "keeping it real" with no subtitles; then point out this is the very reason they don't go to the cinema. (In a recent interview, they did confess to speaking very little Korean. The phrasebook referred to in the lyrics is Christian's main way to communicate when he travels around Korea, as he does each weekend.)

Much is sung about food and drink, and the video clip shows the trio enjoying a few tasty treats as well as some brews. Pig faces for sale are immortalized in song, But when they went to the market to film some, they were nowhere in sight. The EV Boyz confess to loving Korean food and being adventurous eaters – they have even tried some dishes this author never has! Fittingly, the bridge in the middle of the song is an ode to kimchi, "the cabbage that we ravage with the chili paste taste."



The song was originally written to amuse themselves and their colleagues (over 100 native speakers of English work at Paju English Village), and the video was made to give relatives and friends back home an idea of what their non-work lives here were like. Audiences found the video so well made that it took a life of its own. Responses have been mostly positive, especially from colleagues and supervisors at the English Village.