For those of you in the United States who have ever worked with me in a church, you know that I am a huge fan of “Would You Rather” Questions. I think they are a great tool for getting people talking.
Would you rather be rich or famous?
Would you rather have to say everything you think or never be able to speak again?
Would you rather have diarrhea or be constipated?
“Would You Rathers” cover a wide range of issues – and usually, after answering a couple of them, you find that you get to know the people you are talking with a little bit better. One of the “Would You Rather” Questions that I often ask youth is: “Would you rather sing and dance in front of your school or shave your head completely bald?” Until last night, my answer has always been, “I would totally rather shave my head completely bald.”
The fourth year students asked the American teachers if we would participate in “Celebrity Show.” We, of course, said yes. Then, we panicked about what we should do. Finally, we decided that the seven of us white Americans teachers were going to sing… and dance… in front of the school.
For our act, we changed the words to “Part of Your World” from the Little Mermaid and sang about how great Tisovec was. (Many of our students complain that our small town of 4,500 people is just not enough fun.) We had (somewhat) choreographed motions and a powerpoint with words and pictures to help our newer English speakers understand what we were singing.
I would like to share with you the lyrics to our song. Before I do this, here are a few things that you need to know to better understand our version of “Part of This World:”
1. Kofola is a type of soda sold in Central Europe.
2. Gulas, bryndza, and halusky are all typical Slovak foods.
3. A potraviny is a very small grocery shop.
4. Ovce is the Slovak words for sheep.
5. Ako sa povie is Slovak for “How do you say?”
6. Potok is Slovak for “river” or “stream.” (There is small stream that runs through the center of Tisovec.)
Here are the lyrics to our song.
(Sing the words to the tune of “Part of Your World” to get the full effect.)
Look at this place, isn’t it neat?
I get around on just my two feet!
Wouldn’t you think it’s the town,
the town that has everything?
Look at this view - treasures untold
How many wonders can one valley hold?
Lookin around you’d think sure,
It’s got everything.
We’ve got kofola and guláš aplenty
We’ve got bryndza and halušky galore
Want potravinies? We’ve got twenty!
Yeah t-town!
But that’s not all
It’s got more.
You can be where the ovce are
You can see, you can see ‘em grazing
Strolling around on those – ako sa povie – HILLS!
Taking the bus you don’t go too fast
But there’s no rush and no reason to leave
Strolling around down those ako sa povie – STREETS!
Down where they bike
Down where they hike
Down where they play all day on the courts
Not getting tan
But glad that I am
Part of this world
What did I give
to be able to live next to this potak?
What did I pay
to spend my days looking at rocks?
People might say let’s get away,
let’s go to Praha for the weekend!
See new faces. Go new places. Ready to leave.
But we want to be where the two streets are
In our small town where we can’t get lost
When does a town become –
ako sa povie - home?
I’m here to stay,
Laugh, learn and play,
and give my heart to friends in this place
At EGT, Glad I can be
Part of this world.
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