I'm getting old

To fulfill the culture portion of my "North American Language and Culture Assistant" job description, an English teacher in the 5th and 6th year classes and I decided that it would be a good idea to give short presentations each week in class on an aspect of American life.

To you know, counterweigh things.

Benalmádena, and indeed the entire Costa del Sol of Málaga, in Southern Spain, is host to an astounding number of British expats. A 2005 survey indicated that the number of registered British citizens in Andalucia is 63,472. Most live on the coast in Málaga.

In my school, a large number of blond kids, who stand out against the darker Spanish kids like the protagonist of that hit 1995 movie Powder, are enrolled.

Anyone remember this movie?

Myself, being blond and Anglophone, am therefore obviously British.

Can you spot the foreign children in this photo?

In my presentation today I included at the end a brief list of awesome things the United States has created. This list included things such as cowboys, the moon landing, Hollywood, Google, jeans, and hip hop.

I took advantage of the hip hop slide to show a photo of some b boys and to put on Changes by Tupac, because I'm so hip hop. ...And because none of the kids would notice that I put on a video that drops the N-word in school.

I was expecting the standard "Ahhhhh!" gasp of approval that comes with putting on a cool song. But it never came.

IT NEVER CAME.

The kids were sitting there, oblivious. "Do you know that song?" I asked.

"What song... Oh that rap one? Nah," they countered.

They just sealed their fate. Week 2 in my presentations reminding the kids that I'm not English will cover American music. And there WILL be a quiz.