"Because Sue is a girl name"

So today I was the guinea pig for the new "Embassy Speaker Program" at the Lao-American College (LAC), a private college in Vientiane started by an American named Ginny Van Ostrand. I was tasked with talking about something that would impart a bit about American culture, etc.

It's also a chance for students that are studying English to interact with a native speaker, ask questions, etc.

Anyway, I took the opportunity to speak about American music. More specifically, country music. Even more specifically, about the man in black himself, Johnny Cash. I figured (and I had input from the Public Affairs Section on this, by which I mean it was the Public Affairs officer's idea) it would be a good idea to talk a bit about a singer, and the type of music, then play the song, then pass out the lyrics, then talk a bit about the lyrics, then play the song verse by verse and put the students on the spot by making them explain what it is about.

So I picked "A boy named Sue". Now, the tricky part is that understanding "A boy named Sue" necessitates knowing that Sue is a girl name, and the singer is a boy, and that hunting down your estranged father in order to kill him for naming you Sue, then leaving you and your mom, is par for the course for a country song. But I think I got that across.

Anyway, I think it went over well. I had 30-some young minds to mold through the lyrics of Johnny Cash. I knew it was a success when the young monk in the front row said the singer was angry because he was a boy and "because Sue is a girl name". Well, duh, I'd already told them that.

And, I'm told my time there will be covered extensively in an exciting upcoming edition of the LAC student newspaper.

Home run.