It was Peach's 6th Birthday so I made her a card and decorated a watering can for her! She's too cute! :)
Suwan Stadium, SOCCER GAME!: South Korea
Soccer Hooligans! There is a barrier between them and the field so that they cant start a brawl after/during the game. They are pretty intense with their chants and flags
Suwan Stadium, South Korea
My morning class from 9:20am-1:40pm, Vicky, Alice, Jinny,Peach,Faith,Mickael,Jennifer! They are holding their flower pots for spring!!
We're learning about 'Family'. I had each student bring in photos of their family. I went 1st and brought a pic of me kristin and eric at kristins graduation. They loved it and thought we were so pretty and they thought it was sooooo funny that I had a little brother. They kept saying, 'Little brother USA?' :)
haha he was listening to 'No Diggity' and thought it was soooo funny! He kept dancing, he's my little rockstar! :) Mickael loves listening to my Ipod w/ me during playroom!
April in Korea:
The Bad News Is .. Time Flies .. The Good News Is .. YOU'RE THE PILOT!
April 15th 2010 ~
This past week has flown by and it's probably the 1st time I've started to get a little home sick. I'm glad I'm here but I do miss some familiar faces! It just makes me realize how much I will grow and learn from the experience. Being over here makes me want to be more worldly, I love the quote 'I am a changed person from seeing the moon rise on the other side of the world' and I will definitely change for the better. (I keep telling myself that at least)
On March 26th a South Korean Navy ship sank in the Yellow Sea, close to North Korea. An unidentified explosion from under water hit the rear of the ship causing a massive hole. South Korean government officials aren't certain whether North Korea was involved in the incident. They have been discussing that its quite possible that an old N. Korean sea mine could have drifted to the area. Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said that North Korea had brought in about 4,000 sea mines during the Korean War and placed about 3,000 of them in the Yellow and East Sea's. "Though many sea mines were removed, it must have been impossible to retrieve them 100 percent," Kim said.
I remember walking in one of the subway stations and the news was playing the details of the shipwreck and a group of Koreans were watching. As I walked by I wished I could understand what the news was saying. It's weird because I'm use to watching the news in the US but since everything is in Korean here its hard to know everything that's going on around us ... I try to keep up online but its hard with being so busy. Being over here makes me realize how much is really going on in the world ... not just the local news that I usually keep up on. The Korean teachers told us they hope that they can't prove anything with N. Korea because if they do we will be deported home. Kind of scary!
We went to a Korean soccer game in Suwan last Friday, which was an absolute blast! I really enjoyed seeing the stadium it was so colorful! I found it interesting that they had barriers at the bottom of some of the stands to make sure that the rowdy 'hooligans' don't raid the field. It was interesting to watch them chant and wave their huge flags! I guess soccer is pretty big here; I'll definitely be going to more games! After the soccer game was over we walked around Suwan for our friend John's birthday. We went to some batting cages and got some street food, chicken on a stick!!! It's so good, I'm pretty sure Tia ate 5 sticks haha.
This week has been a lot less stressful at work, I'm finally getting the hang of things!! Here's a day in the life of my schedule:
8:30 am: I walk to work with Tia and Brianna ... it's about a 25min walk sooo we can't wait to have bikes and for the sun to be out daily! We usually arrive to school around 9am sometimes earlier depending if we stop and get a bagel or not!
9am-9: 20am: I prepare for my morning 6 year olds. (Remember in Korea sometimes you're a year older depending on when you were born, so some of my 6's are really 5yrs old in the US)
9:20 am-9: 30ish am: I do my 'greeting'. I have a powerpoint that I made which asks the day, month, year it is. I then pick a helper and have them come to the calendar and show the class what day it is. Then we go to my weatherboard and decided the forecast of the day. Next we listen to an alphabet and color song.
9:30-9:50 am: We either do song, which we sing songs like incy wincy spider, Barney's 'I love you', wheels on the bus etc. OR we have Reading and every month there's a new book ... Right now we're reading a book with different animals called, 'Jolly Jumping Jelly Beans!'
9:50-10:20 am: We do our 'Theme Book'. This months theme is manners!
From 10:20-11am: I have a break .... WHICH I LOVE!! I usually catch up on Facebook (haha) and prepare for my next lesson.
11-11:20 am: We have show and tell or story. For show and tell this month I'm having them bring in family photos. They think it's so funny I have a little brother and always ask, 'Katie teachers brother USA?' Too cute!
11:20-11:40 am: I have Writing or Math.
11:40-12:00 pm: I have Thinking Skills
12:00-12:20 pm: I have, Playroom, Lego or Library ... depending on the day!
12:20-1:00 pm: LUNCH! Which is the same every day ... rice rice rice ... but it's free!
1:1:40: I have, Crafts, PE, Science or Orda, depending on the day
2pm-2: 40 I have my 7 yr old special classes which I dread ... they are so wild and I have 12 of them running around and speaking Korean non-stop! Right now we're working on emotions ...
2:40-3:20 pm I have more 7 yr olds and we do the same as above!
3:40-5pm I have my 9-year-old class of 12. They are pretty good and I enjoy the fact that they have studied English longer so I feel like I can actually have a conversation with them!
What I've learned: They all love stickers! And you better believe I bribe them with tons and tons of stickers! Haha
5pm-6pm: I prepare for the next day
6pm: I'M DONE!!! We usually go to the gym or go grab food ...
Tomorrow we have a going away dinner for Ta-leah. It's going to be odd not having her around. She's such a great teacher! On Saturday we plan to go to a Cherry Blossom festival then Boys II Men will be here and we are getting tickets so I'm really excited about that! They came out with a bunch of covers like, 'Iris' etc., Which are pretty good. I'll let you know how that goes.
I miss you all .. xoxoxoxo
<3Katie Teacher!!!
