Spelling Bees and Christmas Week and Vacation

 

So I haven't posted in a while.  Everything has been busy, and this post will probably not be in order.  Anyway, so what has happened since I last posted.  Well, I noticed the faces of all the foriegn teachers driving around on school buses.  Never thought I'd see my face on a bus, so it was quite an interesting observation.  Not sure how I feel about it, but it definately surprised me.  Also, I encountered a jumping spider in my classroom and it took all my willpower not to shriek in front of the kindergarteners.  I can only imagine how that would have gone.  And worse I was unable to catch it so I hope it migrated elsewhere during the Christmas holidays.

Mom sent me a 31 lb box, with Christmas gifts for me and Nathaniel, which I carried all the way back from work to the apartment.  Thank you Mom, I loved all the gifts, though I have to admit I couldn't use my arms (couldn't even type) for over an hour after I got home.  And of course the box exploded with glitter so now there is glitter all over my apartment floor.  I also enjoyed the decorations.  Thanks again Mom.  All the kids loved the Christmas stickers that she sent me, and I shared them with the other kindergarten classes.  It was nice to open them via Skype with the family.  Ah, technology, how you make the holidays away from home easier.

 

So we also had a few Spelling Bees that week.  I had a total of four students participate.  One third grader, and three second graders.  I was the MC (Master of Ceremonies) for the Second Grade Spelling Bee.  Basically, I called on each student and told them which word to spell.  Pretty simple.  I had three students participating in that spelling bee, and one of them was the overall winner.  I was so proud of them all (Congratulations and Good Job Everyone!).  They also had to take a test that day, so it was a pretty hard day on them, but they all did very well.

 

Before the Christmas celebration day, the morning kindergartners had market day where they get to exchange their hard earned big stickers for fake money and buy things.  So everyone got to go home with new toys and pencils etc.  During market day, my class also got to do a surprise ballet lesson demonstration for a new class that they will be beginning when the new semester starts in March (I think).  Basically, the teacher had them stretch and stand on their toes, but all of them really had a lot of fun.  You could tell that most of the girls had taken ballet, as they could follow the directions easily enough, whereas the boys struggled just to keep their legs together and straight.  Sad to say, but I probably would have had the same problems as my male students had I been participating.  The teacher threw a bunch of fluffy balls around and the kids had to dance around gathering them.  I helped, at the insistance of Sally (one of my kindergarteners), and I am sure I looked quite funny but the kids got a kick out of it. 

 

 

So Christmas Celebration Day (last day of classes before our week long break) started off which us finding out that a coworker got engaged the night before.  Congratulations!!!!  Nice way to start the day.  Besides the spelling bee for the second graders, we had a bunch of events planned for the morning kindergarteners.  First we started with a magic show and puppet show.  It was easy to understand (a lot easier than the professional bunraku? puppet show in japan - can't remember what it was called for sure).  And I spent most of the time laughing with my kids.  Though a few parts did scare them and Sally dragged me closer.  It was adorable.

 

After the puppet magic show, we held the song contest.  Since I was the MC, I was unable to take pictures this time, but let me tell you that all of the classes did an excellent job.  Basically my job was to call up the next class to perform and by time while everyone voted for the best class.  The kids seemed to enjoy it but they were more competitive than normal and those who did not place 1st-3rd were upset when they didn't win.  But they all did well.  My class performed last, and sang "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and received fourth place.  Then all the classes, and the teachers sang "Silent Night" as we waited for the votes to come in.  Chris Teacher's class (the youngest class currently at LCI) won with "Ten Little Angels."  They were so adorable.

 

 

So after the song contest, we did a little bit of decorating for a friend before lunch.  Then the kids got to go see Santa Claus.  Santa asked if they were bad or good and if they had been bad, they had to promise to be good from now on to get thier present.  Every student got a present (provided for by their moms) and a picture with Santa.  They were sad because they were not allowed to open their presents at school, but had to wait until they got home or till Christmas, whatever their parents had decided.  But I let them open their presents from me, and that made them happy, but they didn't have time to play with them as they had to go home soon, the day was over and break was starting for them.  I gave every student of mine at least a Christmas Card that I drew and candy.  I got each of my morning kindergarteners a present, a CD with pictures for thier parents, and stickers.  My afternoon kindergarteners also got stickers. 

 

After morning kindergarten, the day went fast with tests and spelling bees.  Then it was time for the staff Christmas Party.  They brought a lot of food, sushi, chicken, wine.  I was happy to enjoy a nice glass of Mascoto (Yay for white wine though there was mostly reds) along with dinner.  And even better they had BRIE!  Yay for French cheese!  Afterwards, we had the Secret Santa guessing and I had to go first.  Lucky for me my wild guess just happened to be my secret santa.  Thank you Ellie for the Christmas gift!!  Granted the penalty for guessing wrong was just singing a song, which wasn't much of a penalty.  Melanie (the owner) liked at least one of the earrings I gave her, though she had to sing because she didn't guess me.  Otherwise, they played games, sang, and well drank, but it was the one time of year that they were allowed to so why not. 

Afterwards, I spent Christmas with Nathaniel, and along with his mom, he chose a lovely black cat necklace which I will definately wear at the next available time.  It is so lovely.  Much nicer than my practical spices for him.  But at least he likes practical.  And so I started off my Christmas break relaxing, watching anime, and playing video games.  Not a bad break, but it seems to go by too quickly.  I also got a lovely pocket watch scarf and some cards from my students.

Co-worker's Birthday and Snow

So Megan had a birthday near the end of November, so most of the foreign teachers went together to celebrate her birthday at an really fancy Indian restaurant.  Having missed Indian curry, I was glad to go and enjoyed the food a lot.  I met some new people, mostly a friend of Megan's and one of Ben's.  Everyone had lots of different types of Indian food and it looked so good.  We all had a good time, and it was one of those rare moments that I actually went out with the group.  I really should do it more often rather than hide in my apartment ^.^ .  Anyway, Ben's friend took this fun photo, though I am looking down in the picture, perhaps answering a text of moving something that fell. 

 

The adventure was getting there.  So, I was going to go to Nathaniel's apartment since it was closer to the restaurant than mine was.  It was dark, and I decided to take the Bus 11 which I knew went to Jukjeon Station, but I got on a different stop.  I had no idea that this Bus 11 went the other way and ended up at the Migeum Station which was two stops past Jukjeon.  It was a little nerve wracking, but once found the station in Migeum, all was well.  So, I went to Nathaniel's and then the next day I tried to find my way to the restaurant.  As many of you know, I have no sense of direction and though I got to the station okay, I wandered around Myungdong for a while before calling Chris who gave me directions as best she could over the phone.  We weren't having much luck when I noticed I was behind the Royal Hotel which had been on the map that Megan gave me.  I went to go around towards the front of the hotel and ended up finding the TAJ, Taste of India restaurant on the way.  Lucky me!

 

Pictures from the Flurries Early in the Week

 

Anyway, as I said before, we had a blast and I returned to Nathaniel's when they decided to go drinking as I was tired.  Soon the weekend was over and it was back to work.  Though a few times this week we had some snow and the kids got really excited about the snow, especially on Wednesday when we got a lot of snow.  We even let them go to the rooftop garden and play outside for a bit.  They liked to throw snowballs at me and we built a mini snowman on the roof.  But we couldn't stay out for too long as they were cold and we didn't want them to get sick.  Needless to say that they had a lot of energy.

 

OMG It's Snowing!

 

So, the snow got bad enough that the buses were stuck in traffic and couldn't pick up the kids for the afternoon classes on Wednesday, so all afternoon classes were cancelled and we were actually sent home early.  Sadly, that means we will likely be making up those afternoon classes some Saturday, but for today it was a nice break.  Who doesn't get excited for a Snow Day!  I took my normal route home, despite knowing some areas would be difficult to walk due to the snow and took lots of great pictures. 

 

Hiking, Open Class, and Cat Cafe

I've been quite busy lately but here are some highlights of the last few weeks.  Nathaniel invited me to go hiking with a few of his coworkers at the Ingwan Mountains.  His coworkers, Younghe and Dr. Hang were very nice and the Ingwan Mountains were very beautiful.  I didn't have to carry anything, because Nathaniel took anything I would need in his backpack which was nice, as I had never seriously gone hiking before.  It was hard, and we covered two small peaks during our hike.  My legs were trembling afterwards but despite my fear of heights, the view was worth it.  We went to get some really good fried chicken at Dr. Hang's suggestion afterwards.  There was some nice older art/architecture on the hike as well, which I really enjoyed.  I even found a lot of lava rocks.  We also stopping at a wishing rock and all made a wish.

 

Then there was my Open Class, which was basically a class that all the parents come and watch me teach their kids.  It was definately stressful preparing for it, and I have to say I am glad it is over, but it definately went well, though I am glad I wrote the schedule on the board as I may have forgotten at first due to nerves.  Mostly, I just pretended the parents weren't there and did my best to avoid any major mistakes.  Of course, the normally talkative students were quiet because their parents were there and a bit shy to raise their hands and answer like they normally would have.    We also had teacher pictures that week as the school prepared for the graduation of some of the kindergarteners.  Check out the awesome teachers I work with.

Just Foreign Teachers

Foreign & Korean Teachers

 

So to destress and relax a bit, I decided to go to the cat cafe with Chris again, and Nathaniel tagged along.  Not knowing what time Chris was coming, Nathaniel and I arrived 2.5 hours early so we had time to kill.  We went for a walk along the stream and found a lot of neat things during out walk.  We also found a dog park where we stayed and watched a lot of dogs playing around.  There was a black lab puppy who really liked Nathaniel and kept jumping the small fence trying to play escape artist.  Nathaniel caught the dog quite a few times and returned it to its owner.  It was very adorable.  We also had another dog try to jump all over us, and it was a fun way to kill time until Chris would get there.

 

 

Once at the Cat Cafe, Youngsim, the cat that Chris really likes, decided to make my jacket his bed, and then scared any of the other cats away.  He was mad at me, when I restrained him from attacking cats that passed by.  I made Chris deal with him when she arrived, allowing me to see the other cats.  The cafe was packed, and lots of people were handing out treats, so it took a while for the cats to come say hi, but my favorite cat, sadly I do not know its name, found his way onto the blanket that I brought and spent a good amount of time being adorable and sleeping on me.

 

 

 

Sohee's Birthday Party and Halloween Spirit Week

 

So, as you might remember, LCI has birthday parties for the kindergarten students.  This time it was it was Sohee's turn.  I briefly met her mom and the kids had a lot of fun, but none of them seemed to be a big fan of the food, and only a few touched the cake.  They had prepared a more healthy cake with lots of fruit on it.  I guess kids don't really care yet for healthy and still prefer the chocolate and full of sugar cakes.  Either way, Sohee enjoyed her little party.

So a week or so after Sohee's Birthday Party, we started Halloween Spirit Week.  Of course, spirit weeks mean different themes and the kids had a bunch of fun dressing up in different ways.  So did the teachers ... well I certainly did.  Anyway, Monday was Pajama Day, Tuesday was Crazy Hair Day, Wednesday was Sports Day, Thursday was Backwards Day, and of course Friday was Halloween meaning lots of awesome costumes.

Pajama Day

 

Crazy Hair Day

 

I didn't really know what to wear for Sports Day so my coworkers just told me to wear a hat, shorts, T-shirt, and leggings.  *Sorry I do not own a pair of sweats.*  Anyway, I had fun and wore the hat I stole (okay stole with permission) from my Uncle Jon and kind of looked like I was going fishing, Halloween style.  It amused me.

 



Sports Day

 

As I said before, Thursday was Backwards Day.  Though the outfits weren't as interesting as the other days, we did carve a pumpkin.  All the students got a chance to try digging out the insides with a spoon, but the spoon wasn't working so well so Jessica Teacher had to dig in with her bare hands and scrape it out with her hands.  Let's just say my nails definately hurt after that one.  The kids took turns with my camera so had a few pictures of me digging the pumpkin out.  We also had to stay late on Thursday to decorate the school for the big Halloween Event the next day.  They gave us pizza, fried chicken, and beer (which I didn't drink but the food was good) before we got busy with the decorations.

 



Backwards Day & Pumpkin Carving

 

 

 

The Halloween Event was a lot of fun.  As most of you know, I love dressing up in costumes, so I enjoyed myself a lot.  I was a Chinese witch and even managed to dig out my silver glasses to match the outfit.  The male teachers all did a super hero theme, and of course everyone loved it.  I was in charge of one of the face painting rooms, so I drew lots of ghosts, spiders, black cats, and coffins on different kids.  For those who didn't want Halloween face paint, I drew things like flowers, hearts, stars, and butterflies.  It was a lot of fun, though I wish I had more time as then I could have made the drawings look really good.  Sadly there were only really simple.  Though I did manage to draw something on each of my hands.  I am left handed, so I was surprised how well the coffin I drew on my left hand with my right hand turned out.  After face painting, we swapped classes and did a small trick or treating event before the kids went home.  Other events included a Haunted House, decorating Halloween sun glasses, snacks, etc.  Then we did had a song contest and anounced the various winners.  My class forgot the ending moves to the Addams Family Theme, but it was still pretty cute.  Amy from my class won the costume contest as a red crayon.

 

After the big Halloween Event, I gave tests to my second graders before Afternoon Kindergarten.  For the Afternoon Kindergarteners, Megan Teacher and I worked in the Haunted House for a little bit.  I surprised a few of the students, and scared them at first, but once they knew we were there, they started trying to scare us back.  It was amusing.  Then the two Afternoon Kindergarten classes switched and did a small trick of treat, which we were missing candy for, so it took a bit as I needed to go find candy.  Otherwise, that ended the Halloween festivities and now I need to get rid of my decorations for the upcoming open class.

 



Halloween

The male teachers as super heroes.

Ben - Batman

David - Superman

Alex - Spiderman

Serry really does look like Princess Cinderella in this picture.

Amy winning the Costume Contest as a Red Crayon.

Sally the Angel.

Right Hand

Left Hand

Me with Bella from Afternoon Kindergarten Class

 Morning Kindergarten Class

Halloween Teachers

 

 

I tried to upload the video of the kids singing the Addams family that Alex took for me, but alas it kept failing.  Oh, and to top it all off, I lost my voice again afterwards ... I have a feeling I won't be getting my voice back until Christmas break when I can actually stop talking for once ... Never thought I would actually find the day that I wanted to stop talking.  (Voted most talkative in High School)