Ninja's Kidnapped My Family

Happy Halloween (Kind of)! Hope you all have some spooOOooky plans set up to celebrate this fun filled holiday! This week at Little America, we had our monthly Birthday party combined with a Halloween party for the students. Thursday night after classes finished, the teachers stayed late in school to begin transforming the classrooms and hallways into a Halloween wonderland! The classrooms were covered in crafts made by the students throughout this month as well as any other decorations we could find. My students made some amazing balloon spiders that actually really creeped me out.

Over the few days leading up the party the students were beginning to show their apprehension with regards to the haunted house. I hadn't experienced the pitch black maze of black sheets and hanging skeletons either so I couldn't say I blamed them when they said they did not want to go inside. Setting up the haunted house was a whole process that the other teachers have down to a science. Fishing wire is hung up in a grid pattern from the ceiling and then once a path is taped onto the floor, black trash bags are hung from the wires and taped to the floor. The maze includes a few tables for students to crawl though, glow in the dark skeletons, and teachers who hide and pop out at them at random points in the maze. Sounds fun...not.

taping down the maze

Attempt at an above view of the maze

Using Shanna for her height

Each classroom had its own theme such as musical corners, scary stories, and my room which was the dissection room. I had SO much fun with this one. To introduce the activity I made up a story about how on my way home the other day I walked through the park and saw a body on the ground. I decided to take some body parts back to show the kids. While most students put on their brave faces and stuck their hands into the dark unknown, several students shook their heads violently when their turn came up. For some of these students I told them I would reach in with them to show them that nothing would chop off their hand or anything, while others I could tell they were close to tears, I told them to sit down and wait for their friends to finish. I wasn't trying to scar any children! In the boxes was spaghetti, a wig, corn kernels, peeled grapes, and a glove filled with water and covered in lotion. I didn't tell them what body part was in that last box just to add to the fear factor. Once all of the students were finished I turned on the lights and showed them what was actually in the boxes. A lot of students who refused to touch the body parts then wanted to try again after they knew what was actually inside! As they left the room for the next activity I reminded them to tell the next classes coming in how they felt eyes and teeth and guts. They enjoyed scaring their classmates just as much as I enjoyed scaring them a little bit!

After they went through all of the activity stations it was finally time for the Birthday party/song performance. My class has a reputation of screaming their hearts out in class and then acting like they've never heard the song before when they perform in front of everyone and this day was no exception. I decided to give them a little bit of an incentive to balance out the fact that I game them a very difficult song to sing this month. I told them if they sing as loudly as they can (correct lyrics optional) that I will eat lunch with them one day next week! They all seem willing to sing whatever words come to their heads as long as they are loud!

Well, barring a few awkward silences in the middle they started and finished strong! I was still proud of them, and I will obviously be eating lunch with them this week sometime. Come on now, did you really think I would say no to lunch either way? The other classes' songs were great! Katrina's group of boys did an excellent rendition of "Ghost Busters" complete with backpack ghost zapping guns. Shanna's group had cute little spider hats, and Amanda had some enthusiastic little ones singing about ghosts and other spooky Halloween things. Now that my terrible choice of song is complete it's time for a much better and easier song for November, "From Me To You" by the Beatles. The kids already know most of the lyrics and I have some fun ideas for the dance! November's Birthday party is going to be here before we know it.

With every birthday party comes with the kiss for the birthday girls/boys. This month my student, Sua, got to choose her romantic kiss giver. She chose a strapping young lad from Alaska class who grabbed Sua around the middle and kissed her cheek with gusto. She was a bit surprised I think, because the majority of boys are too shy to even get close to the birthday girl let alone allow his lips to touch her face. 

heart breaker

 The students then got a chance to carve out a pumpkin! I traced the face on the pumpkin (I know, thank you, thank you very much)! Many ditched the spoon provided and decided to scoop out the insides with their hands. Their reactions were hilarious. While some enjoyed the gooey mess, others did one tiny scoop then ran to the bathroom to wash their hands.

Squishy!

Don't think he liked it very much

Wizar

The kindergarteners all left that day with bags full of candy and smiles (or some without smiles who were still feeling the effects of the haunted house). Next, it was time for the Elementary students. The teachers changed some of the activities to more age appropriate options and we got started right away. My new station was the musical corners room. We danced to Halloween music and then when I stopped the music they had to run to a certain corner of the room marked with a Halloween icon (mummy, vampire, Frankenstein, witch). I then picked an icon out of a bag and if students were standing there they would get candy. It was fun to see the students dance around to these songs. Mainly practicing their Psy Gangnam Style moves to songs like Thriller and Time Warp.

After dancing I was in charge of scary stories. Here is where I found out that I am completely useless when it comes to scary stories. Granted these students were a bit older so maybe it takes more to scare them but it was a tad discouraging to see blank stares when I finished my story...I told one about a boy locked in a room of a house who would kill people who lived there, but no reaction. I added blood and gore whenever I could, but still these students looked like they were watching a documentary about knitting. The last group gave me a little something when I made up a wild tale about playing the Ouija board and talking to a ghost whose mom killed him, but there weren't any satisfying gasps or cries of terror. If anyone has any helpful hints about how to tell scary stories let me know? It's a bit sad to end stories with..."and well...that was it...". I'll practice and be better next time or maybe I will be demoted to the human mummy game room next time.

Finally at the end of the day it was time to go into the haunted house! Crawling into my spot right in the middle of the maze I was actually a little scared myself as I am not one for dark places and loud screaming noises. Although overall I enjoyed being the "scarer" rather than the "scaree" (these are now official words). With the last shift comes the older kids who pretended they weren't scared when I grabbed limbs or jumped out in front of them. I only got hit once, which was much less than I expected and only one student managed to sneak in a light to use as they crawled through. During the time between groups of students, the haunted house was actually pretty relaxing. I laid on the ground next to a glow in the dark skeleton and rested my eyes until another group of clinging screaming kids were led into the dark.

As soon as the last group of students finished their activities, all of the elementary kids were sent into a room to watch scary movies while the teachers began ripping down all of our hard work from the night before. Hours of work on the haunted house and classrooms was taken down in about 45 minutes, stuffed into boxes, and put away. I am keeping up some of the creepy crafts my students made until the official Halloween day though! 


After the long day, the three Ninjas and Amanda decided to head out for a night on the town in our costumes. We headed to "The Park" which is a western bar nearby. Other foreigners trickled in with their Halloween costumes including a viking and Mary Poppins. The best costume had to be this guy though...

I apologized for stealing his family but told him that they were all very sweet and helpful around the house! We staged a couple fight scenes and obviously became life long friends with this guy (aka we will probably never see him again). Throughout the night more and more people arrived to get ready for the Halloween costume contest. It was great to see a whole group of grown men and women enjoying the holiday together. Overall it has been a fun and spoooOOoookyyy Halloween!

Next week is going to be a normal week at school, no field trips, or birthdays, or ninjas. Many of my students have their Korean school tests, so stress levels and anxiety will be high. We have been instructed by the Korean teachers to be a bit more relaxed on homework and other assignments. These students have to go through so much with their schools, parents, and other outside activities! I will definitely try to make this next week fun and relaxing for them. They need a place to de-stress or I feel like they might explode! Any ideas? Darts with pictures of tests on the bulls eye? punching bags shaped like pencils?

Next Saturday, Katrina and I are going on our kindergarteners' graduation trip! Our youngins will be graduating in March, so naturally...the graduation trip is in November...I just don't ask questions anymore. Anywhooo we get to go to a cheese making place...? I will let you know exactly what that entails, especially with a group of kindergarteners and the limited variety of delicious cheese in this country. Whenever I think of this field trip my mind brings me back to my Costco trip where I saw "Joli Candy Type Cheese" and I turn a slight shade of green.

The weekend after that trip, however, will be incredible (Sorry cheese makers)! Katrina and I are heading off to a Temple Stay at Jeondeungsa Temple, located on Ganghwa Island. While the weather will be a bit chilly we will be able to experience the life of the monks at the temple and complete meditation sessions as well as our 108 bows! This is something I've wanted to do since I chose to come to Korea. When will I ever get the chance to do it again? We meet the monks and get to ask them questions. We have our meals all together in silence, and wake up at the break of dawn to walk and see the sun rise. Not only will we probably meet other foreigners on our trip, we will also change the way we look at our own lives. What do we really need and what do we just "want"? It will give us an in depth view into an ancient and peaceful lifestyle. While we can take pictures there we have to be really stealthy about it. We can't pose with peace signs sitting on the lap of the head monk or anything. I will try to document it all the best I can with my camera and a journal to remember everything!

Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeeen! xoxo

Korean phrase of the post: 호박 (Hobahk) "pumpkin"

Circle beds and Golden Bulls

Another week down! Getting closer and closer to Halloween celebrations at Little America this week. The kids are getting excited (aka scared, aka some of them may not show up because they are to afraid of the haunted house)! I'm going to be working on my ninja costume and corresponding ninja moves for the party on Friday. I have also been assigned to be in charge of the "dissecting room" that day, which means I get to have kids put their hands into bowls of spaghetti and peeled grapes making them believe they are touching body parts. I might bring a white lab coat covered in fake blood to put over my ninja costume so I look the part for "mad, dissecting scientist". We'll see what I can put together over the next few days.

Before I get ahead of myself with Halloween plans, let me fill you in about the past few days! Friday was another field trip day for the kindergarteners. We went to the firehouse nearby. The day began with a lecture about fire safety accompanied with a Power Point completely in Korean. Now I know that these kids are very mature for their age, however, an hour long lecture about what to do in case of a fire for a group of 100 kids under the age of 7 is complete and utter insanity. There were multiple school trips there, one of which was a group of 2 and 3 year olds!! Now, don't get me wrong, our kids were exceptional! They sat nicely throughout the majority of the presentation and answered the questions that the firewoman asked them, but by the end you could tell that they were getting restless. Even the super cool fire safety music video at the end of the presentation did nothing to entertain them- and that music video was quite the show stopper. Once the lecture finished, the kids were led outside for a demonstration of the firetruck and fire extinguisher. This part of the trip was a bit more age appropriate.

kids putting out fires

Standard Little America photo shoot

 Overall, I think the kids just like being able to get out of the school for the day. It doesn't really matter where we go or what we do as long as they can play "I spy" and "Rock scissors paper" on the bus rides they are happy as clams!

After school I got back and packed a bag for the hiking adventure at Seoraksan (Seorak Mountain) national park! Shanna, Katrina, Seol, Amanda and I met outside the next morning at 5 to pick up a taxi and head to the bus terminal about an hour away. The bus we had booked was a bit more classy than previous buses we had taken. These held less people and allowed for much more leg room. The chairs could recline AND they had a foot rest! For 16,000 Won ($16) we decided that we will no longer be able to ride regular buses on long trips. The ride was about 3 hours long. The scenery on the way there was incredible. I guess I'm getting too used to seeing neon lights and buildings everywhere, that I appreciated the leaves and mountains so much more. I was definitely looking forward to some fresh air! When we stopped at a rest stop a couple hours in it was freeeezziinnggg outside! I was worried that I didn't bring enough layers to survive this hiking trip. When we arrived in Sokcho (the city where the park is located) the weather totally cleared up and it was sunny and warm! Phew- I really did not want to bust out fuzzy socks and parkas just yet.

First, we met up with Brenda at the bus station. Then, our next task upon arrival in Sokcho was to find a motel to bunk up for the night. We had a few options to look into:

Are we feeling Indian?

Or a ginger bread house style?

Or maybe something a little more western?

You will just have to stay tuned to see which one we decided on...


After booking our room and grabbing some food we headed off to the mountain! The bus ride there was a bit crowded, but nothing compares to that one subway ride (see previous post if you feel out of the loop). Everyone was dressed in their bright neon hiking gear. We made our way up to the park, gathering more and more hikers as we went. At one point the bus driver decided to administer a "seat-belt check". This did not bode well for those of us who were standing, holding a little handle from the ceiling. I think practicing my ninja moves have paid off though because the twisty jumpy maneuver that I performed kept me vertical and uninjured.

On the way up to the park we passed Kensington Hotel, complete with red double-decker bus. Amanda was sure she could get us rooms there for free. Something about a secret British code (know anything mum?). 

 The area around and in the park are absolutely gorgeous. Mountains and trees everywhere! The perfect clear blue sky helped make the day even better! We grabbed our tickets and made our way inside. At first we wanted to get a ride on the cable car that takes you up over the valley and to the top of a peak where you can then hike down, but the cars were all booked til about 5:45 that evening. As it was only about 1 in the afternoon, we decided against waiting for a cable car.

Ready to hike!

Entrance

 When you first enter the park you are greeted by a HUGE Buddha statue! It was  beautiful! Just the sheer size of him blew my mind. Officially named "Tongil Daebul- The Great Unification Buddha", this statue apparently represents the hope for reunification of North and South Korea.

Buddha

Colorful hiking gear

 The park offers several trail options of differing lengths and difficulty. We decided against the 14 hour hike, as we felt it would be a bit to easy for our expert hiking abilities. We decided to do a shorter on to see a Buddhist temple as well as some famous rocks (I know...but they had their own signs saying "rock" so they must have been important!).

The hike was fun! Mostly rocks and gravel with some stairs and pathways stuck in there. We followed the crowd, stopping to get pictures of pretty trees (Katrina) and other scenic views. This weekend, the leaves had just begun to change colors for fall. Over the next few weeks this park will turn into a red, yellow, and orange paradise! It will also be even more crowded than it was this weekend. I think we chose the best time to go!

Along the trail we chose, there is a Buddhist temple that is open to the public to walk through. My favorite part about this temple is the intricate paintings on all of the buildings and roofs! The bright colors and patterns were so unexpected when I heard we would be seeing a temple.

A lot of my pictures of this part of the trail were of these buildings. I just couldn't capture how amazing they are! I can't imagine the skill and time that must have gone into painting each building with this style.
Some artwork that probably did not take as much time and skill, yet was still very much appreciated was found on the signs around the temple. 

Is that toilet one really necessary?

Monk butt

After walking through the temple we continued our hike up the mountain to find those infamous rocks. If you noticed, there is the sign for one of the "rocks" in that last picture. The hike was the perfect amount of difficulty for us. We could still carry a conversation while walking but it wasn't exactly a bunny hill either. We definitely felt accomplished by the time we reached "the rocks" at the top. The site of the rocks is another Buddhist temple. One praying area is actually carved into the side of the rock face. It was difficult to truly appreciate the area for its historic value as there were people everywhere and booths selling refreshments and cheap trinkets. A bit sad when you think about the original purpose of this place.

Darn kids today

The next part of our trail if we chose to accept it...no we did not.

cave prayer room

 So after a short rest at the top we made our way back down. As the sun began to go down the fall colors became brighter. The leaves looked gorgeous in the evening sunlight!

When we got to the bottom we were met with a line wrapped around the parking lot waiting for the bus...our bus...to take us back to our motel...
Instead of waiting for what would have been more than 2 hours we decided to trek down on foot. The traffic of cars coming up to the park was at a standstill for as long as we could see! After a while Brenda, Amanda, Shanna, and Seol found a taxi driver, who was obviously not enjoying the traffic, and asked if he would turn around and go back down. We felt super sneaky as the taxi line at the park was an hour long line of tired hikers, but we are foreigners...we don't know any better...

When we made it back to our mystery motel, we showered and rested up for a fun night ahead. The 4:30 am wake up call had kicked in and we needed to rally ourselves. We all met up in downtown Sokcho for a kalbi dinner together. The food was great and the 20-questions game kept us laughing the whole evening. I found out that I am not very good on my celebrity knowledge.

After dinner it was obviously time for a norebang. But first...we needed to ride the bull...

 Now that that was out of our systems, we found a non-sketchy norebang to sing to our hearts content. Our set included some classics like "Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles and "Ghostbusters". After we had sufficiently lost our voices and romantically serenaded each other, it was time for bed. Now you can see which motel we ultimately decided on.

C'mon, obviously we couldn't pass on the disney princess castle motel! Amanda even got a circular bed in her room! Can't get much better than that. And it lights up like this at night...No competition.

The next morning we had a few hours to kill so we headed down to Sokcho beach a just a couple blocks away. The sun felt so nice as we relaxed and took in the sea side. As I think I've mentioned, Koreans really do not like to get tan. Several families were sporting their winter jackets while making sandcastles! Still don't understand.

 Overall this trip was relaxing, scenic, and full of good company! I love getting to see more of this country. I will have to come back to Sokcho again to do a different hiking trail! That will probably have to wait until warmer weather returns. Winter is coming...
We hopped onto our bus at 1:30 and planned on being home around 5:30 or 6. Seoul traffic decided otherwise. Stuck in bumper to bumper, we were on the bus until about 6 then still had to take the subway back to Songnae station and a taxi from there. Phew! Lots of travel time, but completely worth it! Now for a full week of Halloween lessons and crafts. The next post will most likely have my class's Halloween song- so prepare yourself!
xoxo
The Korean phrase of the post today is accompanied by a photo explanation:

화장실 (wha-jang-sheel) "toilet"

why...would anyone..ever..do that...

hope that left you with a great mental image! 

 xoxox

Mickey Mouse Yogurt

 Wow these weeks are flying by faster and faster every time I post! While I wait here in my apartment for the fridge maintenance man to arrive, I will update you on how everything is going here! Firstly, yes my brand new fridge that was installed in the first week of moving into my apartment has already decided to rebel against "the man" and be an oven instead of a fridge. Now I'm not one to judge, you can do whatever makes you happy, but when the water inside my fridge is warmer than my morning coffee I have to take a stand for my rights. I am looking forward to having an awkward-language-barriered moment soon! I wonder if I should play some crazy music just to make it more uncomfortable? Maybe some screamo...or show tunes...or just play the "Bill Nye" version of Gangnam Style on repeat to make him feel more at home? We will see what I'm feeling when he gets here.

Overall update: I am really feeling completely at ease here. At work I have really gotten a hang of the schedule and the way things work. My students are all used to me and my teaching style now (for better or for worse, they are not scared of me anymore). The other teachers are so kind and I am looking forward to spending the next 11 months with them! Getting around the area has been really easy to learn as well! I have ridden buses, subways, and taxis on my own and have not gotten lost (yet..). I met another teacher last night who said she did not have any support system when she first arrived so it took her a little longer to get used to traveling on her own. Thank you Katrina, Amanda, and Shanna for really helping me get used to things here! Living on my own has been nice as well--update- nice little Korean maintenance man just arrived, I used my limit of Korean "Hello, yes, no, friday, thank you"---I love just coming back from a long day of work and doing my own thing, having my own space. Ive gotten used to hanging up laundry to dry and listening to loud Korean conversations from outside my window. My neighbors are all pretty non-existent. The only reason I know someone lives next to me is because he smokes and the smell seeps into my bathroom sometimes. Over the past few weeks I have gone up to the smaller rooftop to sit out in the sun and read. I get a lot of stares from people walking by, because Koreans hide from the sun. Being pale here is seen as beautiful. I must look like some sort of freak of nature sitting out soaking up the rays. ---quick update--through a very broken English/Korean conversation I have just been informed by the maintenance man that I will not have a fridge/freezer until Monday...Oh goodness...---well, time to go with the flow!

So now, time for an update on my super cute Korean students. Friday was a "sports field trip"! Not knowing what that really meant, we all piled onto the buses and drove to Ilsan, about 20 minutes away. Most of the kids were wearing their Little America sweat suits (more pictures later). One of my students however was donning a different sweatshirt-- this is dedicated to the San Diego Saads!

Padres sweatshirt!

 We pulled up to the park and were greeted by lots of people in safari hats and khaki outfits. It was difficult to figure out the theme of the park really. There were several live animals (a monkey, some pigs, and some parrots/other birds) around the area and then walking through the area we saw bonsai tree displays, giant fish statues, and then a water park area?

"Stay Healthy, Beydakol Theme Park"

 After setting up camp at a picnic area, we brought the students to the sports complex area. This consisted of a soccer field sized area with soccer balls, goals, and other games for the kids to play with. After a week of school and being stuck in the bus for an ungodly 20 minutes, we opened the door to heaven and the kids screamed and ran like they haven't been given the opportunity to do so for their entire lives. The teachers just stood the the side and let the chaos ensue.

After running around for a solid 15 minutes, the gym teacher, Bear (yes. His name is Bear) showed up to lead some more organized forms of exercise. The students were broken up into two teams (blue and pink) and thus the Korean theme park Olympics was born.

The first game involved foam rectangles with a blue side and a yellow side. The Blue team had 30 seconds to flip over as many of the rectangles to the blue side as they could. Then the pink team had the same time to flip them all back to yellow. After each taking their turn, Bear had both teams out in the field together flipping over rectangles like they've never flipped rectangles before.

Other games included running and bike relays, and three-legged races. After the first few games I started to see the competition really taking its toll on the teachers rather than the students! Some of the Korean teachers got really into the games trying to get their classes to beat other teacher's classes. It was funny to see them getting all worked up when the kids were just happy to run around like banshees. The final game involved students crawling in giant foam tubes like hamsters. Keep in mind these are kindergarteners, so they should know how to crawl pretty well, however this required some higher gross-motor-skills that some students just haven't quite developed. While some students could crawl quickly without any problems others worked through several strategies during their turns in the foam hamster wheel. Here are a few of my favorites:

Ricky decided a bear crawl would be the best strategy.

This gentleman could stand up and run instead

and he just kept running, good thing the fence was there!

He started flat on his stomach pulling with his arms..

Bear teacher adding some problem solving opportunities

The sports day ended with a tie! I had the pink team all cheering "Go Pink Team!" when Bear teacher looked around and said "pink?". Apparently he had been calling it the blue and red team the whole time. It's OK Bear, gym teachers have different standards for certification.

By the time the sports day activities had finished the kids were hot, sweaty, thirsty, and hungry messes. We walked them back to the picnic area and they enjoyed their kimbap and plethora of unhealthy Korean snacks they had packed to share between them. I sat with Jay, who had yet another Korean genius invention that the rest of the world needs to incorporate into daily life.

 Field trip days are always fun but tiring! We get back to school to get ready for Elementary classes. Every month Elementary has something called "Best of the Best" where a student from each class is chosen to receive an award for completing some sort of task. This month the students had to write a movie report on a Wallace and Gromit cartoon. I enjoyed watching the cartoons as well as reading some of the reports from the eyes of Korean students!

The afternoon went by pretty quickly with the breaks between classes to celebrate the students who won "Best of the Best". One of my classes finished their pen pal letters to a class in America of another Hood graduate! They are all excited to hear back from students over there. I am interested to see what they learn and what discussions stem from the differences in their educational experiences. Its incredible the amount of stress that is put on students here. Even my young elementary school students feel the effects of the pressure from parents, teachers, and schools to do their best every day. Not only to these students go to multiple schools but they also participate in extracurricular activities and study for endless hours after school and on the weekends. When I ask them what they do on their free time, 95% of the time I hear "I study" or "do homework". It is sad, because they are still kids and need to have some fun in their lives, but that is just the culture over here! I therefore do my part for these kids and try to make my classroom as much of a stress-free and accepting environment as possible. Hence lots of games, singing, listening to music, and just talking about anything and everything!

After work on Friday, Katrina, Seol and I headed to Bupyeong to meet up with one of their friends Rich for dinner. While waiting for a table, a man dressed up as Mickey Mouse stopped and handed me an entrance ticket to a night club nearby. He then handed Rich a small, warm, yogurt drink. While we were trying to work out the connection between the two, Mickey Mouse skipped off to continue handing out random items to people along the street. Only in Korea. After a night of delicious food, drinks, and darts, I curled up in bed ready for a quiet next few days. Next weekend a group of us are going hiking to see the leaves change, which should be beautiful! It is going to be a long and crowded trip to get there and back, but it will be worth it! Of course, it will be blogged, don't worry. 

Until next time!

xoxo

Korean Word of the Post (This one's for you mum!) : 찻잔 [chat-jan] = teacup