Thursday, May 14, 2009
Bonus Picnic Picture
I forgot this picture. Matthew (a.k.a. MP...999, a.k.a. MP Megalodon 999, a.k.a. Dancy-Pants) wore some awesome tights.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
I Really Am Moses
So in 2005 I had a Moses themed birthday party. It was awesome and a total surprise. I recall trying to part the waters of my beer. Now it appears that things have come full circle.
This is the Jindo Miracle Sea Parting Festival. In English it's also called the Moses Miracle Festival. 3 times a year the tide gets really low. So low that a weird sand bar/road appears between Jindo and another nearby island. So for a brief period of time one can walk between the two islands.
Joel, Jeff and I caught an early bus down to the island. It was a 5 hour ride but it was also the only route we were navigate by ourselves. So basically, once the road starts opening up you have to book it across the water. As you can see I bought some sweet boots because I thought there was going to be a lot of mud, muck and grossness. Joel decided to go barefoot for most of the way. As it turns out the road is not made of soft muck. it's almost completely composed of asorted crushed bivalve shells. Joel was not pleased. As you can see he did eventually decide to put the Shanbu's back on. So, anyway, we were trying to run to get to the other island when we were stopped by the police and forced to turn around. Boo! We had almost made it...
In this picture Joel has decided that he has enough small cuts on his feet and that he should put his shoes back on.
One of the funny things about this is that there were a bunch of tourists trying to get across the land bridge. BUT there were even more people digging up various clams and mussels. they were also collecting large kelp plants. This woman is very excited because she just found a baby octopus.
All along the road there were these fluorescent blue and orange starfish. I kept picking them up and flinging them back into the water because I wasn't sure how long the tide was going to stay out. It made think of that story I learned at CCD about the guy on the beach who was flinging starfish back into the sea. When asked why he was doing such a pointless task he said something like it makes a difference to that one. I think that's about the closest I've been to church in a decade.
This is the Jindo Miracle Sea Parting Festival. In English it's also called the Moses Miracle Festival. 3 times a year the tide gets really low. So low that a weird sand bar/road appears between Jindo and another nearby island. So for a brief period of time one can walk between the two islands.
Joel, Jeff and I caught an early bus down to the island. It was a 5 hour ride but it was also the only route we were navigate by ourselves. So basically, once the road starts opening up you have to book it across the water. As you can see I bought some sweet boots because I thought there was going to be a lot of mud, muck and grossness. Joel decided to go barefoot for most of the way. As it turns out the road is not made of soft muck. it's almost completely composed of asorted crushed bivalve shells. Joel was not pleased. As you can see he did eventually decide to put the Shanbu's back on. So, anyway, we were trying to run to get to the other island when we were stopped by the police and forced to turn around. Boo! We had almost made it...
In this picture Joel has decided that he has enough small cuts on his feet and that he should put his shoes back on.
One of the funny things about this is that there were a bunch of tourists trying to get across the land bridge. BUT there were even more people digging up various clams and mussels. they were also collecting large kelp plants. This woman is very excited because she just found a baby octopus.
All along the road there were these fluorescent blue and orange starfish. I kept picking them up and flinging them back into the water because I wasn't sure how long the tide was going to stay out. It made think of that story I learned at CCD about the guy on the beach who was flinging starfish back into the sea. When asked why he was doing such a pointless task he said something like it makes a difference to that one. I think that's about the closest I've been to church in a decade.
Potato Sack Races Are Hard
Picnics are yet another reason why teaching Kindergarten can be the greatest thing in the universe sometimes. We had the annual Spring picnic at Yangjae Park this year. It had been postponed from last week because the weather had been so bad. I made sure to tell of my students to dress appropriately for the weather because the forcast for this Friday was also questionable. Because they all came in sweatsuits and undershirts the temperature was in the upper 70s.
This picnic was much less of a picture taking fiasco than the one that I went on last fall with my other Kinder class. It was really fun to hang out with my kids and get a chance to play with them in a context that doesn't involve phonics. The above picture was actually one of only two group pictures taken this day.
We got to play with Rachel's class and Kyle's class since they're the other two 3rd year Kinder classes. I like a lot of the kids in their classes so it was fun to hang out with them too. We were given a list of game ideas and such but it seemed to rapidly devolve into just Duck, Duck, Goose and run-from-point-A-to-point-B-as-fast-as-possible. Although my favorite game was the jumping contest because Nathan is such an awesome jumper.
then, of course, was lunch. Helen is clearly not a very good chewer. Although I would like to take this time to talk about the love triangle going on on my class. The little boy below (Eric) likes a girl named Claire (she was in my other kindergarten). BUT since Helen joined out class Eric has been giving her presents. Claire still goes to LCI and plays with Eric all the time. In fact, Kate told me that Eric and Claire were planning on getting married. Oh what tangled webs we weave...
the highlight of the day...TUG OF WAR!!!!
My class (combined with Andy's) won the kindergarten tug of war. I am especially proud of this victory because a tournament win was so narrowly snatched from the tiny hands of my kindergarteners last fall. Good job guys!
And, finally, in other news... this is my favorite kid in LCI. His name is Justin. He walks around like he has no bones. He also writes like he has no bones.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Pictures of me
I talked to my aunt via email this week and she said that my blog was nice but there weren't enough pictures of my so I have gone through my own archives and those of facebook to come up with a blog post of pictures of me. Here we go...
At the DMZ with my dad. This is at Panmunjeom.
Feeding monkeys at Ankgor Wat, Cambodia.
About to enter Bayon Temple at Angkor Wat.
William's Last night out in Seoul!
Margaritas at Pancho's. Yum!
LCI year end staff dinner.
Gosu Caves in Chungcheong Province with Rachel and Shannon
Aaaand the impetus for everything: the broken arm! In all its full on, long-arm, pink glory
And then the sleek green model lighter version...
At the DMZ with my dad. This is at Panmunjeom.
Feeding monkeys at Ankgor Wat, Cambodia.
About to enter Bayon Temple at Angkor Wat.
William's Last night out in Seoul!
Margaritas at Pancho's. Yum!
LCI year end staff dinner.
Gosu Caves in Chungcheong Province with Rachel and Shannon
Aaaand the impetus for everything: the broken arm! In all its full on, long-arm, pink glory
And then the sleek green model lighter version...Well, Aunt Carmen, I hope this is sufficient. I had to search around and bump the "Patty's face dance" post for this. Also, isn't my hair long? I know!
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Han River and Yellow Dust
By the time Friday rolls around I'm usually pretty frustrated with work or about living in such a big city. That's why I love the Han River so much. The Han and the Yangjae Rivers have these amazing bike paths along them. the past two weekends have been beautiful so I've been able to get out and ride my bike.
I don't even think I can adequately explain how much better I feel after these bike rides. The Han has a bunch of parks and pools and tennis courts that run along it. It's so amazing to be out in the warmness and to see people out with their families and having a good time. Last weekend there was the Korean touch rugby championship which basically translates to a bunch of Westerners running around and giving each other hugs. Though last week I was, in fact, on a mission to find a route from my house to the Korean War Memorial at Samgakji because that's where Arirang taekwondo trains. After a random morning of spinning around i finally made it.
I was thrilled and rushed into the building to find TM talking to a new member. On the way home I was a little more serious about actually timing myself to see how much time I would need to get there. I went kind of fast on the way home because I was chasing someone but at a normal pace it should probably take about an hour and 15 minutes. Not bad considering it takes me an hour door-to-door on the subway. I poked around the war memorial for a little bit and it's surprisingly upbeat. There's a wedding hall that usually has something going on every weekend and the outdoor yard is full of old planes and tanks and stuff. It's pretty neat and I'd like to spend a Saturday poking around with a little more ardently. Maybe climb around on some of the airplanes.
That Sunday some other teachers and I went out for brunch at the Big Rock Brewery in Gangnam. It was great. There was even an omelet bar. This is a little ketchup and egg man that Holly accidentally had a conversation with for a few minutes.
In other news, apparently I need to watch out for the giant yellow dust cloud. This is serious. As it has been explained to me the yellow dust is sand from the Gobi desert that has been picked up by the wind and carried here. My friend told me that it has been this way for the past 10 years or so and is exacerbated by dsertification. The USO has a website that tells you the warning level and whether or not you should spend time outdoors. Way to go, China!!
I don't even think I can adequately explain how much better I feel after these bike rides. The Han has a bunch of parks and pools and tennis courts that run along it. It's so amazing to be out in the warmness and to see people out with their families and having a good time. Last weekend there was the Korean touch rugby championship which basically translates to a bunch of Westerners running around and giving each other hugs. Though last week I was, in fact, on a mission to find a route from my house to the Korean War Memorial at Samgakji because that's where Arirang taekwondo trains. After a random morning of spinning around i finally made it.
I was thrilled and rushed into the building to find TM talking to a new member. On the way home I was a little more serious about actually timing myself to see how much time I would need to get there. I went kind of fast on the way home because I was chasing someone but at a normal pace it should probably take about an hour and 15 minutes. Not bad considering it takes me an hour door-to-door on the subway. I poked around the war memorial for a little bit and it's surprisingly upbeat. There's a wedding hall that usually has something going on every weekend and the outdoor yard is full of old planes and tanks and stuff. It's pretty neat and I'd like to spend a Saturday poking around with a little more ardently. Maybe climb around on some of the airplanes.
That Sunday some other teachers and I went out for brunch at the Big Rock Brewery in Gangnam. It was great. There was even an omelet bar. This is a little ketchup and egg man that Holly accidentally had a conversation with for a few minutes.
In other news, apparently I need to watch out for the giant yellow dust cloud. This is serious. As it has been explained to me the yellow dust is sand from the Gobi desert that has been picked up by the wind and carried here. My friend told me that it has been this way for the past 10 years or so and is exacerbated by dsertification. The USO has a website that tells you the warning level and whether or not you should spend time outdoors. Way to go, China!!
Friday, March 20, 2009
The New Kindergarten
I now have a new kindergarten class. I won't lie, I really miss my old kids but these ones are nice too. This is another 3rd year 7-year-old class. I find myself constantly comparing them to my former class which is pretty unfair considering I started teaching the other class six months into their 3rd year. We have a lot of work to do but I'm hopeful it will all work out. Independent of that they're all kind of hilarious.
Angela, Helen, Matthew, Eric, Daniel, Lee
Now for a quick run down:
back: Matthew, Lee, Mike, Eric, Daniel, Nathan
front: Patty, Diane, Helen, Angela, Julie
The above picture is the class as a whole. You can't really read it but there is a message on the white board that says something like "Hello Julie teacher's class. This is the man in the wall." Another one of the teachers snuck into my room and wrote it on the board. The entire class is convinced that there is a man who lives in the wall between my classroom and Joel's. I prove this to them by pounding on my wall and then having Joel pound back. They eventually caught on and started to suspect Joel. That's when I sent Joel into my room while I went inot his room and did the pounding. I suggested to them that they write letters to the man in the wall. Some of the better ones include: "Man in the wall, I want to fight you! Lee" and "Man in the wall, I like to ride a bicycle. I love you. Helen"
Exhibit A. The first two kids are Lee and Matthew. Lee is awesome and he is a teeny tiny human being. I like to pick him up and walk around. He's also fun because I teach his older brother in a later class. They look remarkably similar and I often find myself calling his brother, Dave, "Lee". Oops.
The second guy is Matthew. He told me a few days in that he was Daniel S.'s cousin. I am not surprised by this as Matthew is also a bit of a space cadet. But he's a bit smilier and dancier.
Exhibit B. This is Helen. She's new to the class. She's a pretty good speaker and reader and yet she starts to cry during phonics almost every day. I'm not really sure why as she doesn't struggle with the subject at all. You know when she's going to cry because her eyes double in size and then begin to flood with water, just like in those old Warner Bros. cartoons. It's amazing.
Next to Helen is Mike. If you can't tell from the picture he doesn't really like to talk to me in the afternoon. Normally I would be upset by this but Mike is a really good studnet so if he doesn't want to talk for 30 minutes out of the day then that's fine with me. I like him because he makes jokes that go over the other students' heads.
Case and point:
I had been making up rhyming names for students in the class. For example, Lee the Flea, Mike the Bike and Helen Megellan.
Eric (another student): Teacher, what is meric?
Me: What? Merk?
Eric: No, meric.
Me: I don't know what you're saying. Spell it.
Eric: M-R-I-C
Me: What? Are you making up words?
Eric: No, teacher. Mike called me Meric.
As soon as Eric realized that Mike was making fun of him he got a little angry.
In other news...
A mom in one of the other 3rd year 7 Kinders didn't think her child was learning enough during the 5 hours he was in kindergarten every day. So she asked the Korean staff to give them a 40 word review test on all the spelling words the 3rd years learn in a month. Now, all of the 3rd year classes have to give this torturous spelling test. what is the matter with people?
Angela, Helen, Matthew, Eric, Daniel, LeeNow for a quick run down:
back: Matthew, Lee, Mike, Eric, Daniel, Nathanfront: Patty, Diane, Helen, Angela, Julie
The above picture is the class as a whole. You can't really read it but there is a message on the white board that says something like "Hello Julie teacher's class. This is the man in the wall." Another one of the teachers snuck into my room and wrote it on the board. The entire class is convinced that there is a man who lives in the wall between my classroom and Joel's. I prove this to them by pounding on my wall and then having Joel pound back. They eventually caught on and started to suspect Joel. That's when I sent Joel into my room while I went inot his room and did the pounding. I suggested to them that they write letters to the man in the wall. Some of the better ones include: "Man in the wall, I want to fight you! Lee" and "Man in the wall, I like to ride a bicycle. I love you. Helen"
Exhibit A. The first two kids are Lee and Matthew. Lee is awesome and he is a teeny tiny human being. I like to pick him up and walk around. He's also fun because I teach his older brother in a later class. They look remarkably similar and I often find myself calling his brother, Dave, "Lee". Oops.
The second guy is Matthew. He told me a few days in that he was Daniel S.'s cousin. I am not surprised by this as Matthew is also a bit of a space cadet. But he's a bit smilier and dancier.
Next to Helen is Mike. If you can't tell from the picture he doesn't really like to talk to me in the afternoon. Normally I would be upset by this but Mike is a really good studnet so if he doesn't want to talk for 30 minutes out of the day then that's fine with me. I like him because he makes jokes that go over the other students' heads.
Case and point:
I had been making up rhyming names for students in the class. For example, Lee the Flea, Mike the Bike and Helen Megellan.
Eric (another student): Teacher, what is meric?
Me: What? Merk?
Eric: No, meric.
Me: I don't know what you're saying. Spell it.
Eric: M-R-I-C
Me: What? Are you making up words?
Eric: No, teacher. Mike called me Meric.
As soon as Eric realized that Mike was making fun of him he got a little angry.
In other news...
A mom in one of the other 3rd year 7 Kinders didn't think her child was learning enough during the 5 hours he was in kindergarten every day. So she asked the Korean staff to give them a 40 word review test on all the spelling words the 3rd years learn in a month. Now, all of the 3rd year classes have to give this torturous spelling test. what is the matter with people?
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