School Activities

So, what has gone on in the past couple of days?

Monday, went home after school and watched random Korean TV shows and cooked up some 라면.

Tuesday, went to the kindergarten teacher’s house and went to the river with my 6th grade student to look for fish. As we waded in the river (truly the countryside), a frog jumped onto my foot, a fish swam between my toes, and my 6th grade student laughed as I almost slipped on the rocks multiple times. For dinner, the 6th grade teacher and her son came over, so we talked together and ate 미역국. O yeah, for appetizers the kindergarten teacher made toast with butter and gave me yogurt to suit my American taste buds hahaha. She also prepared some delicious fried 떡, which I demolished after noticing I was in a competition with my 6th grade student for the pieces. After eating dinner, I went over a couple of English pronunciation drills with the hosts while they helped me with my Korean pronunciation. Overall, it was a splendid evening and I am really enjoying going over to the kindergarten teacher’s home and seeing Sam (the little dog) and their rooster.

Wednesday I took the 5th grade teacher out to dinner. Class that day has been a little rough with some of the students getting mad at each other over the games and I really was unprepared for class. For dinner, we ordered 막국수, boiled pork (very delicious), and some 막어리 (a sort of rice alcohol). Dinner conversation included the Korean stock market, the presidential term, characteristics of the Korean people, and both of our future plans. After dinner we went to 장평마트 for some ice cream (which happens to belong to the parents of one of our 5th graders) and then went back to school to try to watch a movie in the library. Something was wrong with my external hard drive so we cancelled the plan and just went home.

Thursday was Sports Day for the children so no class for me. Went to school and watched the students participate in festival-like activities with the student body split into the blue and white teams. Tug-of-war, balloon throwing, dancing, sprint relays, and more were among some of the activities. After lunch the students went home (the parents weren’t allowed to come because of the H1N1 scare) and I stayed in my classroom preparing for future classes. At around 3 the teachers all went outside and we grilled up some sangyupsal to eat and poured soju for one another. It’s pretty cool how we have these informal gatherings to eat food. Just the other day, the school distributed hamburgers, snacks, and Korean drinks to the students, and there were plenty of leftovers. Thus, I had my fill of bulgogi burgers and other Korean goodies.
Well, tomorrow is Friday and I hope to have a successful review session with my students. After that, it’s off to Seoul for the Fireworks Festival!

Random note: In order not to forget all the economic theories in my mind, I plan to teach different finance mechanisms to the 5th grade teacher and to one of my 6th grade students (the daughter of my 6th grade teacher). Hopefully, I will be able to retain and deliver all the most relevant formulas and ideas I have learned over the years to them.