LCI Kids Club Graduation Festival, February 10th

I know you've all been waiting anxiously for me to post these pictures, and here they are, in true 'better late than never' form.

This program is held every year to show the parents how much their precious little kiddies have learned from the esteemed foreigners. Right. Nevermind that the teaching of the songs and choreography actually halted all teaching of English for over a month...

Here's a rundown of the program:
My class performed The Eentsy Weentsy Spider, I'm a Little Teapot, and The Bugs Go Marching.
Liz's class performed Yellow Submarine, Phantom of the Opera, and Oh What a Circus.
Marc's class performed We Are the Champions, Octopus's Garden, and Russian Dance.
All three classes performed The Can-Can and Puff the Magic Dragon with orchestra instruments and ended with choreographed chaos to It's a Small World.

A big thanks to Miss Amy for her help with some of the costumes!

John and Jinny go marching while Sarah wonders what she's supposed to do
Brian the grasshopper
Bee Andy, Ant Sarah, Ladybug John, and Ant Jinny
The 'Beatles' go for a ride in the Yellow Submarine...
...and all their friends come aboard
Jack takes the bow of a 'Champion'
My little teapots exit the stage in a mixture of Beauty and the Beast pots and Genie lamps--NOT the costumes I ordered

Little Christines sing their story
The Phantoms fight the Raouls
The octopi dance in the garden
My little raindrops wash away the spider
Penny, world's cutest spider
The sun comes up, dries up the rain, and PennySpider makes a comeback
Had we known they were undressing the kids, we would have constructed the costumes differently!
Max and Julie tango to Oh What a Circus
Marc's class dances Russian style
Liz and I arrange triangles..
...and more triangles for the orchestra,
while Ellie and Debbie entertain the crowd during a costume change
My Stella shakes her maracas with intensity during Puff the Magic Dragon
Liz and I with the incomparable sisters, Penny and Sarah
My little princess, Sally

Santa Event, December 22nd

We asked Mark, another Mark, to come to our school Friday morning to play Santa for us (a Korean Santa was apparently not believable). Our kids sang for him, then he gave them each a present that had been sneaked in the previous day by the parents. Even I got a present from Santa, so it was fun for all, except when I had to clean up all the wrapping paper.

LCI Christmas Party, December 16th

Our school Christmas party was on Saturday. We cleared the school lunchroom and decorated the entrance and hallways. Marc, Liz and I humored Julian by wearing Santa outfits to greet the families as they arrived. Unfortunately, that's the only picture I got of the whole evening due to dead batteries. After the arrival time, we went upstairs to have some of the kids as well as a couple of parents sing or play instruments. We even had a magic act and a tango number. The performance concluded with four songs involving all three morning kinder classes. I played our very sad keyboard, and Marc and Liz directed hand motions. It was very cute. Upon exiting, the kids went downstairs for snacks, and the parents had gametime with Esther and Marc. I laughed hysterically watching the parents try to pass paper disks down a line using only sucking and blowing with their mouths. The kids then collected treats from the accessory shop across the street by singing on the steps. Finally, we were whisked away to dinner by a host of parents to end the successful night.

Happy Thanksgiving!

There are many things out there to be thankful for, so hopefully those of you near and far are finding appropriate ways to say thanks.

We here in Korea demonstrated our thanks by coloring pictures, making hand-turkeys, and eating roasted chickens--many, many roasted chickens. Our school doesn't have an oven, so I'm not sure how or where the chickens were cooked, but we ate them nonetheless along with many other treats put together by our wonderful cook. The lunch tables were set with white paper covers and center pieces, and the kids had been asked to wear 'clean and nice costumes' (at least that's what Julian told us she told them). They all looked very cute and we had a great time celebrating American Thanksgiving.

Halloween Party, October 27th

Since Fridays are a little bit more relaxed anyway, we chose to have our Halloween Party on Friday the 27th rather than disrupt classes in the middle of the week on the actual day. The kids came to school in all manners of dress--monsters, princesses, heros, and animals to name a few characters in attendance. I even wore a wig and bright red lipstick which really freaked the kids out. Liz wore the Korean red devil horns, and Marc made an imposing figure in a black cape and Scream mask. Esther decorated and darkened the lunchroom, and the kids put on a fashion show, strutting their stuff down the candle-lined 'runway'. We then managed to get all three groups of kids though 'tape the nose on the pumpkin' (run by me), 'eat a cookie off a string with no hands', and 'pass the lemon with your neck' games before lunchtime.

Princess 1 tries to make contact with the witch while Peter Pan keeps Spiderman 1 in check with his sword and Batman eyes Spiderman 2 hungrily.
The Princesses gossip in the back and Harry Potter surreptitiously puts Batman under a spell for plotting against Spiderman.

'You got me this time, Harry Potter, but just you wait!' says Batman, feigning innocence. And Spiderman figets obliviously.

Marcus, my favorite little monkey.

The crew minus one.

Haslla Art World, October 25th

Today we took our morning kinder kids on a field trip. We piled them all on a train and headed south along the coast to Jeongdongjin. It was a beautiful day--in great contrast to Monday and Tuesday--and the sea was gloriously white and frothy. We took some pictures at the famous beachside Jeongdongjin Station, then hopped into our vans which had met us and drove to Haslla Art World, an indoor and outdoor art center in the mountains that rise out of the sea. We had lunch on an outdoor balcony then toured the outdoor center on foot. I hope to go back as we didn't get to explore over half of what was there.

Brian, Lisa and Peter

Jinny, Sally, Alice and AbigailJohn and RayPenny and the seaPlatform at JeongdongjinIn front of Jeongdongjin StationHiking through the art parkGiant sundial and relaxation pavillionSculpturesMy kiddosPeter the tank