The picnic was on the calendar months ago for Saturday, May 27th. The parents were invited, and we teachers spent most of our afternoon time in April and May choreographing a special performance of Puff the Magic Dragon. The 27th came, and as we were dragging ourselves out of bed earlier than we ever do on Saturday mornings, the phone call came, canceling the picnic due to rain. I hadn't even looked outside. Julian decided with the parents to reschedule for the 31st, a day we were supposed to have off due to elections. We had been planning on spending the day at the Dano Festival and were a little frustrated by the sudden lack of day off, but we sucked it up and went with the plan.
Fortunately Wednesday morning was lovely--sunny without being too hot. We drove to a recreational area in the mountains about twenty minutes out of town, checked out the facilities, and waited for the families to arrive. I had a good turnout from my class--eleven of twelve of my kids showed up with their moms and a couple dads came as well. It was really interesting, and in some cases eye-opening, to meet the parents and see the kids with them.
When everyone was assembled, two park guides split us into
groups and took us on a nature tour around the mountain that lasted over an hour. They had the kids find different shapes in the plants, draw things they heard, and try to throw pine cones into a circle. It was fun for them. The parents documented every move of their children with the latest in digital technology. Back at the picnic area, we dug into box lunches of gimbap along with watermelon and other little snacks and treats the parents lavished on us.
After lunch, it was time for the long-awaited, much-anticipated
performance of Puff the Magic Dragon. We had three kids on wood blocks, three with triangles, a pirate, three 'noble kings and princes', a Puff, a Jackie Paper, and a chorus doing motions throughout the song. The parents loved it so much that they made us do it a second time.
Marc then led a couple lively rounds of Red Light, Green Light and Red Rover, Red Rover. Following that, we got everything packed up and into the cars just before the sky opened up and dumped torrential rain on us. Below are some additional photos from the day. A note about the picture immediately following: these women have to be two of the world's most beautiful and most fashionably dressed mothers. The one in the blue hat, Sally's mother, has a penchant for earrings and has kept me well-supplied with large Korean earrings.
Julian and a couple of the parents planned an outing into the mountains on Saturday afternoon and invited us teachers along. Liz and I went. The dad drove, Liz sat in the front
seat, and I crammed myself into the backseat with the four boys who just floated around with no seatbelts. After forty or so minutes of driving on a very bumpy dirt road into the mountains, we reached a little riverside restaurant. There was a main preparation building surrounded by little gazebos hung with mosquito netting. Inside the gazebos were stumps for seats and handcrafted mud stoves topped with flat, smooth stones for cooking. We cooked large slabs of pork and ate it with the typical relishes and side dishes--garlic, lettuce, bean paste, kimchi, Korean pancake, radish...It was delicious and picturesque and I ate way too much.
Being an unusually sunny and cloudless day, I knew a hike in the mountains would be unbearably hot, so I grabbed a taxi out to Anmok for some sun, reading, lounging and splashing in the water. I couldn't believe how deserted the beach was given the quality of the weather.
The kids played with shells in the sand,
dug tunnels in the sand,
played ball with Marc Teacher,
and were even allowed to hold hands and stand in the surf.
And of course Julian ran around taking pictures with the ubiquitous school Nikon.
A fraction of the fairgrounds
A mix of modern dance and traditional drumming.
A traditional dance/pageant.
Our dinner cooking on a spit (mystery meats in the foreground).
Bryce opted for cowhead soup instead of the delicious spit-cooked pig.
Ssireum wrestling.
Fortunately Wednesday morning was lovely--sunny without being too hot. We drove to a recreational area in the mountains about twenty minutes out of town, checked out the facilities, and waited for the families to arrive. I had a good turnout from my class--eleven of twelve of my kids showed up with their moms and a couple dads came as well. It was really interesting, and in some cases eye-opening, to meet the parents and see the kids with them.
groups and took us on a nature tour around the mountain that lasted over an hour. They had the kids find different shapes in the plants, draw things they heard, and try to throw pine cones into a circle. It was fun for them. The parents documented every move of their children with the latest in digital technology. Back at the picnic area, we dug into box lunches of gimbap along with watermelon and other little snacks and treats the parents lavished on us.
performance of Puff the Magic Dragon. We had three kids on wood blocks, three with triangles, a pirate, three 'noble kings and princes', a Puff, a Jackie Paper, and a chorus doing motions throughout the song. The parents loved it so much that they made us do it a second time.
My 26th birthday was an all day event that started with my morning kinder. The moms went in together and got me a cake and a big basket of roses, and I got several other little gifts as well (including earrings which they've figured out I love). I had the obligatory picture with the party hat and table of treats and had my picture taken with each one of my students individually as well as with each one of Liz's students who had all been forced to make me cards. My 3:40 class brought snacks and several little gifts (including earrings which they've figured out I love), and a kid in my 5:05 class brought another cake. After work, Marc gave me his present--a huge bag of the puffed snacks they serve at restaurants and bars. You can tell in the picture who found it humorous and who didn't. Then after Liz, Marc, Bryce and I worked out, they all took me out for dinner. We picked a restaurant we'd never been to, and we still haven't been able to figure out what we ate. 
my 3:40 class
my 5:05 class
and you can't even see the whole bag
the picture of me dying subsequent to my asking Bryce 'Is this going to kill me?' concerning a certain piece of vegetable
