The Story of Thankgiving... as told by a Korean 4th grader

Answer to the writing prompt "Write your own story about what it would have been like if you were one of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower"
by So-young

"My ship is super and power ship so it was no cold, many food and everyone is happy but we meet a typhoon. Good fortune, we have a many life boat and life jacket and then save indian. Indian is very kind. I sad "we want a ground. can you give to ground for me?" indian sas "sure your my friend, okay we'll be a divide ground. But you don't raise war, okay?" I sas "Ok!" and then one piecese for mine and one pieces for indian. Indian and we're had a party. everyone play game, singing, eat food. and my one pieces ground me is...

United States of America
U.S.A.

-End-"

If only this were how it really happened.

Heartbreakers

I just came back from watching my school's 4th Grade Talent Show wearing a huge smile. Not only is fourth grade the absolute best age to teach, most of my individual favorites come from that grade as well. They are still unaffected by the insecurities of puberty but they're old enough to joke around with me and make me laugh.

The half dozen recorder performances were as to be expected... inhumane, but there were some great song and dance routines to all the current KPop. Of course there was a taekwondo performance (for all you non-Koreans its pronounced TAY-kwondo, not THAI-kwondo) in which the students broke boards with their hands. I felt the boards after and I must say, I was pretty impressed. To cap it off was a little piano prodigy.

My absolute favorite, however... by far... was the three boys who did a jump rope dance routine (that's right) to KPop favorite, Heart breaker. Not only was it original, they were unbelievably good at it. I really hope they weren't forced into hours of practice for weeks on end by overeager parents. They really seemed to enjoy it, so I'm thinking not. My heart didn't break, it melted. Once again, I love my job. If only I had brought my camera!!

From my sixth grade text book...

Cultural Gestures:

Thumbs Up

It means "ok", "number one", "president" (???), "best" etc.

Thumbs Down

It means "negation", "objection", "kill", etc.


Not exactly how I'd put it, but...

Summer Camp Pics I Never Posted

The kids felt this poor dog needed a mohawk

The dog definitely looks happy about it.

My 3rd graders sponge painting at school camp

My City Summer Camp kids brought me a present. Teacher really loved it...

View from my kitchen at City Summer Camp

Funny Face Sandwich Day!!

Proud Student- They all wanted a picture with their sandwiches

Instructions: Draw an Under the Sea scene

My 3rd graders are pretty creative

Listen and Repeat.... Cuuuuuuute

Some photos from the last day of my extra classes with the first graders. Sadly, they didn't give me one as a consolation prize. Enjoy the pure cuteness below...

I have no problem choosing favorites and "Tiger" was definitely it. He was possibly crazy, loved to dance, and sometimes hit me... aaah kids.

More Tiger. Look at that face!


Surprise! A camera!

It wouldn't be Korea without a peace sign!

And again... what a munchkin!

the boys eating pizza slices bigger than their faces and drowning it with coca cola. Korean kids always share with Teacher though, wish I had a photo of the kid who came up to me with a giant slice hanging way above his head...precious.

This never gets old for them.

Englishee Speechee Contestuh

Last week we had a Speech Contest for our 3rd and 4th graders. About twenty students were forced by their parents -I mean volunteered - to write elaborate speeches in English and then spend every waking moment memorizing them. They then had the privelage of reciting their speeches for a room full of teachers all in the hopes of being named number one.

The results were nothing less than adorable, and after a week of correcting and typing speeches I got to sit back and enjoy the show. I was really impressed with how well the students did. Here are some pictures and a very short video that I managed to take in between my judging duties. Enjoy!

It's been a long eventful week in which I've barely stepped foot in my apartment. Last Tuesday through Friday I had a GEPIK (Gyeonggi English Program in Korea) Teacher's Workshop so I traded in my regular work days for a sleep over camp/prison for foreign teachers. I was able to sleep in a bit on Tuesday before heading to Guemjong Station where they promptly carted us off to the middle of nowhere. The Workshops used to be held in the city, but the teachers spent a little too much time at the bars so this time we were headed for Guam. We were told we couldn't leave "the compound" past 7 pm, but that the convenience store on the premises would sell beer. There was also a driving range, walking path, and some nighttime entertainment. Goody.

The opening ceremony was interesting, to put it mildly. We were told we were going to see a performance and then in walks three very scantily clad Korean girls with instruments which they preceded to "fake play" to recorded music while they danced provocatively. It was all a little much for a Tuesday morning, but hey, it's Korea. The rest of the time we attended lectures on teaching techniques and co teacher relationships and did some practice teaching. Some of the lectures were really interesting and I left with a lot of new ideas to use in the classroom. At night they played Korean movies and we just hung out and had a few beers. We watched a great movie called the Host which I highly recommend if you can get your hands on it. It was a monster movie, but minus all the Hollywood cheese. This one was funny, thrilling, sad, and satirical all at once.

On Friday we finished at 11 am and the sun was shining. I couldn't wait to get home and was extremely grateful for the half day. I had to unpack then repack immediately because I was off to Jeju Island for the weekend. Jeju is known as "Honeymoon Island" or "The Hawaii of South Korea", but I laughed off both descriptions feeling absolutely sure there was nothing even closely resembling Hawaii in Korea. It's located just off the southern coast of the country and I thought it was too far north to look the way it had been described to me. I was wrong, however.

Maddy and I had signed up for a biking trip through meetup.com and we were leaving early Saturday morning. Luckily, Maddy lives right near the airport, so I spent the night at her place, avoiding waking up before dawn.

The trip was absolutely amazing. The weather must have decided it owed me one, because despite forecasts of rain we only saw sunshine and blue skies. On day one we biked around Udo Island, a smaller island off Jeju's East Coast, then hiked up a volcanic crater for a nice view of the island. We went to ride horses after that, which was more of a kids' pony ride than anything. The horses trotted around for a while then ran around in circles on a track while I tried to hang on to both the saddle and the ridiculous cowboy hat they made me wear.

In the evening we headed to our lovely hotel by the beach for a BBQ (complete with tofu for us veggies) and a campfire under the stars. The next day the weather was even more perfect and after spending the morning at the beach, Maddy and I decided that we just couldn't bear to leave for the scheduled itinerary that consisted largely of being indoors. We opted to catch a cab and meet the others at the airport, so we spent the rest of the day lounging on the sand and eating delicious fresh seafood at a Japanese restaurant overlooking the ocean.

So Maddy and I had a delightful Honeymoon amidst the palm trees and blue green water. We came home refreshed and significantly sunburned and after two weekends away, I'm ready to take on the city again.

Enjoy the pictures below!!

I teach therefore I am... mental

They like to choose English names...

My teacher's day gifts! (I got some yummy sushi too)

Break time = drawing on the board time for Brian and Kay

Shelly and Brian clowning around in English Club

Today is Teacher's Day in Korea and when I arrived at school it dawned on me: somewhere in these past five months I became a teacher. Now this should seem obvious, after all, I came here to teach. When you leave for Korea, however, you think about the flight, you worry about how you will fit in, if you'll like the food and the people, if you'll be lonely, and how difficult the language is. The one thing you don't think about is the very thing you are coming to do. At least that's how it went for me.

_

I've always loved kids and worked with kids, but this is something new entirely. I find myself talking about class control when I'm out for a beer. I smile on my walk to work. I hear "Teacher! Teacher!" in my sleep. I enjoy writing "teacher" instead of "student" under occupation when I am filling out immigration forms. I hope I'm good enough, funny enough, strong enough, and patient enough. After believing I'd never be content in any occupation, I find myself happy, I find myself caring.

_

I have no control over any of my classes. I am the world's biggest pushover and it's got to stop. I spend my days yelling over thirty screaming voices. I beg, plead, bribe, and threaten to no avail. "Game Teacher! Game!" It's the only thing that shuts them up.

_

I choose favorites. Sometimes it's just because they are so cute I want to pinch their cheeks. Others crack me up with their dead on impressions of the characters on our CD-ROM. I have a student who named himself "baby dog" and another who wrote "Brittany" on the back of his name tag, which he shows when only I (and not my co teacher) can see. The third grader who runs to me and hugs me every time she sees me is a clear favorite, as are all my English Club students. I love the fifth grade boys who act so tough, but then crumple up and cry at the slightest incident and remind you that they're still little boys. And I'm endlessly amused by the sixth grade girls who have made it their life missions to teach me Korean pop culture and the Korean language in rapid, excited, impossible to follow lessons.

_

Sometimes I want to kill my students. I imagine that they are giving me premature wrinkles and I get very bitter. They always want candy from me... and stickers. I am a candy and sticker machine with a good accent. Luckily, they are funny kids. Laughing makes the exasperation fade. Talking about animals, I asked my kids, "Do you like pigs?" "No, " a student replied and when I asked why he said, "Influenza." The kid can barely answer the question "How are you?" but somehow managed that. And today when I asked "How's the weather?" a student raised his hand and said, "The sun is very angry today!"

_

Best of all. Being the only foreign teacher in the school gives me rock star status. All the kids want to use their English so they are always yelling and waving to me outside of class. It makes me look cool in front of the other teachers.

_

So, Teacher's Day has been a good day. The moms brought me a pot of flowers and some sushi in the afternoon. My kids made me Teacher's Day cards. I'll end this post with some of the messages. You can tell by their perfect English how great a teacher I am...

Hello! Brittany! My name is so hyun. I like English study. It's very fun. Brittany, your like English and English study. I'm very English study. I love you. Goodbye.

_

Brittany, Hello Teacher! I'm Seo Young. Do you know what day is it today? Today is teacher's day so I prepared some present. It's a flower It made of paper. Teacher! I love you forever

_

hello, Brittany. My name is shin-hyun-ji. Today is teacher's day. Today is happy day. Congratulation! Brittany Have a nice weekend!!

_

Hello Brittany. Do you know today is teacher's day? Teacher is very kind. Good afternoon dye!

To. hee soung sheen

_

Hello!! Brittany? My name is Ji won Jung. Brittany, I like English. English is very fun. I love Brittany!! See you later!

_

Ho brittany teacher... Hello teacher, I'm choi seo young. Always, I feel very thank you. Happy teacher day to you and never hate you. I <3>

A Musing

• Squat toilets: the Asian toilet of choice. Being on the fourth floor of my school means using the kiddy toilets or walking up and down three flights of stairs every time I have to pee. They are tiny - either my aim is going to be legendary or one day I am going to pee all over my pants.



• I'm convinced that the Beatles were ESL teachers in another life.



• Statement I really hate: "You don't have to help him, he's slow."



• I get paid overtime for work done during my normal school hours.
  
  
• Yes. The answer is yes, they definitely eat dog in Korea.



• I'm really glad my co-teacher isn't into hitting students with sticks... although sometimes I would like to.



• Turns out drinking bottles of whiskey and eating dried fish with Korean business men is a really fun way to pass the time.



• While passing the time in the manner listed above I found an in with Korean Air... in the cargo department. So what if I can't get free tickets? I have been assured that if I ever need to ship my body home I can get a discount. Sweet.



• In Korea I am actually 24 years old. Here you are born one year old and everyone turns another year old at the new year. Therefore, on the new year in 1987 I turned two. I don't like this.



• It's been a month and I still only know about three Korean words. It's a bit pathetic but I swear I'd do better if Korean words weren't each one hundred syllables long! Case in point: hello - annyeonghaseyo thank you - kamsahamnida Ooo and here's a new favorite! excuse me - shillehagessumnida (I have NOT learned this one yet)


• I really love how you say hello on the phone in Korea - it sounds like YO-BO-SAY-O but you have to say it with the right tone. I wish people called me more just so I could say it...


• I really enjoy writing random lists, although figuring out how to end them is hard.