Although I don't believe with the "wanting to escape ourselves" part applies to my reasons for leaving my home country for an extended period of time, everything else about this reflection on ex-pat life is about right!
What Happens When You Live Abroad...
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
A Very Korean Field Day
Really translated as "Sports Day," my high school's Field Day this past Tuesday was unlike anything I had ever attended in a high school. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of last fall's festival...Again, I was shown how creative and energetic these usually exhausted memorizing robots really are!
They were only allowed three sports (because the Principal doesn't like how much time it takes up): tug-of-war, something I don't know the name of (where they basically hop on one leg, the other one bent meant to jab into their opponents and knock them over-see picture below), and a few track activities (baton relay and single racing).
It lasted from 9am to 2pm. And there was a lot of cheering. I mean, A LOT OF CHEERING!!! And it was really quite lovely. All the teachers got into it as well, since the "teams" are the students' homerooms. So the teachers obviously wanted their homeroom to come out on top.
At the end there was a spirit award and of course first place to the team that had the best score in all the events. (That winning team is the team I'm closes to in the video above!)
Also, I should mention the third grade students did not participate. They were nowhere to be found...I think they got a day off, since later that week there was a practice 수능 (soo-neung; the Korean SAT).
In total, it was way cooler than American elementary school field day...More competitive, more creative, more spirit, and more fun!
Here are the links to view more pictures and some video I took:
http://youtu.be/dzKbLpFi8Po - A video of the second-grader (11th grade American high school) side cheering. Most of their cheers go along the lines of just shouting their homeroom number (1 - 10) in a rhythmic way!
http://youtu.be/WjEpmQghiDM - A video of the first-grader (10th grade) side cheering. The first class you see with the white shirts, red bows and black shorts won the spirit award with their unique cheers set to popular K-Pop songs! (same video as above)
And photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/109877387138596271167/albums/5744483790605102257?authkey=COXr7qyyjdKszQE
Enjoy!
They were only allowed three sports (because the Principal doesn't like how much time it takes up): tug-of-war, something I don't know the name of (where they basically hop on one leg, the other one bent meant to jab into their opponents and knock them over-see picture below), and a few track activities (baton relay and single racing).
It lasted from 9am to 2pm. And there was a lot of cheering. I mean, A LOT OF CHEERING!!! And it was really quite lovely. All the teachers got into it as well, since the "teams" are the students' homerooms. So the teachers obviously wanted their homeroom to come out on top.
At the end there was a spirit award and of course first place to the team that had the best score in all the events. (That winning team is the team I'm closes to in the video above!)
Also, I should mention the third grade students did not participate. They were nowhere to be found...I think they got a day off, since later that week there was a practice 수능 (soo-neung; the Korean SAT).
In total, it was way cooler than American elementary school field day...More competitive, more creative, more spirit, and more fun!
Here are the links to view more pictures and some video I took:
http://youtu.be/dzKbLpFi8Po - A video of the second-grader (11th grade American high school) side cheering. Most of their cheers go along the lines of just shouting their homeroom number (1 - 10) in a rhythmic way!
http://youtu.be/WjEpmQghiDM - A video of the first-grader (10th grade) side cheering. The first class you see with the white shirts, red bows and black shorts won the spirit award with their unique cheers set to popular K-Pop songs! (same video as above)
And photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/109877387138596271167/albums/5744483790605102257?authkey=COXr7qyyjdKszQE
Enjoy!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
A little update...
Hello All!
Yes, yes...I have been absent for far too long! But I have a few quick things to share!
First, please make your way over to my Facebook profile to view the pictures I added to the Cheongran album. These are all photos taken from my last days of teaching in 2011. The class which won the pizza party (for the best participation, attitude, etc...) had a great time doing classic "jump" pictures with me. I've seen only a few of these students since starting classes again last Friday. They are all mature second graders now, too cool to visit their old English teacher... ;)
Speaking of new classes, school has begun again. But no students yet. The first graders are doing orientation activities. So I'm just sitting in my classroom, waiting to hear from my coteacher about our schedule (which she says is coming soon, but I know better...it'll be another 3-4 days I'm betting!), and preparing for introductory lessons and my Spring Semester clubs.
Speaking of clubs...Since we did not have a Winter English Camp offered at my school, I have been required to do the hours (20) during this semester. At first, I was not happy about this extra work. BUT! Then I realized I could have full control over this club...autonomy and authority at last! So I've made a small 8-member advanced English Reading Club. Here's the new blog: www.letreadpoppy.blogspot.com.
We will be reading Avi's Poppy, a personal favorite of mine. I'm really looking forward to starting the club. Do take a look at the Important Documents tab to read the proposal, agreement, and projected syllabus. Really Excited about that. ^^
love from kimchi land,
mlh
Yes, yes...I have been absent for far too long! But I have a few quick things to share!
First, please make your way over to my Facebook profile to view the pictures I added to the Cheongran album. These are all photos taken from my last days of teaching in 2011. The class which won the pizza party (for the best participation, attitude, etc...) had a great time doing classic "jump" pictures with me. I've seen only a few of these students since starting classes again last Friday. They are all mature second graders now, too cool to visit their old English teacher... ;)
Speaking of new classes, school has begun again. But no students yet. The first graders are doing orientation activities. So I'm just sitting in my classroom, waiting to hear from my coteacher about our schedule (which she says is coming soon, but I know better...it'll be another 3-4 days I'm betting!), and preparing for introductory lessons and my Spring Semester clubs.
Speaking of clubs...Since we did not have a Winter English Camp offered at my school, I have been required to do the hours (20) during this semester. At first, I was not happy about this extra work. BUT! Then I realized I could have full control over this club...autonomy and authority at last! So I've made a small 8-member advanced English Reading Club. Here's the new blog: www.letreadpoppy.blogspot.com.
We will be reading Avi's Poppy, a personal favorite of mine. I'm really looking forward to starting the club. Do take a look at the Important Documents tab to read the proposal, agreement, and projected syllabus. Really Excited about that. ^^
love from kimchi land,
mlh
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