Halloween

Time is starting to move quickly, which I think is a good sign. I can’t believe October is over already. And what better way to say fair well to the month than with a holiday. All month we have been doing halloween themed activities, but nothing compares to the actual excitement of halloween day in a kindergarten classroom. It was such a long and energy packed day. Below are some of my photos from the festivities. Click HERE for a link to my facebook with more halloween pictures, and HERE for a link to my ‘October’ album with more photos from the month (more of the picnic, mountain hike, etc…)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I know I’m not suppose to have favorites, but………

guess what?

Most amazing news ever. Today Dan and I booked a ticket for him to come and visit me for three glorious weeks in late December/early January. I still don’t believe its true and probably won’t till he gets off the plane in Korea and I can hold him in these arms of mine.

When I left for Seoul I really had no idea how much I would miss him. Silly little girl always trying to trick herself (and others) into thinking she is all tough and strong. When will I ever learn? I really did think it would be no big deal. That I could handle it no problem and that one year would go super fast. The transition into my new life here has been really rough and I missed him from the start. I terribly missed him and it surprised me and scared me and melted into the pot of overwhelming emotions from everything so new.

Even from so far away he has been my number one support system and companion. I am blessed to have such a great friend. And now I get to be utterly self-indulgent and steal him away from any other winter break plans so that he can be mine all mine again. Now instead of counting down 11 months till we would get to be together, I only have seven weeks to count down. I am resilient, I can endure for that time. (I think)

For Mom

Free Hugs

I’ve seen these people on YouTube before, but today my friends, I moved beyond the mere virtual delight, and got the chance to partake in the full on ‘free hug’ experience.

Strange Plants…and strangely intelligent 7 year olds

Here is a sample story of the level that some of my Kindergarten kids are reading at. Can you imagine? I don’t think I was reading at that level till Jr High (mom says I was a late bloomer when it came to reading. and stuff). Even just the length is something to be impressed by, let alone the context and vocabulary. I don’t really remember, so all you moms/teachers out there let me know just how impressed I should be with my class.
When we think about plants, we often think of trees, flowers, and grass. Like most plants, these plants have green leaves. They also have roots growing into the ground. Some plants are not like most plants. This book is about some of these strange plants.

Plants called air plants live in trees high above the ground. Their roots are not buried in dirt. Instead they grow on tree branches. They take moisture from the air, not from the soil like most plants do. Can you imagine plants that eat meat? Well there are such plants. They eat insects, spiders, and even some other small animals. One well-known meat-eating plant is the Venus’ flytrap. Its leaves look like traps. They have small spikes along their edges. When a critter walks inside the leaf, the leaf snaps shut. The critter is trapped. The sundew is also a meat-eating plant. It has many sticky hairs on its surface. Insects landing on it get stuck. Then the plant digests the insect. The giant sundew plant of Australia even eats small frogs!

Some plants steal food from other plants. The dodder plant sends root-like parts into another plant. It sucks food and water from the plant. It is a parasite. A parasite lives off another living thing. Many flowers have strong smells that attract insects. Some of these flowers smell bad to people. The Stapelia flower smells like rotting meat. Flies think this is a tasty meal, and they fly into the flower. Some plants look like stones. The plants in this picture are called “stone plants” or “living stones.” They live in very hot, dry places. They hold water very well. Their shape helps to hide them so that animals do not eat them.

Some cactus plants are covered with wool-like hairs. The “wool” protects them from daytime heat. It protects them from daytime heat. It protects them from nighttime cold. The “wool” also helps the cactus plants hold moisture. Some trees and shrubs grow out of solid rock. They grow up high where the wind blows strong. Their roots reach down into small cracks for moisture. As the roots grow, they split the rock.

Some plants have animals living inside them. Ant colonies live inside ant plants. They use spaces in the plant’s stem as houses. Some spaces are used for raising young ants. Other spaces are used for garbage. The ant plant uses some of this garbage for food. There are many more kinds of strange plants. Bamboo makes noise when it grows. Some Australian orchids grow and flower completely underground. There are many amazing plants in the world.

skeletons

Last week in class we worked on cutting out and putting together paper skeleton. We finally finished the project today and the kids were ecstatic. Here are a couple photos. Enjoy!

Bukhan Mountain

Words can’t start to describe the feat I accomplished yesterday. My dear friend from back home who is also here, Renee, suggested that we go on a hike. I was all for it, but little did we know what we were getting into. We should have been suspicious when we got off of the train and headed to wait for a bus which would take us to the National Park. Everyone was decked out in hiking gear, from boots, to hiking gloves, to northface backpacks, to fancy walking sticks, to the latest fashions in hiking apparel…they looked serious. Renee and I just laughed it off thinking ALL the Koreans were just taking it a little too seriously. As I waited for the bus in my old tennies, stretch pants and tee shirt, I had no idea that I was about to endure the single most difficult thing that I have ever physically done in my life.

We started off on the hike, slow and steady. As the trail got steeper and my legs turned to spaghetti I thought for sure I would never make it to the top, let alone back down. Little did I know that it was still 2 hours straight up to the peak of mount Bukhansan. You see, there was no walking around the mountain on a sweet little paved path, with stairs and rails. No. It was straight up the freakin mountain with nothing to hold on to but the rocks we were climbing. When we got near the very top there was a cable that we had to hold on to and hoist ourselves straight on up the mt. Everyone kept pointing at my shoes and saying ‘very dangerous’. They were right. I was for sure not prepared and thought that I was going to slip and go rolling down to my demise.

I am still surprised that I made it to the summit. I couldn’t have done it if there weren’t a large amount of other people doing it too. I kept saying to Renee ‘these people are all crazy.’ I just couldn’t believe how many people there were climbing the mountain. Even though they were all decked out in their hiking gear and extremely physically fit looking, I still kept thinking to myself- if they can do it you can too! It was nice in the sense that it was a group effort. Many people said hello as they passed slow me huffing along, and when we stopped to take breaks people sometimes offered us food, or were eager to hear where we were from and why we were in Korea.

They way down was just as hard in many ways. I was even more nervous about slipping, and the sun was starting to set so we were racing against time. Not to mentions I thought that my legs were going to give each step I took. It was intense. But we made it. Barely. The view from the top was worth it. With all the aches and pains I am experiencing today, it was still worth it. Here are some photos, even though they barely capture the experience.

Do you see all the little people way down there? That was probably 4/5ths up the mountain.

Ah, Victory!

all day picnic

Things at school are going ok. I am still getting used to the kids, and they are for sure still getting used to me. Since I came in mid-year there are so many things that the other teacher did that they were used to. I do things a little differently (not always on purpose) and it often leaves them confused, which results in them talking or otherwise misbehaving. It is too bad, but I feel as if it is only a matter of time before we meet in the middle and have an understanding where we can learn and have lots of fun while doing it. I am having a bit of a problem with discipline, but the other day I talked to my mom about it and she gave me some advice which I think will go really far. She said: ‘real discipline is love and training’. How do moms always give such perfect advice?

Most of my kids are super smart. I am not sure, but I think that the majority of them read and write at a higher level than the average Kindergardener in the US. The curriculum is such that I am not teaching them new things so much as just teaching them what they already know, but in English. Even though they are just 6 or 7 years old, class is conducted with them all sitting around a table and paying attention to me for 5 forty minute classes a day.

Today we got to do something different! It was the annual Fall picnic where the whole school gets to go to the park by the river for the entire day to play games and eat lunch. All of my kids brought extra food to share with me. They were so generous and kind. We had a lot of fun, it was so good for the kids to be able to just be kids. There is so much pressure put on them here, even at such a young age. I was happy that for once we could learn outside of the constricting boundaries of the classroom. They certainly are priceless pearls.

I think I’m falling in love.

Weekend with Nay

One of Dan’s best friend’s from High School, Nathanael, is in the Army and is stationed a couple of hours outside of Seoul. This past weekend he came for a visit. We met up Friday after I got off work, and he stayed with me at my place till I went to work on Monday.

Nay and I had met once before, last December when I went to visit Dan in Oak Park over winter break. Ever since we found out that we would both be in Korea this year we have been e-mailing quite a bit. It was a lot of time to spend with one person, luckily Nay is a laid back, easy going type of guy. I enjoyed having a buddy to do stuff with this weekend. Still, I don’t think that I have ever spent so much time with someone that I don’t know that well.

There was sightseeing, bonding, and a hell of a lot of awkward pauses.

The Cosby Show

I was feeling a little sad when I got home from work today. I didn’t feel like socializing, but I didn’t quite feel like being alone, either. It put me in a funk…until I started watching YouTube videos of The Cosby Show.

I think that this is my all time favorite t.v. show. When my sisters and I were growing up t.v. was a rare treat at our house. Unlike many American families we certainly didn’t socialize around the tele. I do, however, recall us tuning in regularly to watch the Cosby Show as a family.

Such wholesome goodness! I can’t get enough of that Huxtable family, Cliff and Claire are my all time favorite couple. I think that they are the epitome of onscreen love. The way they communicate with each other is an art and the way they make each other laugh is simply priceless. I also love the way they decided to discipline their children or simply teach them a lesson.

In tribute to the Cosby Show bringing me such joy (particularly tonight) here are some clips from the show.

ON LOVE

ON PARENTING

ON LAUGHTER