Here are my travel companions. Most of them are teachers in a nearby school district and one is the Administrator-leader of our group. The two men are husbands of women in the group. To honor their privacy I have not included their names.
Talk about amazing chemistry, we all got along so well from the begining. We spent so much time laughing and enjoying each others company. This picture was taken at the begining of the tour in Ankor Wat in Cambodia. Although the picture is not flattering of most of the people and me, (still trying to decide who is bigger me or the tree) you can see what a fascinating place this was. We climbed and toured many of the temple sites there. This particular temple was covered by trees. Unbelievable!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Blown Away
The students in my class are simply amazing. Some of them have been taking English since they were 4 years old. I came prepared to teach them basic vocabulary and find that they are so far beyond that. Each night have have been raising the rigor of my lessons until I find that they can do much of what High School kids and beyond in the US. Wow! These kids are so excited about learning I can't even talk them into taking their 10 minute breaks between class.
My biggest challenge is helping them to smile. I find myself laughing at my own jokes and they look at me like "was that supposed to be funny?" I taught them how to do "Cupid's Shuffle" yesterday. They got it completely without enthusiasum, today I said one of the requirements of the dance is to SMILE! They quickly obeyed.
My biggest challenge is helping them to smile. I find myself laughing at my own jokes and they look at me like "was that supposed to be funny?" I taught them how to do "Cupid's Shuffle" yesterday. They got it completely without enthusiasum, today I said one of the requirements of the dance is to SMILE! They quickly obeyed.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Korea is Famous For....
Teaching children is always a joy and an adventure. They make me glad I'm alive and cause me to chuckle. The other day I was sharing a powerpoint about myself with the kids and had pictures of what Washington State is famous for. They yelled out the names of Bill Gates, Starbucks, etc. as they saw the pictures on the powerpoint. I asked them to tell me what they thought S. Korea is known for. I meant things like imports and exports, maybe technology. One little boy raised his hand and said "Kim Chi"
They crack me up! My students are on the average 13 years of age but they look much younger. They are beautiful children and bright as the stars. They go to regular school during the day, cram school at night, and now are going to English school during the summer. Their whole life exsists around education at this point. They are little sponges. Yesterday I asked how long they have been learning English and they told me they have been learning it since they were four. Amazing!
They crack me up! My students are on the average 13 years of age but they look much younger. They are beautiful children and bright as the stars. They go to regular school during the day, cram school at night, and now are going to English school during the summer. Their whole life exsists around education at this point. They are little sponges. Yesterday I asked how long they have been learning English and they told me they have been learning it since they were four. Amazing!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Gestures-A Universal Language
I am now at Korean University about 2 hours from Seoul. I will tell you more about our adventures in Seoul. Shopping in Seoul makes shopping in Canal street in New York look like the mini-mart!!! So without saying much more you can imagine the kind of joy I was feeling in Seoul.
Yesterday was the opening day of the school for teaching English. All these darling Korean kids came in with their parents and they had a bunch of activities. Before the activities began they divided up the kids and I got a group of rowdy 3rd graders. (Understatement!) Anyway my task was to get my group to scream the loudest to win the competition, and being the competitive soul that I am I got those kids worked up to a frenzie and they were climbing off the walls. One of the little darlings, was jumping all over the place and I gave him the evil eye... the little stinker flipped me the bird! Thankfully I had just used the restroom, because it was so unexpected and I about lost it laughing my head off!
I am pretty sure he had no idea what it meant but he knew it was not acceptable and was trying to see my reaction to his small but powerful display of defiance! Kids are kids, a universal fact!!
Luckily, he is not in my class, as I have the oldest and most fluent kids. I have some great stories to tell already. So there will be more tales for another day.
Yesterday was the opening day of the school for teaching English. All these darling Korean kids came in with their parents and they had a bunch of activities. Before the activities began they divided up the kids and I got a group of rowdy 3rd graders. (Understatement!) Anyway my task was to get my group to scream the loudest to win the competition, and being the competitive soul that I am I got those kids worked up to a frenzie and they were climbing off the walls. One of the little darlings, was jumping all over the place and I gave him the evil eye... the little stinker flipped me the bird! Thankfully I had just used the restroom, because it was so unexpected and I about lost it laughing my head off!
I am pretty sure he had no idea what it meant but he knew it was not acceptable and was trying to see my reaction to his small but powerful display of defiance! Kids are kids, a universal fact!!
Luckily, he is not in my class, as I have the oldest and most fluent kids. I have some great stories to tell already. So there will be more tales for another day.
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