Amazing Animal Winter Camps

The cupid shuffle video was a preview of the last two weeks at Dun Won Elementary School's English Winter Camp. The first week was spent with about twenty 3rd and 4th graders and with about twenty 5th graders the second week.  I wish that I could spend this kind of time with all of my students.  By the end of the week I could tell that the kids felt a lot more comfortable around me.  Unfortunately, time and money just don't permit it.  Camp required a lot more work and preparation than a normal school day, but it was a lot of fun and I'm really sad to see it go.  I could do those kind of lesson's everyday.

So with winter camp finished I have a lot of free time. I'm among the few teachers that don't have to desk warm during winter vacation.  From now until March 2nd, I will essentially spend one week in school.  I feel really fortunate to not be sitting at my desk, at school, in an empty office, watching movies, but, at the same time, this leaves me far too much time on my hands- a lot of time that I have been asked by my principle to spend in Daejeon (no traveling for me :( .  That is, apart from the 2 weeks of vacation I have coming up.  Not long now until I leave for Thailand!  Sure enough, this week I'm having no trouble filling my time planning for my trip. 

I think the best way to tell you about camp is to show you what came from it.  I "borrowed" the guts (so to speak) of the lesson from another EPIK teacher. I remember the first week of orientation we were encouraged to be "an unrepentant thief" when coming up with lesson plans.  We have this really invaluable site called waygook.com (waygooken means "foriegner" in Korean... I hear that word a lot.. it's feels like an alias) EPIK teachers share their lessons here.  I have a girl on waygook to thank for the idea of "Amazing Animals Winter Camp."  I used her powerpoint (which was well done) and some of her print offs (Animal Bingo, practice writing sheets, coloring sheets, etc) to make workbooks for the week.  The rest I kind of adapted to suite my style (i.e.  painting, a food craft, making masks for a play, acting in a play, and some games) of course this was broken up by a scavenger hunt, the cupid shuffle, winter Olympics, roasting marshmallows, cutting snow flakes, and much much more.  It was a four day camp: Savanna Animals and Descriptors, Forest Animals and what they Eat, Jungle Animals and Colors, Arctic Animals and Review.

Here are some of the Highlights:

Making Animal Hand Stamps

The 3rd and 4th Graders just made an animal and had to be able to tell me what the name of the animal was in English.

The 5th Graders created a pet that they had to be able to describe to the class: kind of animal, what kind of food it likes/dislikes, it's hobbies, male/female

Day 2: Forest Animals and what they Eat: 3rd and 4th Graders presenting their skit: This is the Wide Mouthed Frog skit. Where essentially the Wide Mouth Frog asks it's forest friends what they like to eat. The punch line of the skit comes when the Frog asks the last animal (Fox, Snake, etc.) what animal they like to eat and he/she answers, "Wide Mouthed Frogs!"

Wide Mouthed Frog Skit

This was a funny one: we placed posted notes on parts of the body. Then music started playing and they jumped around (like they were dancing to the music) and tried to get the posted notes to come off (without using their hands!).  At the end of 30 seconds they named the parts of the body that still had posted notes.

The 5th Graders came up with their English name for the week.

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Winter Olympics: This is a traditional Korean game: try to throw small stones into cups

Winter Olympics: Wrestling or Arm Wrestling: as you can see, this little girl is about to wipe out all of the boys in arm wrestling. .. as is par for the course at this age. The girls seem to develop sooner. It was so funny to watch though. 

Jella thought it would be funny to make a game where the kids had to line up their clothes. The team with the longest line, won. It started with just socks and jackets. Then the first brave boy took off his shirt to expose his mickey mouse undershirt (which he received hell for) but then shirts and pants (!) were coming off everywhere!

Pancake animals: I brought in 20 pancakes, the kids brought in fruit, chocolate, crackers, even hard boiled eggs (!) to decorate them to look like animals

Pancake Animal:  I think he told us this was an owl. That's an egg for eyes. Pancake + syrup + eggs = yummy? hmmm... 

Pancake Animal: Bear

Pancake Animal: Mouse

Pancake Animal: Cat

We then sat in a circle with our animals and they told everyone what their pancake animal was and what materials they used to make the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, whiskers, etc.

They made an advertisement for Korean Food: Did you know that Bulgogi is the best dish in the Univers?  (I didn't get to that error in time)

Korean 5th Graders Doing the Cupid Shuffle

 

This week we had English Winter Camp with the 5th Graders at Dun Won Elementary School.  I fully intend on posting a more detailed blog on camp life for the last two weeks, but for now I have this gem.  As you will see, camp is a lot of playing and a little learning.  But here they are learning valuable phrases like "To the right" "To the left" "Now kick" and, lets not forget, "Now walk it by yourself." 

I'm 24 Years Old (with The Soup)

The passing of 2010 into 2011 not only brought “A” New Year but 2.  Living in Korea, I am 24 years old.  I’ve gained 2 years  in the 4 month span that I’ve lived here.  Let me explain how I have defied physics and hopped into this Korean Delorean of mine. 

At birth a Korean is a one year old.  Where in western countries we count age by saying that I have passed my 22^nd year of life, in Korea (and other East Asian countries) they say that I am in my 23^rd year of life.  Six of one, half dozen of the other. 

Okay, well that accounts for one year, you say, but what about the second?  Korean’s become a year older with each New Year.  They do still celebrate their actual day of birth, but the additional year gets added with everyone else on the New Year.  Of course I didn’t know this in the beginning, but soon learned that it was moot to ask my students how old they were.  All of my 4^th graders answered that they were 11 years old, my 5^th graders, 12, and my 6^th graders, 13. 

Traditionally, Korean’s believe that you gain a year by eating a specific rice cake soup called ttokkuk on the first day of the year.  Folks, I ate the soup, but, not knowing the ceremony, I was 2 days late. The first day back to school landed on the 3^rd.   The school took the teachers out for ttokkuk, which I really enjoyed.  There was chicken in the soup and the rice cakes had the consistency of dumplings.  It was not far from its southern/comfort food counterpart.

So what age am I now?  Should I subtract a year for that??  Hmmm… Add a year here, subtract one there.  This is getting to be a little much.   

In a conversation with my Korean co-teacher I asked: “So, Jella, did you eat the soup?”  A snicker, “No, I didn’t want the year.”  Think how valuable this tradition could be in the States.  Not thrilled about moving into your 30s, 40s, 50s? There is a simple solution: Quit the soup.  OR, rather, knowing how eager kids are to grow up, “I’ll take 2 servings of the soup this year, mom.”

7 Step Recipe for a Korean Christmas

I thought it would be unbearably hard to spend Christmas thousands of miles away from home in a country that doesn't really celebrate the holiday. (Korea has a fairly large Christian population as far as Asian countries are concerned.  However, Christmas is celebrated on a much smaller scale. I would say its a lot less commercialized.  For example: I asked my co-teacher if she was celebrating Christmas and, if so, what she was getting her (adorably cute) 3 year old daughter, Cherim. She said that she was getting her practice chopsticks (They're connected at the top to teach children learn how to use them. They're kind of like twisters.) and a pair of red shoes.  Christmas, I've learned is a much bigger holiday for couples than for families. It's a huge date night.)  So. Was it hard? Yeah, but I had a few things that made this season feel a little bit more like Christmas for me.

Korean Christmas Souffle Recipe
Ingredients:

• a sprinkle of snow
• 3 teaspoons of gingerbread men cookies
• a generous dose (roughly 1 cup) of a family substitute
• a touch (5 grams) of Santa Claus
• 4 tablespoons of holiday food
• 1pack (250 grams) of skyping with friends and family

prep time: 1 month      cooking time: 20 minutes

Step 1: sprinkle a touch of snow (or more to your liking) in a medium sized mixing bowl.
With perfect seasonal timing, we experienced our first snow in Daejeon about 2 weeks ago.  Korea doesn't see much snow (no more than a few centimeters at a time and mostly melted by midday), but even the smallest amount seems to coax holiday songs from my lips.  What was that?  "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!" or "Dashing through the snow on a one horse open sleigh.." 

Admittedly, I was just as excited for the first snowfall as the kids were. During the 10 minute breaks between classes you could find (me and) dozens of the kids playing outside in the snow-- the girls were delicately crafting small snowmen while the boys taunted them with their increasing larger balls of snow with aims of either A) driving them away screaming, leaving no trace that a snow figure was ever there at all or B) provoking the girls to retaliate with their own equally large snow ball. I was there to capture evidence.

This is one of my first graders. I shouldn't have favorites, but inevitably, I do. Every time I see him in the hall he literally runs to me and yells "Jessica 선생님!" and grabs me around the waist.   선생님 translates to "teacher." Its romanization is "seon-saeng-nim," but for those who are not good at linguistics, myself included, to me it sounds like "sun-sang-nim."  Funny story about this boy. He peeped his head into the teachers office one day and saw that I was sitting at my desk. "Jessica seon-saeng-nim!" I motioned for him to come over. I keep candy in my desk for anytime the kids in class need extra incentive and I also keep stickers for letters. I placed both in his hand, "shhh,(motioning my finger to my mouth) It's a secret."  He scampered off. Twenty minutes later (like a modern day pied piper), he came back to my office with 4 others in toe.  I had to laugh. I gave them the same treatment. So much for secrecy. 

 

Step 2:  add 3 teaspoons of Gingerbread men cookies to your sprinkle of snow. Stir well.
Jella (my main co-teacher) and I held a party for class 5-8. (They've been our observation class for 2 open classes and have put in a lot of extra practice and hard work this semester). With it being close to Christmas, I was dying to make gingerbread cookies for the party.  Some of the women in the subject teachers office wanted to help make them. Pictures as follows:

From the left: Jella, Ms. Ahn, the Science subject teacher (I'm not sure on her name), Mrs. Kim, and Shi On. They are all leaving next year (Korean teachers rotate schools every 5 years. Sometimes more frequently than that.) I will miss them so much.

Note: I did Mrs. Kim's hair (back right). Sometimes we have hair shop in the office. We joke that we're going to open a hair and bakery shop.  "hair -10 dolla'! cookie- 2 dolla!'"

Gingerbread cookies!

None of them were familiar with gingerbread cookies prior to this, but they were all eager to cut the shapes and decorate them. It made me smile.

This is class 5-8s party. The next two photos are pictures of the presentation they made for Jella and I. It consisted of singing and dancing. I couldn't tell you what it was about though.

The girls from class 5-8

Having spent so much time with 5-8, I've gotten closer to these kids. Each student and I took a picture together in what Jella called the gingerbread man cookie ceremony. She insisted that each of them hold up their cookie for the picture. They later got copies.

Step 3: Add a generous dose (or roughly 1 cup) of a family substitute with whom to spend Christmas to your snow/gingerbread mixture.  Beat with an electric mixer until light, fluffy peaks form.
You can't spend Christmas alone and this year I spent it with a really wonderful group of EPIK teachers. We went to dinner on Christmas Eve at a traditional Korean restaurant (the kind where you sit on the floor and cook the food on burners on the table in front of you.) We went back to Megan and John's apartment, the couple that hosted the party, drank wine, played games, and eventually passed at around 4 in the morning. Megan, our expert chef, woke up early on Christmas to make everyone breakfast. I eased out of a comatose state with the sounds of a hushed conversation from the kitchen, a sizzling and popping sound and with the smell of bacon in the air.

Step 4: In a separate bowl add a touch (or roughly 5 grams) of Santa Claus.
Santa made it to Korea! We had planned to do a secret Santa gift exchange and stockings for Christmas. Everyone brought their own stocking and  bought a gift for another person and 11 small items to be stuffed into all of the stockings.  After breakfast everyone broke into their gifts from Santa.

Step 5: Mix 4 tablespoons of holiday food into the Santa bowl. Fold Holiday and Santa mixture into the snow/gingerbread/family substitute mixture. Start on the outside and fold inwards.
We had a really delicious Christmas meal around midday. Our master chef provided us with all of the holiday essentials: ham, stuffing, cooked carrots, corn pudding, cooked cabbage, and roasted potatoes.

Step 6: Pour the souffle mixture into a pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  While the souffle is baking, melt a pack (250 grams) of Skyping family and friends in a medium sauce pan. Once the souffle has cooled, drizzle over the top.
I got to call my family on Christmas Eve and skype them on Christmas day. They weren't expecting the call on Christmas Eve. My dad answered the phone. "Hey Dad" pause "Hey baby!" Then came my tears. I can be a pretty emotional person (I've always been this way, I accept it now), but something about that man can melt my heart and make me cry more than any person I know. He's aware that it embarrasses me when I have these spells. We have an unspoken agreement that he doesn't draw attention to it.  My mom and sister jumped on the other phone lines and we talked for a good hour. (I'll be curious to see that phone bill. yikes!)

The next day for them (that evening for me) they skyped me in for presenting "opening."  Why is "opening" in quotes you ask?  Isn't that what you do with presents? You open them.  Well, yes, for most families, that is what you do; but mine, bless them, is special. Non-traditionalists, non-conformists, .. call them what you will.  They explained that not one of them actually wrapped anything this year. They put the presents on the kitchen table (because they didn't put up the tree) and threw a blanket over the top. Then when it was time for gift giving, like a magician ripping a table cloth off a set table, surprise! There are the presents!  I'd be lying if I said that I didn't love them for this quark. I've already threatened them with a very festive Christmas next year to make up for the one this year.

Step 7: Cut into the Korean Christmas Souffle and enjoy. Repeat.

Bend it like... a Yoga Guru

Yoga leaves me flat on my face like a lifetime of running never has. If you've ever had a friend, girlfriend, brother, or mother tell you it's hard-- it's hard! If you've never done yoga, then you're probably wondering what the fuss is about.  It has a way of pushing you into impossible, back bending, joint twisting, inverted, muscle burning, positions.  Yoga has proved to be a combination of the most dichotomous practices. You have to be incredibly strong and yet incredibly flexible. You have to keep your core rigidly straight while turning your limbs in every direction. You must twist your body one way, but look another.  Lets not forget that you must maintain your balance while controlling your motion and breath.  It's as exhausting physically as it is mentally.

I've been practicing yoga for 7 weeks now. I started classes after my co-teacher told me that she was taking yoga at the center by my apartment.  I had hoped to start yoga while I was here, but an opportunity presented itself when that same co-teacher asked if I wanted to take classes with her and another teacher. There was a discount if 3 people signed up at the same time for 3 months. Now I go 3 times a week for an hour.  I wish that I could tell you that I've now taken on the quality of Gumby, his horse Pokey, or Mr. Fantastic, but, sadly, very sadly, I haven't.  It's still just as hard as it was day 1.  Though, I might look a little less like a fool.  I can now put myself into the positions (that's more than I can say about 7 seven weeks ago..or even 3 weeks ago)-- even if I'm not turned into same extreme angles as some of the other women.

One of my Yoginis is an older woman.  I would call her a Guru.  She's been practicing yoga for a long time--it's her studio. The other instructor, I found out recently, is a year younger than me. She is also very good, but probably not a Guru yet.  My yoginis don't speak English, though the younger one and I have tried to talk on occasion. 

The language barrier made class in the beginning a challenge. I spent more time looking at other people than i did practicing yoga. I sat towards the middle of the class so that I could see the instructor well, but not in the front so that I could follow others in the class. It's different for me now. I don't have to follow so much anymore. I lot of the class has become routine and because of that I've been passively learning Korean. I don't know exactly what the words translate to, but after hearing them repetitively, I know that I do certain motions after certain phrases. 

Some days I'm thankful that I don't understand what my Yogini is saying. I'd probably like her a little less.  (keep in mind that her tone is always so peaceful and she has the most serene look on her face while asking us to do, what feels like, the most impossible positions and that would become frustrating.). I imagine she says something like this:  "Bend backwards. Now, in an upside down position, control your breath. Wrap one arm around your leg. Lift the other leg in the air with mindfulness. Keep a firm footing. You are planted to the floor-- you are a tree. Now reach your other hand to the sky with gratitude. Find your chi." She's never asked us to do anything like this, but some days I feel as though she might as well have.

At this point I've become a regular. The women there recognize my face and know my name (I'm the only westerner in my yoga center. I know this for a fact because in our dressing room we're given a little cubby with our names on them. A romanized name like Jessica stands out ).  I don't know names, but I recognize most of the women and I know them through quirky mental notes: mrs. bendy (she could be a yoga guru herself), ms. nicetown (she lives in my building), smiley woman.. etc.  Only a handful of the women speak enough English to get by (and I speak minimal Korean), but we say hello and goodbye, and exchange knowing looks after a particularly hard class.  One woman and her daughter live on my street. The three of us walk back home after class together. The daughter knows a little English, but doesn't always come to class. Even on days that it's just the mother and I we some how manage to have a conversation with only a few words. 

I have to say, I like the feeling.  It's nice to feel like part of a Korean community, one that's separate from my school. 75% of the time I don't understand them and they don't understand me, but I feel a sense of belonging there and that is just as valuable as the yoga itself.

A Korean Take on an American Tradition

 Korean take on American Thanksgiving right here before you: muffins, apples, melon, chocolates, chicken Caesar salad, grapes, shrimp salad, sweet potato casserole, bananas, and, yes, even pumpkin pie

I know its 14 hours premature for my friends and family back home, but here I am in Korea,  celebrating Thanksgiving with my fellow teachers. I thought Thanksgiving might feel a little hollow this year with me being away from home and enveloped by a completely different culture; and yet, paradoxically, I feel so full.  Maybe not full from festive dishes like turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce (oh, how I lament not having these dishes!), but none the less full of warm, fuzzy, oozy emotions... and Caesar salad, muffins, and sweet potato casserole.  Not your traditional Thanksgiving.  One look at our spread and I'm flashed to something from the Peanuts Gang. Well, it was quite a leap from a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I don't think Snoopy brought shrimp salad and chocolate truffles.

I'm compelled by tradition to say how thankful I am this year.  I'm thankful for my friends and my family, and (ironically) I'm thankful for a job that has also pulled me away from them. For me, there is nothing like being away from home to make me miss it and appreciate it down to my very core.  I wish that weren't the case. I wish it didn't take a holiday or being halfway across the world to remind myself of these things.  I'm guilty.

It's funny, people have asked me if I feel different about the U.S after living abroad.  I suppose they wonder if I've turned into an ex-patriot wanna-be and find myself more bitter, cynical, and critical as the days go by. Yet, nothing could be farther from the truth. Nothing makes me miss my home more; nothing makes me more grateful; and if I come back with criticisms, they are only with the hope that a country that I love will improve itself.

I am also thankful for my fellow teachers. They are wonderful women.  I find that, time and time again, they will go to great lengths to help one another.  I've been drawn into this community, which probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm the newest and youngest teacher at the school. I'm asked "how are you" quite frequently and I get the distinct impression that they are not asking out of courtesy but out of genuine concern.

Last week Mrs. Kim asked me a similar question and I told her that I was great, but maybe a little homesick with the holidays around the corner. I explained Thanksgiving and told her that it was a big holiday in the U.S.  She said a few words in Korean to some of the other teachers and the subject was dropped, but not for long.  On Tuesday Mrs. Kim told me that they wanted to have a "Korean Thanksgiving" on Thursday.  They asked me what Americans usually eat. I rattled off a list.

"Stu--ffing??"  "Yes, Stuffing," as I pointed to a picture I'd pulled up online. They laughed. I didn't understand their words, but their expressions were saying "NO!"  I couldn't sell them on "stu--ffing," but I think I won some advocates in the sweet potato casserole category. This dish was my contribution to the potluck today.  Someone else was good enough to buy pumpkin pie at Costco (a little piece of the U.S. right there for our non-turkey Turkey Day convenience). We may not have had turkey and we may not have had cranberry sauce, but oh man did we have pie!

North and South Korea: Should we be worried?

Yeonpyeong Island, the site of the shelling, is located close to the border on the west coast side, close to Incheon.  I'm living in the city Taejon, which is nearly in the middle of the country. It's surrounded by mountains and is a good distance from the conflict. 

I've decided to post something on the recent artillery firings between the North and South.  I've gotten a few concerned messages from friends and family. First of all, I am fine and nowhere near the conflict.

Here's a link to a BBC news article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11825445
It gives more detail explaining the incident than I can really go into.

I tried to gage the seriousness of the situation from my co-teachers reaction. The language barrier makes it really difficult to say for sure, but my impression is that most Koreans are not worried. To give you an idea...  Yesterday, I had my first open class with my 5th grade co-teacher.  An open class is a class that is open for the public to watch (neighboring schools' teachers, principles, and parents all come to observe your class).  We had been preparing for weeks; so with it finally finished we had a little celebration in the staff room. The head 6th grade teacher interrupted the party to tell us the shelling had just happened. All of the teachers jumped to their desks and onto their computers to check for news updates. The alarm lasted for 10 minutes and then, like nothing had happened, they were all back to sitting around, eating, and talking about the open class.

Later I pulled a few teachers aside (those that spoke better English) and asked them what they thought about it. A few were worried, but most for male relatives who are currently serving in the military.  (All men have a two year obligatory service)

"Our country is divided" was one statement I heard unexpectedly. Many Koreans still view the situation between the North and South as one country divided and not of two waring countries. In fact, most South Koreans want to be reunited with the North one day. Much like what happened in Germany and Berlin, the Korean war split families into its northern and southern vectors. So what stops unification? A tyrannical dictator, for one. North and South Korea are like night and day. The South has prospered: their economy, infrastructure, and commerce has grown considerably in the last 20 years. A city here is like a city anywhere in the west. Meanwhile people in the North are very literally starving. I have friends who have visited the DMZ (It's a popular tourist destination.. though not one thats currently high on my list )  I've heard that you can clearly see a stark contrast between the North and South just by standing at the DMZ. There are trees on the southern side, while on the northern side there are patches of clear cutting, mines, and barbed wire fencing. Thats no place I want to go.

It's hard to say whether the problem will continue to escalate. Its forced me to think more seriously about "what if" scenarios, but I refuse to stoop to fear mongering.  Yesterday, I registered with the American Embassy here in Korea (something I should have done when I first got here). I'm calm, but keeping a watchful eye. For now, all is fine and my bags remain unpacked.