It rained all night Friday and all day Saturday, just what I needed for a quiet weekend at the apartment to read my books, maybe catch a movie on TV, llisten to the rain outside, fix endless pots of tea--and make homemade spaghetti sauce for a few friends to come over for dinner. And that's just what happened.

I bought a huge stack of classic books from Dover on sale and they had arrived this week. I read Jane Austen's Sandition--I'm really bummed that she died before she finished it--and have started Charlotte Bronte's Villette--also her last book. I loved the introduction by Elizabeth Glaspell, a friend of Bronte's and the author of Cranford, which I just loved. She made Charlotte so real. But that's all pretty heavy going, so I balanced it with Gone for Good by Harlan Coben that JJ sent me. You need a good mystery when it's raining, right?

I made a quick trip to the corner grocery in the rain for fresh tomatoes and carrots and mushrooms and cucumbers and onions for the spaghetti sauce. Korea has the best fresh vegetables and fruit, and I was determined not to open a can or jar but do this one from scratch. Besides, I have a pot of basil growing on my windowsill aromatically screaming to be used. Another rainy day prerequisite: the house must smell like home cooking.

I figured out how to download movies from the itunes store and paid all of 99 cents for Junebug, which turned out to be quite good. So spaghetti sauce bubbling, hot tea brewing, and movie watching--all ingredients for a quiet Saturday: mission accomplished.

Dee Ann and Michael came for dinner. Dee Ann brought French bread and ice cream and cookies--perfect. Michael brought his sad tale that he had just been fired and had one week to find a job and a place to live. The situation at his and Dee Anne's school, Kids Academy, is deplorable with the boss from hell. Three of Michael's students had quit and gone to another school, so he got fired--but that's after months of harrassment from the boss lady. This is not an uncommon situation here--impossible demands, withholding pay, not paying health insurance, yelling and screaming at teachers, keeping documents like passports, the list goes on, but it basically stems from administrators don't administrate, they dictate. It's all about power and profit. I hear horror stories from other teachers. But while this is not uncommon, neither is my situation of good schools that care about their students, administrators that have backgrounds in education and know how to administrate, pleasant places to teach and, hopefully, for students to learn.

The sauce turned out good--yes, I put sliced cucumbers in the sauce, Koreans cook with them like squash and they're good, the French bread was fresh, the ice cream a treat, and the cookies were great. It was a good evening.

After much difficulty--I kept hitting the wrong buttons--I have some pictures of the school and my students. I wish I could figure this out to make it easier. Sigh.....

Nancy

I am having so many new experiences here, yet working so much, it's hard to keep up with the blog. But since I'm using this as my journal of being here, I think I had better get on the ball. I'm going to skip all the stuff I have done in the past few weeks and talk about the place I work and the people I work with.

I am truly blessed in this experience with both. This job is in many ways a teacher's dream. I have five students who speak some English and are learning more quite quickly. I work with a Korean co-teacher, Kim, who speaks English very well. We work together on planning the lessons, and she is there to work one-on-one with the students when they need help or encouragement or even a little bit of Korean to get them on the right track. But she does much more than that. Whenever I have a harebrained idea of how we might approach something, she takes it and makes it happen. She is quite artistic and laughs at my meager attempts at arts and crafts--as does anyone else who knows me well. Sometimes we lose a little in translation, but we always muddle through. From 2:45-3:50 she teaches the children in Korean. This is one of the things I like about this school. English is expected from 10-2:45, but from then on the children work in Korean--language, reading, writing, and math. So you can see, Kim has her work cut out for her. But the expression on the children's faces when they no longer have to speak in English tells volumes of how hard they are working too. I, too, want them to have respect for their language, stories, and customs--to be proud of themselves and their country. Sometimes I stay over for a lesson in Korean, which turns out to be very funny since my mouth just rebels at making some of those sounds.

My students are Korean six years old. In Korea, you are one year old when you are born--that time in the womb counts. Then on Jan. 1st, everyone turns one year older. So if you are born on Dec. 31st, on Jan. 1st you are two years old. I know, very confusing, but all of my students were born between April and November of 2004, so they're really five in American terms. I have to remember that every once in awhile when I raise the bar of expectations for learning and behavior. The exciting thing for me as an educator is that I get to see all that education theory at the ground level. When they work well in groups and then later by themselves, I'm thinking, "Yeah, Vygotsky!" Or when they look for patterns and I see them trying to make sense out of the things we are repeating, I think, "Ah, hah, Piaget!"

The school is on the second floor of a four story building. The bottom floor is a very nice Italian restaurant; above us is a lawyer and a singing instructor; above that is a plastic surgeon. The elevator can mean an interesting mix of people. All the students take the elevator up to the school. The first thing they do each day is to take off their shoes and put on either slippers the school provides or ones they bring from home. I cleaned up a pair of Birkenstocks to wear since the slippers killed my back and legs as I tried to shuffle around in them the whole day.

Nine-thirty to ten, we have kids coming in and snacks. The morning and afternoon snacks here are interesting and I often wonder how American kids would react to them: peeled sweet potato chunks, boiled eggs, fruit and yogurt, fruit pieces, rice balls, cocoa puffs with milk (a favorite), a rice and vegetable/meat porridge, French toast pieces without the syrup or sugar, cheese slices and banana. . .there really is quite a variety and it's all so healthy.

From 10-12 we do theme, reading, phonics, and our course book. Our workbooks seem to encourage quite a bit of coloring, but Miss Kim and I have found that if we color along with the children, we get a lot of English instruction in as well as the vocabulary we are supposed to be emphasizing with the lessons. So we color as well as write, read, and play games and sing songs.

Lunch is eaten in our rooms. Each child brings his own lunch tray and fork, spoon, and chopsticks to school each day. We scrape them at the end of the meal and they take them home to be washed. The lunch is always delicious: a protein, a vegetable stirfry, kimchi, rice , and soup. I eat with the children and have learned a lot about Korean food from them. Still, one of their favorites is spaghetti, which they love even when it's served cold!! After lunch they play in the big open room until 1:00. Now that the weather is nice, each class takes turns going to a park to play outside until about 1:15. We have to load up in a van to go, but it's worth it to see them run as fast as they want and play on the playground equipment.

From 1-1:30 we do writing practice. From 1:30-2:30 we have either science lab, Gabe, art, music, gym, Morphum, Ravensburger, sand, clay, or cooking depending on what day of the week it is. I teach Gabe and science lab for the three classes of six and seven year olds. Linda and Alberto, the other American/Canadian teachers of these classes teach the others, except for sand/clay/cooking which Kim and I do.

Two thirty to two forty-five is snack and sticker and reflection time. Them Kim takes over and I go off to do what teachers do at the end of the day: CRASH!!

From 4-5 we all teach some after school class. Right now I only have Bible Class on Wednesday with three children, but the others have advanced phonics, English for other kindergartners, origami, speech, ballet, piano, art, and music and chant for preschoolers. Many children come after school who don't go to our school during the day.

My bosses are Erin, Monica, and Hace: Principal, Vice Principal, and Finance and General Manager. I capitalize all of these because these ladies work so hard. This is a private school hoping to make a profit and make a difference in children's lives at the same time. They are all very experienced in their areas of expertise. I have thoroughly enjoyed knowing and working with these ladies.

That kind of sums it up for a typical day at Spring International Kid's Academy. I will try to include some labeled pictures to go along with this. Wish me luck!

Nancy

Just a quiet Sunday afternoon. After 1:30 church at the Kwanglim Methodist English Worship Services led by Rev. Wesley Post and after Bible study where we're studying Philippians, Dee Ann and I decided to go to Seoul Grand Park, only a few subway transfers and a multitude of stations away. I had researched it on line, and it's outdoor botanical garden sounded just the place to catch some more of the blooming azaleas and peonies and everything else that is so prolific at the moment. The afternoon was warm--in the 80's; the sun was shining--we're supposed to be in for some rain for the next few days; the route seemed easy enough to follow--famous last words.

I was so proud of us and how easily we transferred from the orange Line 3 to the olive Line 7 to the blue Line 4 and were only four stops from our destination, Seoul Grand Park. The trains were absolutely jam packed crammed with people. There was no sitting down until we went from Isu (Line 7) to Sandang, the first stop on Line 4. We had our choice of seats. The train stopped at Sandang and everyone got off, except us. I noticed some people looked at us a little funny, but I'm used to that. I'm a foreigner, right?

The train moves on to Namtaeryeong, we thought, but looking around we notice there are no other people in our car. Chuckling we nudge each other, "Now we have a seat--no, no, we have a whole car, hah, hah, hee, hee." Then I look through to the car ahead of us, and there are no people on that car either. We look to the car behind us--no one--and the train is moving slower and slower and the tunnel is getting darker and darker. The old Kingston Trio song of the MTA flashes through my mind. I even sing a few bars for Dee Ann who, child that she is, has never heard the song. So I explain it's about a man named Charlie who bought a one way ticket on the MTA and didn't have the dime to get off so he rode forever through the streets of Boston, the man who never returned. I don't think she was amused, but then we just had to laugh.

The train comes to a complete stop in this tunnel. It gets really quiet. At least the lights are still on in the train. In a little while we see a man in a blue uniform, turns out to be a driver going off duty, coming our way. After much gesturing and a few words of English, we figure out that we just need to sit tight--that's when he points to the seats and mimes sitting--and change trains at Sandang--something circular with his hands-- -because this one will be going in the wrong direction. I still don't understand how everyone else knew that and we didn't. Hmm, maybe it was those instructions that came over the loudspeaker in Korean and English that I wasn't paying attention to because I just knew I was on the right train to Seoul Grand Park--the sign said so and so did my subway map!

We made it to the park. It's huge. The entrance mall is lined with food vendors and souvenir vendors. It's now about 5:30 and more people seem to be leaving than going in our direction. So we decide to saunter around, scope the place out, and save the botanical gardens and the zoo and the tram ride and the rose gardens for another day.

We eat bar-b-qued chicken kabobs on a stick, 1,000 Won; Dee Ann buys five twisted doughnuts for 1,000 Won and shares; the fruit course is sweet pineapple slices on a stick, 1,000 Won. A won is worth about 75cents on the exchange now. I am staring at one vendor's wares that look just like the Mopane worms we ate in Botswana. A gentleman comes up and says, "Delicious, you must try. Very healthy because of the leaves they eat. Very good for you." He and his wife have just bought a dixie cup full and they want me to share with them. OK, I've eaten Mopane in Botswana and Zambia--and have the certificate to prove it. There they are dried and fried and have more crunch than flavor. These Bundigie are actually silk worm larvae that are steamed and sauteed in something that tastes like butter. Tasted just like chicken! I also bought some melted sugar candy that reminds me of the Georgia Cane Syrup candy and taffy we used to make when I was in high school in Albany, GA.

The trip home was almost as adventurous as the trip getting there. I have always gone north on the subway and come home south. So when we got to orange Line 3, our line to Apugujeong, I instinctively headed south. You got it, we were supposed to be heading north. For about three stations I wasn't recognizing the names. I whipped out my well worn subway map that's written in English and figure out we're going the wrong way. I hustle Dee Ann off the train, explaining, "My mistake!"

We made it home. I have just had a tomato and cucumber sandwich for supper with Zero coke and all is right with the world--until another day. With the cucumbers my landlady brought me yesterday morning, the tomatoes I bought at the Sim Sa Si Jamg market, the mayonaise I found at California Grocery, and the walnut-rye flour bread I get at Paris Croissant, my larder is full!

Jo Ann, my friend in California says I need a keeper. Ahhh, but how much more interesting to be more lost than found most of the time. Besides, I would never have had my own MTA story to share!

Nancy

I added a few pictures to the photo blog of the Park.

Spring here is beautiful. First it was the trees--those winter's sticks that turned into cherry blossoms and tulip trees and forsythia. Now the town is bursting with azaleas. I am finding them in the most unexpected places on my walk to work. And the colors are enough to make my heart ring! The entrance to my apartment building is aglow in a bright fushia that even my land lady has taken pictures of. I met a new American friend--from Houston no less but actually lived seven months in Midland--with his camera buried deep in the flowers looking for that perfect shot.

Last weekend Dee Ann and I took a walk to find the river and anything green and discovered the Wilderness Walking Trail behind the huge Hangnam apartment complex. We both so needed a truly green fix--like being surrounded by it--and found it in spades! We went back this afternoon and the whole trail is bursting in azaleas. When you live wedged between large buildings, surrounded by asphalt and noxious sewers, there is nothing like a blooming lilac tree to bury your nose in, absorb the smell, and hope it's one that will stay in the mind's eye that surely includes the nose!

My landlady came by this morning bearing a gift of sliced cucumbers. Korean vegetables are ever so good. Tomatoes taste like tomatoes. Cucumbers taste clean and crispy. Carrots are sweet. Mushrooms are tasty. And there's this funny little sprout that I use instead of lettuce because it has the best chlorophyll taste. I bought some small Korean tomatoes from a street vendor--they're red and green--that are not only tomatoey but sweet. And don't get me started on the fruit!

I have all the windows to my apartment opened and have a wonderful cross breeze going through. I am making a point to enjoy the spring since I hear the summers are hot and humid and for the monsoon season I had better get some rain boots. But for now. . . .

After listening to the Susan Boyle phenomenon upteen times on YouTube and spending the weekend absorbing Spring, my heart is filled with joy.

(A few new pictures on the photoblog)

Nancy

Yep, it was one of those days. I woke up to the rain beating on my windows, and it continued to pour as I unfurled (or is it "furled"? I always get the two mixed up) my umbrella and began the walk to work. It must have rained most of the night and hard because the puddles in all the dips and crevases on my route--and there are many--were deep. There are no sidewalks, so walking to work is a game of chicken with cars, motorcycles, and other pedestrians all jockeying for the best spots--translate that to safest--on the streets. After going about six blocks and barely missing being thoroughly doused by passing cars and vans, I thought a taxi would be good about now, and, voila, one pulls up going the right direction and lets a passenger out. I scoot in next to the driver, pull out my card with the name, address, and telephone number of the school on it--all in Korean hangul calligraphy--and sit back to be driven to school.

The driver can't figure out where the school is--and he only speaks Korean. He calls the school and gets the cook who doesn't have a clue either what he is talking about or how to get there. She's a good cook. He tries a few other phone calls and gets more exasperated by the moment. We haven't moved an inch, and the meter is running. You have to understand there are no street names, or if there are, no one uses them except the really big ones. Navigation is done by landmarks--tall buildings, important businesses, that sort of thing. The driver had a GPS, so I don't know why he didn't use it with the number I had in hand.

Juggling, purse, gloves, umbrella, I get out and say, "I'll walk." I make it to school in about 15 minutes in pretty good shape and realize I have left my brown book bag with my camera in it in the taxi. The whole school was going on a field trip to a children's muscial and clay modeling program--you know, like making things with clay. I had planned to take pictures.

Erin and Sonya figure out they can trace the call on the school phone, and call the taxi about my bag. Sure enough it is there, but he says he is on the other side of Seoul and I will have to pay. OK, OK. A taxi fee has got to be cheaper than buying a new camera.

While I am waiting for my students to get to school, Thomas, the first one there, and I are looking at a book of dinosaurs, his passion, at my desk, and he knocks over my cup of coffee. He learned a new English word--splash (It's a good thing I'm not any good at cussing! I'm really not!).

We hustle the kids through morning snack--pork dumplings--back into all their rain gear and onto the vans that will take us to the theater. It's not terribly far, but Seoul traffic being what it is, it takes over an hour to get there. That really makes my wonder about the taxi driver and how far he got in such a short time. Anyway, half way there, I look down and realize I forgot to put my street shoes on and am still wearing my school shoes---that's after helping the children take off their slippers and put on their street shoes. I just forgot all about my own feet. My school shoes are an old, comfortable pair of Birkenstocks that I cleaned up the soles on so I wouldn't have to wear the slippers that were killing my back the few days I tried to wear them. So that wasn't too bad, just embarassing.

We all had a good time at the performance. The players did a puppet type show of Thumbelina, as I found out later since it was all in Korean. The actors were lively, the puppets were small clay figurines, and the music was fun. After the show, each child had a bag with five balls of clay, and the teacher on stage taught them to make some fruit. Truly an interesting experience with four, five, six and seven year old--who are really three, four, five, and six.

Back at the school, we ate lunch--fried fish cutlets, rice, sauteed bean sprouts, bean sprout soup, and kimchi-- at 2:00, had an English lesson until 3, and Kim finished with a Korean lesson until 3:50. The taxi driver had delivered my bag and camera and charged me 20,000 Won, about $15. Evil man!

A kind parent gave me a ride home from school at 5:00, and as I was getting out of the car, I made sure I had my purse, my umbrella, and my brown book bag, but when I turned to shut the door, there was the brown bag still on the floor. Twice in one day I could be so careless? Turns out the mother has a brown book bag exactly like mine, and sure enough I was walking away with her clothes and no telling what all.

It's just been a day of glitches--small, irritating glitches, but enough to make me think the earth did a little hiccup on its axis and I have been reacting to it all day. I've felt I was walking at a slant--or maybe just thinking at a slant. Hmmm, sounds like a line from Emily Dickenson.

Up to this week, my Seoul experience has been cold, cold, and colder. Every day I would get up, check the weather, and think, "Do I layer under my heavy, wool, winter coat, wrap one scarf under and one on top up to my eyes, and top it off with a knitted cap, or do I layer under my raincoat, scarf underneath, and knitted cap on top and umbrella in my carry-bag. This week, I'm looking for cool weather clothes--one layer, no scarves, gloves or knitted cap. The sun has popped out. Buds are bursting. Foliage I thought were just sticks are blossoming in green, yellow, pink, and white. I have two walls of windows in my studio apartment. Because of the frosted glass on the inner window--thus no need for curtains--I had no idea what the view was. Friday was so pretty I opened the windows to let the fresh air in--at least as fresh as it can get in downtown Seoul--and saw to my amazement there is a tree, several trees in fact, and one blooming in cherry blossoms. Saturday night it rained all night--ahh, blessed sleep--and Sunday morning the tree is solid white in blossoms. Ahh, spring has sprung!

I have gotten quite brazen in talking to people, particularly caucasians I run into on the streets close to where I live. Last week I met Dee Ann who works in a school in my neighborhood and doesn't live far from here. Of course we exchanged email and cell phone numbers. Today we went to Itaewon--she looking for turkey, which she is craving, and me looking for my list of "if I ever come across. . ." I completed my list: cushioned socks, ear muffs, black tea, and cheese. Sadly, we found no turkey, but the hunt is on. There's also a book store in the area that we just happened to stumble across--of course--and I stocked up on Agatha Christies and a few other fun reads. In my area, Gangnam-Gu, I rarely see a caucasian face. In Itaewan they were everyplace: soldiers from the bases, teachers from all over the city, tourists. I may go back and find a sidewalk cafe where I can just people watch.

Yesterday Erin and I went to the National Museum and the Palace. It was a beautiful day. Now I am even more curious about filling in the gaps of my understanding of the history and culture of this country. I am in constant admiration for how far this country has come since the Korean War. They have pulled themselves up from a third world country devastated and divided by forty years controlled by Japan, WWII, a civil war, to a vibrant, progressive country competing in the global economy. When I see older people on the streets, I try to imagine what they have seen in their lifetimes. But to do that, I need to know more.

Nancy

I have found meat, real meat. I have eaten meat. It's here! There are three small grocery stores within a few blocks of my apartment. One is a small Mom-Pop with very narrow aisles and crowded shelves--definitely not accommodating to generously endowed customers who are also loaded down with book bag, purse, and grocery basket. I invariably knock something down or shift it on the shelf. But they have milk, eggs, peanut butter, diet coke, and really good vegetables and fruit, so I stop there often.

The California Grocery is a larger store with a much bigger selection and even some American products. I try to balance out my purchases between the two stores. Last week I was perusing the store--much of what I see I have no idea what it is or how to prepare it--and wandered back to the meat department to see what they have to offer. Then I heard someone say "Nancy Michaelis." At least that's what it sounded like in a Korean kind of way. I looked around wondering where that came from and I heard it again. It was the butcher! I said, "How do you know my name?" He grinned broadly and said, "I read Galleria Magazine." There was an article about my teaching at the new Spring Academy in the magazine with a pretty good picture--yes, I can now say I have been a centerfold. I have no idea what the article says since it's all in Korean and my understanding of the Han-guel alphabet is very limited, which means I usually get the pronunciation wrong and besides that I don't know what I'm saying. Anyway, he recognized me and likes to practice his English. So I bought some Korean beef, which I put in my freezer and haven't tried yet.

The other grocery store is just half a block from my apartment. I have been in there a few times, but found very little to buy as the prices are quite high. I only see Mercedes and BMWs and big, shiny black cars that I don't even know what they are and very well dressed ladies getting out and going in to shop. Anyway, I stopped in there the other day to see what these people could possibly be shopping for and found the frozen meat shelves. Truthfully, I thought I was buying center cuts of ham, but when I got it home to cook it, it was quarter inch thick pork chops. Oh, my gosh, they were sooooo good.

My other meat experience is from a street vendor that I see occassionally on my way home. He has a pickup with a rotisserie on the back where he has about four rows of skewered chickens turning and roasting. I broke down and bought one--thinking if I get food poisoning, so be it. Those chickens smell soooo good. I bought one. They're small.
When I broke it open, I found it was stuffed with rice and in the middle of the rice was a plum. Along with the chicken and rice came a container of pickled radish and a little bag of mustard sauce. What a meal!

I had bought some hamburger at Costco when I was there in January, and I have been very stingy with it. I think most of the beef comes from Australia. The butcher, Lim, was surprised when I particularly wanted Korean beef. I will let you know how it turns out when I cook it.

We eat a lot of well prepared fish and squid and fish jerky and what looks like little dried minnows at school for lunch. In fact, the food at lunch is always very good. There's always rice and soup and kimchi and some sort of vegetable and some form of protein. It's plenty filling, so i don't usually cook big suppers. But, ahhh, to have meat.

This evening I needed comfort food. It was the first day of classes with the usual jitters, stress, trying to stay on schedule, dealing with curriculum glitches, realizing there are not textbooks in yet for the subject I was about to teach, wondering why some students who were perfect angels at 10:00 are rebellious imps at 2:30, just finding out I have to teach the seven year's old science class as well as the six year's old and it’s a completely different curriculum, staying until almost six o’clock trying to get it all straight, and walking the mile home with every muscle and joint screaming, “Are we home yet?”

So I stopped at the street stall I pass every day and bought a take home portion of tteokbokki, a very spicy, fat noodle, fish cake dish with a whole boiled egg--probably for protein considering all the carbs--simmered in a red peppery sauce. With cold beer, it was delicious--and cheap. The whole bowlful cost me 1000 won, about 65 cents, and it was more than I could eat! This is a favorite with school children. You should hear my students oooh and awwww when it is served for afternoon snack----hmm, maybe they’re needing comfort food by then too! I have walked past this lady every day thinking, “I don’t know how to buy that. What do I ask for? How much will it cost?” Today I thought, “What the heck? I need comfort food and that looks a lot like macaroni and cheese!” Well, not really. It’s very red and each of the noodles is about the size of my ring finger--I had to look at my hands to make sure I got that right.

Now I am carb and spice sated, ready for a “long, winter’s nap”--or at least going to bed early. The first time I came across this dish was at Erin’s church where they were dishing it out with gusto to all the Sunday School kids for a special treat. All the ladies warned me not to try it; it was much to hot and spicy. I loved it--must be the Texas taste buds. My English conversation students raved about it as their favorite food when they were my students in January. I watched a TV special on eating in Korea and what a winter treat tteokbokki is to chase away the chills. Now I know for myself: it’s comfort food!

February Classes

The February classes have come to an end. For me it was the great experiment: how do I work with six-seven year olds who speak little to no English and have varying degrees of knowledge and proficiency? Thank heavens I had the help of Kim, my Korean teaching partner. Whenever the children would get to the frustration level with instructions--not always because of the language barrier but because I would go too fast or expect them to catch on too quickly--she would step in with Korean and help me with the one-on-one. She would also understand the bosses' objectives much better than I would, so she was there to instruct me also. I think it worked. The children did learn a few things. And I learned a lot!

We had our Little Pig Opera and parent orientation Saturday, Feb. 28th. When we began learning the songs to tell the story of the Three Little Pigs, I thought, “There’s no way this is going to work.” Oh me of little faith! The children did learn the songs--for the most part. Actually, I’m not sure they ever really grasped the words or concept of “not by the hair of my chinny chin chin”, but other lines and songs they truly incorporated into their new vernacular. I was reading The Hungry Caterpillar the last week of class, and on the second reading when I got to the part of the big, fat caterpillar, they all burst into song with the wolf’s song: “I want a big, fat, pig to eat!” In another part they jumped in with the pigs’ song: “No way, no way, no way no way will I let you in. Not by the mumble, mumble, mumble, mumble.”

I got to meet most of my students’ parents from February and a few who will begin in March. Most speak some to proficient English. For those who didn’t, Kim was there to talk about our class and the student’s progress. A big concern for several of the parents is that school not be so demanding and so stressful that it takes the joy out of learning. My philosophy exactly. Korean schools, from what they tell me, can be very demanding and stressful. I’m not sure if it is the schools or the parents in this highly competitive scholastic environment. But I have heard this concern reiterated since I came here. Even here at Spring (my school) we seem to have an awful lot of material to cover, but I remember substituting in elementary years ago and being overwhelmed with all the textbooks and workbooks the kids and teachers had to deal with every day.

I mentioned that I think the children in February did learn a little bit. Well, one thing I know they did learn was farm animals. Every day we did flash cards with pig, hen, horse, cow, goat, duck, goose, dog, sheep, donkey, farmer, and tractor. We did the phonics beginning sounds. We made the animal sounds. We did work sheets. We made barns and put animals inside. We sang “Old Mac Donald.” We played “The Farmer in the Dell.” Kim found a book and CD in our library called Down on the Farm. The last two weeks, we read the book and sang the song every day: “There are many sounds that you can hear, down on the farm. The rooster on the fence goes cock-a-doodle-doo. The dog on the porch goes woof-woof-woof. ETC” The last day, the last hour I pulled out the book and the CD. There was a lot of in the ear whispering and giggling, but I just chalked that up to youthful enthusiasm. We sang about the first animal, “The rooster on the fence goes. . .” and the students all burst out with ‘Moo-moo-moo.” Quizzical me goes on to the next page. More whispering and giggling. “The dog goes--cock-a-doodle-do.” We all laughed so hard: conspiracy, collaboration, mutiny! But what I really saw was creative thinking, leadership, and so much laughter. It was fun! Again I learned a lot.

Trying to make English alphabet letters correctly, staying in the lines or getting out of them when need be--like g and j--counting above ten--really, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fifteen make no sense at all as words, learning phonetical sounds for the letters and the words that go along with them, copying short sentences--how do you make this stuff fun and interesting so they can learn it. I’m learning a lot.

One of the things I am in a delima over is teaching manners and politeness. I have talked to my Korean bosses and fellow teachers about this. How far do we go? Is our purpose here to acclimate these children to English/American ways as well as language? With the Koreans I am around at school, in the shops, and on the street, I don’t hear “please,” “thank you,” “you’re welcome,” or “excuse me.” There is a phrase for “thank you” but the context seems different. And people always seem surprised when I say it to them--and not just because my accent is so bad! There is no holding doors for people. When someone bumps into you, there is no “excuse me.” The Korean way is just different. There is no right side to walk on. Everyone is all over the place, so there is a lot of bumping and chargning ahead. So how far do we go with the Anglicized version. I am surprised how much I find myself saying things like “please” and “thank you.” It is surely engrained in us. I am, however, losing the “excuse me” and becoming as rude and pushy as everyone else seems to be.

Well, tomorrow starts the new classes with almost all new students. The students Kim and I will have are the advanced six year olds who have some English. I have no idea what that means or how much they know. I do know that one of the students is probably ADD, and we have been warned of what to expect. I haven’t gone over my textbooks or lesson plans for my multitude of subjects, so I had better hit the books. Yep, I’m learning a lot!