Wild Wednesdays

No, this is not some special at a bar nearby.  This is my description of my schedule on Wednesdays.  In total, I had 10 classes today.  For the first I arrived a few minutes early, so I sat with the four year olds while they ate breakfast.  They were served a bowl of rice that looked creamy, and included some little bits of carrot and onion.  The teacher offered me some, so I accepted.   It was flavored with a little bit of soy and maybe some sesame oil.  Very tasty.  One little girl was especially sad that she was there.  She was all teary, red eyed.  I fed her some of her breakfast...so at least she wouldn't have a hungry tummy.  The children were excited to have someone new in their class.  They were all running up to me and talking in Korean.  I just nodded and said yes.  There were lots of hand motions and puzzled looks when I didn't give the expected response.

My second place offered to feed me lunch if I could arrive a little earlier than my start of 12:30.  I got there at 12:18.  They had soup with broad, fat noodles, pieces of onion (?), and pieces of potato, a side of cooked greens (not sure what they were, they were skinny and looked like chives, but didn't taste completely like chives), a yummy Korean pork with peppers (very tasty---masita), rice (of course aka bap) and kimchee style radishes, cut in small pieces.  Many of the children were given forks (poku) instead of chopsticks.  That's probably a good idea, or there would be food everywhere.  It was a really nice lunch and saved me a few thousand won!  I had six classes of preschool children, 20 minutes per class.  All the classes except one were VERY well behaved.  They all enjoyed the book I brought and I gave them Hello Kitty stickers for class participation (very popular).  I also gave animal crackers (to practice please and thank you).  The teachers again do not speak English.

The last place will be my biggest challenge.  The kids are after school kids...older, and there are several extremely bright kids...and several that don't know nearly as much English.  My challenge will be to find something to engage all of them, encourage participation, and challenge them.  I had three volunteers today that understand some English, and in turn, help explain in Korean to the children.  They are a HUGE help.  The teacher of this class does not speak English at all!  They're a fun bunch though.  The mini-Tootsie pops were a hit!

This whole experience, so far, has been so unique.  Nothing in my life has been anything like it.  I've traveled to other countries and enjoyed the richness of their culture and society and heritage.  But nothing compares to the depth and breadth of my experiences in Korea.  I will cherish these memories and experiences forever.