May is a fun month because there are so many school activities. For my country school, I was invited to go walking at Wolmyeong Park (which I have been to with my Seohyung teachers). But this time I was with students and it was a new walk. Here are some photos of the trip: (Okay...I just uploaded the photos--here are A LOT of photos from the day).
We start! Uphill....of course.
Wolmyeong Park's iconic image: the Flower.
Then we walk through a statue garden. Didn't really get the art, but....I'm not an artist.
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| Okay, specifically, I didn't get this art. |
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| One of the breaks--KIMCHI! |
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| Kimchi! |
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| My Co-teacher Mrs. Cho, and I. |
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| This is the student teacher at Oku Middle School. His name is Lee Tae Won (if you say it the Korean way, his name is "itaewon." Which makes me laugh. ) He hasn't finshed college yet and is still pretty young--23--or 21 American age. I was shocked to hear that. It was bad, because he looked like a student... >.< The boy students LOVED him. There aren't many male teachers at Oku--and none who are even close to the descriptive of "young" so Mr Lee was quiet popular. |
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| Random statue |
First--you don't ever let the slightest bit of sun to touch your skin. Women are more concerned with this than man, but there were a lot of jackets, big billed hats, and long pants for the walk.
Secondly, Everyone pulls out their cell phones and listens to Kpop. No kidding, every 2nd kid had their cell phone playing music.
We walked past the Buddhist Temple in the park and this little rascal came charging down the stairs to "greet" us--or warn us away. He was precious because he couldn't have been more than 10 pounds and was wearing a pink coat and pants.
He would back away when people came up to say hello, running up the steps, but when they turned away to continue walking, he would suddenly get his nerve back and come charging down the stairs again. He was the cutest grumpy old man dog.
We passed a bunch of little day care students. I loved the matching uniforms....
We came to a pretty part of the walk and Sue took my camera to take pictures. She was shocked that Gunsan could be pretty. "Are we in Gunsan?" She kept asking.
More precious little ones. I love that their shirts say: KIDS. As though you couldn't tell....
There is a belief (rooted in Oriental Medicine) that sitting benieth these cedar trees is good for you health. I think the smell is suppose to help cure cancer or something like that. I had seen people resting in the benches below the trees, but.....
...never had I seen someone quiet so enthusiatically embrace the tree.
Takes "Tree Hugging" to another level, eh?
This is my other Co-Teacher at Oku--Miss Sue. She is 30 (really, she is) and she basically sits in on all my classes. Mrs Jo usually is in her office and--even though Sue isn't a 3rd grade teacher, or my 2nd grader, she is the teacher who helps me out.
I can't quiet peg her. She is really sweet sometimes but sometimes she can be a little cold. But she is very busy so I totally understand. And it's hard to speak English all the time. Random side note: She is doing her master's thesis on the play "death of a saleseman" which I just find...strange.
being goofy
Okay, a little more serious
Short side note: The boy sitting on the right is autistic. As in, quiet severally. But his parents don't want him to go to the school for special children because they don't want the stigma. (This is all according to Mrs Cho). So, he goes to regular school and is basically just put through the system. He has good and bad days in the English class that I see. Sometimes he just stays to himself. Other times he throws giant tantrums and starts hitting people and screaming at the top of his lungs.
That is when Mrs Cho will come into class and take him into her office. He will then be told to trace the alphabet. Usually, he ends up just staring at me, then going to sit by the wall, curling into a little ball and rocking himself. As I said, good and bad days.
Pretty flower!
We stopped for lunch and the kids pulled out their "obentos" (I only know the Japanese word for packed lunch.) They shared a kimbab with me. It was all home made and beautifully prepared.
Then we found a jungle gym and the boys had to show off. Male posturing and all...
Copy cat...
This boy was precious. We are walking back to the bus now and he is walking on the other side of the Ms Sue, listening to our conversation. His English isn't strong--he is 1st grade out in the country--but he is super sweet. He takes Ms Sue's hand and asks how to say "Hello" in English.
So we start a small 3-way conversation. I would say hello and then he asked a question. Or, more specifically, he asked Ms Sue how to say "Do you like hiking?" and then she would translate and he would repeat it and ask me.
I was very impressed that he went out of his way to speak. Usually, students just ask the Korean English teacher to ask me the questions. But he wanted to talk to me. He would listen very carefully to Ms Sue and then pointedly look at me and slowly repeat the question.
He was dressed like an older man--a Korean "ajasshi"...so I called him my Ajasshi in Training.
The View of Gunsan from Wolmyeong Park.
I like this student's hat. "Sexy, Stylish and Myself."
That was basically our walk. Afterward an older male teacher bought Ms Sue and I icecream as a thank you for helping out with the walk. And then Ms Sue and I decided to go drink a Beer at Eunpa Park (I felt so bad (hehe) for drinking in public, but it was a lot of fun). I was able to get Sue to open up a little bit and found out she is quiet the social rule breaker--she's engaged to a man 5 years younger than her! *gasp!*
I feel very lucky to be so involved at my schools. I had a lot of fun at Wolmyeong park and even though it was a little difficult because the only person who really speaks English is Sue, it was fun to try and connect with the students.
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