Trip with the 2nd Graders

On Monday, my school took the 2nd grade class to one of the more famous mountains in Korea, sawlracksan. I had the pleasure of riding with class 2-7, a group of girls, and their homeroom teacher Mrs. Ju. Mrs. Ju is 30 years old and speaks English very well. I'm glad that I we were able to ride together. I feel as though, out of all my co-teachers, I am becoming closer to her for two reasons: her English level allows us to communicate on many different levels, such as using sarcasm, inside jokes, and discussing social topics. The second reason is that she is very young and many of her views, actions, and interactions with the other teachers reflects that (we have a lot in common). She is more willing to honestly express her sentiments on the other teachers, Korea, and many other topics. Additionally, she is more willing to talk to me about her personal life (one in which I get the feeling that she is not too happy with her husband). It was a great pairing.

The fact that I was with 2-7, one of my favorite classes, made the trip that much more fun. On the ride home I decided to sit with the students, because Mrs. Ju was resting her eyes, and we played some games, joked around, and I tried my hardest to memorize some of their names (I actually got 3 down). Being with the 2nd graders was nice, real nice (Bernie Mac style). I, along with Mr.s Ju, played in a potato sack race (you should have heard the girls scream when I started to hold her hand). We won the first round but lost the second because she is terribly out of shape (but weighs about 120 lbs, maybe). She wheezed for about 7 mins after a 30 second race. Also, they had this talent show where each class (there are 10) had to perform, but before the performances, there were several activities. One included a group of 5 girls picking 5 male teachers and dancing with them. It was hilarious to watch me, the youngest teacher, go toe-to-toe with the oldest but the kids enjoyed it as well as the Dojo Yoshi. I took many pictures and video so they will be up in about 5 days (tom. I am going to a 4 day conference).

Today, as I write this all over the place narrative, I taught one of my most successful lessons. In Korea, students almost always answer "How are you?" with "Fine. Thankyou, and you?" Its like they were trained to say this. As a result, I decided to teach them different answers to that question but I was very animated. Needless to say, these were my most fun classes thus far. Aight, well I'm about to finish my B-Mac and go to bed. Peace and Love.

Oh yea, today I was walking with my homestay father and it was cold so I put my hands in my sleeves and he asked me to talk them out because he didn't want the unnecessary attention (I think he actually said "strange man". I thought to myself, you're walking down the street with a black dude in Chawngju, people stare at me no matter what. While we're on the subject, I taught my siblings how to say their name using the izzle system (I know, I know.) One started calling me Athizzle (which is hilarious in their accents). Chang Bizzle, Chan Mizzle, and Chang Izzle. HAHAHAHAHA.