Goodbye, Hello

Once again it has been awhile since my last post. I have been teaching at my new school, Bambini, for almost three months now, and things are finally starting to settle down. I'll start this post with the end of my year teaching at GDA, then transition to my new class, Olive Class.

Excellence Class Graduation

Schools in Korea start in March, so at the end of February we had our graduation at GDA so that the kids could go on to elementary school. Each class had their own graduation ceremony, and since my class was the largest, I had mine in the gym. I began with the ceremony with a short speech about the school year. After that, each kid gave a speech about a topic that they had learned about in either science or social studies throughout the course of the year. The students wrote the speeches by themselves (O.K., there was one kid I had to "suggest" sentences to), then I corrected them. Remember, at the beginning of the year most of these kids couldn't understand what I was saying. Each speech was about 7-8 sentences long, except Justin's. He went on and on about where Seismosaurus lived and what it ate (this is the same kid who taught me that the capital of Liechtenstein is Vaduz). After the speeches I handed out diplomas and my gift to the kids (a copy of Doctor Seuss' Oh, The Places You'll Go). Unfortunately, I was running the ceremony, so I couldn't get many pictures during it. At the end there was time for a group photo, so I gave my camera to my supervisor who took a group shot for me.

I was able to take pictures after the ceremony, where I snapped one of Justin (above left). Rena's mother sent me an e-mail with a couple pictures she had taken of me and her daughter (above right). Here is the e-mail she sent me:

Dear Eric teacher,

Hello. I'm Rena's mom.^^
I wanted to write e-mail to you,
but I was very busy with the care of Rena's new school days.
How is your new place?
Rena adapts to an elementary school very well,
but she doesn't like a new English institute.
She said, "Eric teacher is much better than Hannah teacher.
I miss GDA and Eric teacher."

I am so glad that my daughter met a teacher like you.
You majored in education and love children.
Besides, you look like the God of Greek mythology.^^
I thought that Rena was very lucky.
After GDA graduation ceremony,
I was impressed by your letter and present.
I can feel your hearty mind and the book has a wonderful story.
Rena said, "Eric teacher read this book at a library.
This book is very interesting and I want to have this book.
How does Eric teacher know my mind?"^-^

Rena & I will visit my cousin in U.S. during the summer vacation.
She will join in Bible camp
and we will have a tour round the amusement park in California.
I hope Rena will have an interest in English again through this trip to U.S.

I appreciate your teaching and caring.
I wish you wonderful days!


Sincerely,

Rena's mom

Excellence Class lived up to their name in every possible way. Teaching them for a year was an extremely rewarding experience, and I continue to miss each and every one of them.

Post Graduation Mayhem

While I failed to capture the bittersweet nostalgia of the graduation ceremony, I did an excellent job of capturing the post-graduation mayhem that ensued. This was entirely appropriate, as it was probably a better representation of what the year was like anyway.

Harry always kept me laughing. He managed to completely invert himself in the play place (above left) and elephants are his favorite animal (below right).

Hello Olive Class

Yes, my new class is called Olive Class, and I don't even like olives. All of the classes at my new school are named after trees (maple, cherry, cedar, etc.). At first I didn't think trees compared to honorific abstract nouns like Excellence, Dream, and Courage, but Olive has started to grow on me. The kids each have an olive with their name on it velcroed to a felt tree on a wall in the classroom. If they have enough stars at the end of the day (awarded for good behavior), they get a sticker to put on their olive. Twenty stickers earns a prize. It is a class of Korean-age 6 year olds, which, to reiterate, is 4 or 5 in the Western world. Their English speaking abilities are actually much better than Excellence's were at the beginning of last year. All of them have had at least one year of English education prior to this year. Their reading abilities vary quite a bit. A few kids in my partner teacher's class (Pine) can't read at all, while a couple kids in each class can read most words they encounter. The Korean education system is very intense from day one (and it is thoroughly reinforced by a "Tiger Mother" in each and every house), so it is very important that the five year olds that I teach will be able to read and write in English by the time I'm done.

And now to introduce the kids. Behold, Olive Class:

Lynn (left) and James (right).

Emma (left) and Jennifer (right).

Junho (left) and Sooah (right).
















Dorothy (left) and Dongha (right)



















Nate (left) and Michelle (right). You can see the olive tree next to Nate.

Olive Class had a very tough act to follow, but they are rising to the occasion. While they are a year younger, their English abilities are a year or two more advanced than Excellence's were at this time. Thus, I would say that their attention spans are roughly equal. The same cannot be said for Pine Class, whose attention spans are non-existent for the most part. So far the fundamental difference between 6 year olds and 7 year olds is the ability to hold on to the pencil. While 7 year olds certainly have not acquired the skills of seasoned pencil-holding veterans, they clearly are more than mere amateurs. A 6 year old classroom, on the other hand, is a cacophonous symphony of pencils hitting the tile floor.

First Field Trip

We've actually been on three field trips, but I only brought my camera along for the first one. Our first field trip was to a fire department. The kids got to put on firefighting gear, spray water guns, and go down a giant slide-like chute.

Next weekend is a long one due to a national holiday on Monday. I will spend the three days visiting Gyeongju, a city in southern Korea that served as the capital of the ancient Silla Dynasty. It's a historic city with lots to do, so when I finally get around to my next post, I will have a lot to say.