I've had a lot of classes get cancelled this week so I've had plenty of time on my hands to plan lessons and e-mail.
So, I guess the teachers get together after classes to play badminton pretty regularly. They kept mentioning it but I didn't know details until yesterday. One of the office ladies kept coming up to me and saying "You and me. Play badminton" and I just nodded, not sure when that challenge was supposed to take place. So, yesterday, when I brought treats for payday, Mr. Song told me to meet the other teachers at the gym. I went, thinking they'd be leisurely passing a ball but apparently Koreans take badminton very seriously. I almost got pelted with the ball (I hate calling it a cock) the second I stepped inside and ran for cover with Ms. Hwang (the special ed teacher). The other teachers looked disappointed and asked me why I didn't have gym clothes (I was in a skirt and sandals) and I just shrugged. I had not been informed that I needed to bring gym clothes to school. I had at least 3 teachers challenge me to a match next time and I'm hoping they don't think I'm some kind of champ at badminton because I definitely suck at that game. It was fun to see the other teachers break out of their shells and go all out at badminton.
While some of the men played, I brought out the Salt Water Taffies and Chocolate-covered cinnamon bears and offered them to Ms. Hwang and the 3rd grade teacher (I've never thought to ask her name). They were really wary of them and kept asking what they were and what they tasted like. I tried to explain Salt Water Taffies and lost them when they clued into "Salt". They kept looking at each other saying "Salty? Salty?" and looking disgusted. Luckily, Mr. Song came over to translate and they finally tried them. The other teachers gathered and kept grabbing them. It was a bit like "Bertie Botts beans" since I wasn't positive what all the flavors were but they were very brave. At one point, the Vice Principal bit into a black licorice one and made a face like I'd poisoned her. She told me they were good but may have been being polite. They liked the mint flavored ones though and pretty much every flavor I think is gross. Then the office lady grabbed a cinnamon bear and was startled to find it gummy inside. She showed it to the other teachers and I told them it was cinnamon jelly. Koreans are obsessed with gelatin. I can't get pre-cut fruit at the store unless it's floating in gelatin. And we've had a lot of interesting gelatin mixtures for lunch too - usually fruit in gelatin but there's also this "acorn jelly" that I find really disgusting. I also do not like choco-covered cinnamon bears. So since they didn't understand "gummy bear" I told them it was gelatin. They went nuts grabbing at the bears. It was easily their favorite - figures they'd like the thing I'm not a fan of. Anyway, the treats were a hit and luckily there was just enough to go around. One teacher even took a couple for her daughter. I almost wish I'd brought more so I could share them with the other two schools I teach at. The teachers loved that I brought traditional treats from my hometown - usually, the new teacher just brings persimmons. Ms. Hwang insisted that I play badminton with her next time. She's around my age and is very friendly everytime I see her. It felt like I'd finally broken the ice with the other teachers. We usually don't talk much except "hello" and "goodbye".
Today I'm at Odong - my third school. Grades 4-6 are on a field trip so I only had to teach 3rd grade today but then the school decided to keep me busy by having me spend a period each in 1st and 2nd grade. I was really nervous since I always struggle with that age group but it went pretty well. 1st grade only had 4 students but they were really receptive. We played an action song, head shoulders knees and toes, red light/green light, and duck duck goose. I tried to teach them patty-cake and it wasn't as successful but they still liked it enough. 2nd grade was a lot bigger - about 10 students. We played the same games again but I made red light/green light harder by having them do different things to get to the front like "jump backwards" "spin" "hop on one leg" eventually they started making their own like "army crawl" and "crawl like a cat". They were obsessed. Duck duck goose was a hit too and by the end I was the goose almost everytime so they really wore me out. It's weird that they've never played duck duck goose before. One of the teachers did tell me that red light/green light is similar to a traditional Korean game. My slippers are kind of like flip-flops so running was a challenge. Then I played the numbers game (similar to big booty) and they learned 1-10 super fast so I think I'll hold onto that game for my afterschool class at Cheonjeon when we get to numbers. The rythm is difficult for them though. The 2nd grade teacher took some pictures of us playing red light/ green light I should've asked her to send me some copies but I forgot.
There was one handicapped boy in 2nd grade and I felt bad because he would get too excited during games and start running into things so the teacher kept having to grab him. The other students were very patient with him though and made sure he was included in the games. I've noticed the students are always very kind to their handicapped classmates. We have a mute girl in 4th grade who, whenever it's her turn to answer a question - the whole class speaks for her. It's really cute. And a boy in 6th grade who can only say "hello" in English but is always super smiley scored his team their first and only point during a basketball game I brought. His team went nuts and were all high-fiving him, it was really fun and he loved the attention.
Anyway, now I'm back to desk warming for the rest of the day. I'm really not sure what to do with my afterschool class tomorrow. We did as much as we could with the cup song and I know some of the boys wanted me to teach them the haka but I don't think the girls would like it as much. I might try doing a craft lesson instead.
Hopefully I can get around to updating that blog I started but I'm too lazy. I'll keep you posted though.
-Whit
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