Thanks, Mom!
Aw, I wish I could have been there for Cannon and Hazel's Primary program! Hazel is such a diva, how adorable. And of course Cannon's perfect. Oh man, I haven't even caught up on Once. I still need to talk to Brady! I haven't had a chance since I left. I need to set up a skype chat with him and Eli soon. I haven't talked with Ash either.
Christmas is going to be rough here :/ they don't really celebrate it as much. We just get the one day off and it's more like a couples' holiday, similar to Valentines day. I'm glad Brady and Eli will make it out though! They sound busy! What about Ash and Jarom? Are they in California this year or Utah?
Today was good. I had a really lousy day on Friday and wasn't sure I could come back from it but classes went better today. My 3rd graders are always little angels so I never have to worry about them. Today we learned the story "Winnie the Witch" and I had them act it out afterward and they were super funny. I couldn't get over listening to them try to say "abra cadabra" there were some interesting variations on it like "abula cadubu". I guess every few chapters, they get story-time and it's kind of like a reward. 5th grade had story time too and did "Jack and the Beanstalk" then acted it out. They stole my almonds off my desk for the magic beans and rattled them around so much that they turned to crumbs :/ there goes my snack.
6th grade I probably spent about 15 minutes actually teaching and the rest of class turned into an interrogation about school in America, what I wanted to be when I grew up, and when they found out I speak Spanish, it turned into a Spanish lesson. It was fun and the kids loved my Spanish - I guess it sounds beautiful to them but to Spanish-speakers it would just make their ears bleed. They kept wanting me to write Spanish words on the board for them and tell them how to say "Do you wanna build a snowman?" and other frozen-related phrases. They also wanted me to draw pictures when I told them I always wanted to be an artist. It took a while to get them back on topic - Mr. Song lets them do that every once in a while where they just ask questions about my culture and we don't really get into the lesson. It's fine though, I like that they're curious. After I told them about our long vacations and short school days, I think they all decided to move to America. Too bad they hate English. I told them their lunches are way better here though and that might have deterred them.
The two shy girls who never speak in that class are slowly gaining confidence. Today was the first time I actually got them to speak in front of the class, I was so shocked. They mostly mumbled at the ground but it was something! Usually when I get to them, they just stare at their desks and play deaf so I'm forced to skip them. I gave them slips of paper today with phrases to say when I gave a certain prompt and they both actually stood up and said them. I also gave the class different slips of papers with part of a conversation that they had to fill out the other half for. The two girls came up to me at the end of class as everyone was leaving to show me what they'd come up with and even read them out loud. I was so glad they were talking that I didn't care that one had spelled "shark" wrong. That's been a major goal for me since I've started. Usually shy students are too nervous to speak around me.
At lunch the first-graders stood in line with me and kept wanting hugs and to tell me stories. I had one grab me by the arms and ask very seriously if they had to learn English today and I told him no. He looked so relieved. Then I sat down and got swarmed by 5th grade girls. They brought me a glass of water (you have to go to the back of the cafeteria to get water so this was a really nice gesture) and spent lunch asking me questions about my taste in food and making fun of my lack of chopsticks skills. I've noticed the lunch ladies always take care to pick around the bony meat when they're serving me now - I think they've noticed me struggling. Then, after lunch, a little first-grade girl with chili sauce all over her face insisted that I hold her hand and walk with her back to the main building. She chatted the whole way there and I pretended to understand as usual. I think these cute interactions are what keeps me going. As time has gone on, the kids have gotten more and more outgoing towards me so I feel like I must be doing something right. I ran into one of my 5th graders with her mom the last time I went grocery shopping and she was so excited to tell everyone that she saw me. I still feel like I can't learn Korean fast enough. I had my first official Korean class at the YMCA yesterday and realized how poor my pronunciation has been.
I think I can thank church for my ability to read fast though. My teacher was really impressed with my reading. Trying to keep up with the ward when we're singing hymns has really forced me to speed-read hangeul and I've started getting better out of sheer desperation.Yesterday in Relief Society (there are 4 of us including the RS president) the RS president was teaching the lesson while one of the Sister Missionaries translated and she kept asking me questions. It was so awkward because I'd have to say a sentence and wait for the Sister to translate and then go on. One of the Elders never really learned to speak quietly so Sacrament Meeting can be unbearable sometimes when every talk is accompanied by his loud translations that the whole chapel can hear. I can't tell if it annoys everyone but it always makes me a little self-conscious. It's really nice that the missionaries are so attentive to me but I feel like I get a lot of special treatment and take them away from their other responsibilities. We just got a new Sister Missionary in the ward though and she's from Provo! Her name's Sister Mcclusky I think.... Anyway, small world. We had a pretty intense talk given yesterday about how the Pope is the antichrist along with some other strong opinions, the Elder who was translating had a hard time keeping his cool. Oh and they feed us at the end of church sometimes! It was like a buffet, I was psyched.
I was supposed to go to that paralympics curling game yesterday but couldn't figure out where they were playing :( kind of a bummer. I had church and Korean class back to back though so I would've only made the last little bit of their game against Russia. They told me they'd be playing in Gangwon again later though for the finals so hopefully I can catch it then. It was funny running into them Saturday, they gave me pizza and let me hang out at their little table outside the bus terminal for an hour or so to chat. I haven't had cheese in over a month, it was heavenly. I never knew that much about the paralympics but now I'm determined to catch a game. They wanted to know all about Korea too so I got to play expert for a bit. One of them got attacked by one of the giant moths that are super common here and I had fun telling them the spiders are bigger. It sounds like they've been travelling all over the world to play different countries. One of them knew how to swear in 20 different languages. I was impressed.
Anyway, that's it for me. Tomorrow's a super easy day. 4-6 Grade have a field trip so I only have to teach the 3rd graders at my 2nd school. 3rd grade is just the best. All my kids should be 3rd graders. My lessons are still a lot of trial and error but I'm getting there! I even managed to fill out the "master plan" for the next 3-4 months of after-school classes. I'm feeling pretty accomplished today. Keep me posted on you guys!
-Whit
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