Thursday, September 11, 2008

Yaaay for kids

Today I had my first day at the elementary school. Those kids are sooooooooooo cute. So, I walked there, it took me 35 minutes of walking relatively fast. The last stretch was the toughest because it was up a really steep hill. It's a super nice walk, so I don't mind it. I first had the 3rd graders. There are 21 students in that class, which is great. Not too many. They were really into my lesson, and were very curious about me. They are very competitive and competition will be the best way to keep them active. Next, I had the 4th graders who were super adorable. They all seem to understand English very well. They don't speak a lot, but they understand most of the things I say. That class has only 13 students, so it'll be very easy to do things with them. I was sitting in the back of the class observing, and they kept coming and asking me questions. Then, when the class finished they all came and swarmed around me and were saying one word in Korean. Then one said "Lunch time". Aaaaaah. Then one girl grabed one arm, another one grabed the other arm and then two other kids started arguing because they wanted to hold my hand, so here I was being escorted by a crowd of 11 year olds to the lunch room where they were talking and talking and talking. One kids asked me if I have a boyfriend. I said no and he said he'll be my boyfriend. HAHAHAH! Sooooooooo cute. Then we all went in, they showed me where to go, and we all sat together and ate lunch. One of the kids told me I had to eat all my food because otherwise I would get a red sticker. A red sticker is bad. I said bye and they all were very sad and were waving and saying bye bye until I was all the way down the 3 flights of stairs and they couldn't hear and couldn't see me. My next class was the 6th graders. As soon as I walked into the class, all the girls were all over me. Hi, hi, hi, hi, what's your name, nice to meet you, hi, hi. Then they usherd me into a chair and showed me the game they were playing, then it was my turn. They were cheering and uhing and ahing at my skill to throw up a little rock and pick up the other 4 off the ground. I did my intro shpiel and when I finished I was going to sit down, but they all wanted to introduce themselves. I was surprised at how well behaved they were, how well they listened and how interested they were. Now, this might all be wrong and just my first impression because it was my first day. In any case, I had a very good first impression and I'm really excited about starting to teach there next week.

More stories, including pictures to come :).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent! BUT do not forget that this is still the Honey Moon!!! Some of them will sooner or later challenge you. YOU ARE THE BOSS!
But it’s good that they are interested, curious about you and willing to play your game, rather blasé, and “smart” answering back and so on.
And send us pictures. And follow the rules of THAT small community. And ... hey ... you might think visiting home ... for a change ...
Keep us updated!

Unknown said...

Sounds like a good start to your new work! :-)