A lot has happened since the last update- we made it through open classes (where parents came to watch us teach and evaluate us), the last two veteran teachers leaving and two new ones replacing them (which means we are now the senior foreign teachers!), Hallowe'en, COREM Olympics, another round of tests and report cards, a bout of the flu for me and a cold for Gavin and the emergence of fall in Busan!
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| Korean artist Yahon Chang retrospective |
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| From the emerging Korean artists exhibit. |
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| Omurice! With crab cakes! |
As I mentioned above, Kyle and Jay are gone. They are headed back to Canada after a South Asian vacation extravaganza. This is the first full week for Ashley (Canada) and Cameron (New Zealand), our new foreign teachers. They have been tossed in the deep end, as is customary here, and seem to be managing very well. I'm really looking forward to spending more time with them (last weekend was a bust due to illness and foul weather).
Surprisingly, the most fun I've had in the last bit was at work! Hallowe'en is kind of a limbo holiday here. It exists because kids learn about it in English class via textbooks and their teachers, but it isn't celebrated outside of school. Hallowe'en specific candy is sold in stores, along with costumes, but they don't go trick-or-treating or have parties at home.
Hallowe'en is a kindergarten thing at COREM, and we celebrated on the Friday before (the 28th). Thursday night all the kindergarten teachers were up decorating, and we did a pretty thorough job. There were pieces of coloured plastic taped over the lights, garbage bag streamers hanging from the ceiling, the windows were papered over, and I carved a big jack o'lantern. After hours of preparation, we were ready for the kids.
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| Jennifer and Amy with the finished product. |
Friday morning we met in our regular classes, but we all made pouches for candy. I was in Banana class, the most advanced, and even they had a really hard time with the project. I think all the teachers ended up doing most of the work.
Next was the costume fashion show. When asked who they wanted to see walk the runway first, they all started chanting "Lego Man, Lego Man," meaning Gavin, of course. A fantastic last minute costume idea. I was a mouse.
Some kids really got into it and hammed it up on the runway, and others just ran to the basket of candy at the far end and back. Here are some of the best shots:
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| Chloe from Lemon werkin' it. |
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| Lego Man breaking it down for the children. |
The Haunted House was next on the agenda and it garnered mixed reviews. The boys (Gavin, Jay and Kyle) hid in a pitch-black maze (they gym) and scared the kids by jumping out and yelling, or grabbing their feet etc. I was waiting at the end of the maze to send them back to the library. Some of the kids were totally exhilarated and wanted to go back through, others were crying, and a few were sporting paralyzed-by-fear silent grimaces (actually just Chloe). Here is Caleb the skeleton waiting to enter the haunted house, and my classic jack o'lantern:
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And here's the four of us teachers (with Strawberry Thomas):  |
