Kindergarten graduation in Korea

I had my first experience with a kindergarten graduation of any sort a few weeks ago...it was insane! I should really say that I've been having this experience for awhile because we started practicing for the spectacle in December. The performance wasn't until the end of February. The kids I teach are 6 years old in Korea, which means they're actually really only five years old. All the teachers at my school had to create a skit for their class of 12 children. And when I say skit, I really mean a five minute English play where each child has 5-7 lines that they memorize interspersed with 3-4 songs that the children sing and dance to....did I mention that we had to choreograph the dances and make these 5 year olds memorize words they don't understand??

It was quite an experience. I was so nervous for them, but on the actual day, despite nervousness and frustration, they looked amazing, performed like all-stars and managed to remain relatively calm while waiting for their 5 minutes of fame during the performance schedule. Did I mention that it was a four hour ceremony? After it was over, all of us foreign teachers introduced ourselves and the kids brought us flowers, I have never seen such elaborate bouquets. I love Korea!

Beijing

It's been awhile since my trip to Beijing, but I still haven't had a chance to write about, since life has been a whirlwind here lately. Beijing itself was amazing. Going there on a group tour was probably not the best idea. It was like being on a high school field trip at some points...but that being said, the sights of Beijing were fantastic! The great wall was even more amazing than I would have expected from any history book or pictures I'd ever seen. It was completely breathtaking to see it in person. We managed to climb to the top of the section we were at (Badaling), the view was spectacular, though it was quite a hike to get there, it was more than worth it. The summer palace and Behaii Park were my two other favorite places. It was pretty chilly when we were there, as I'm sure you can tell from the winter coats, but it was nice to be there for Chinese New Year. There were fireworks non-stop for about two days. People were setting them off from thousands of places around the city. The sky was lit up for hours at night, and it was so noisy you could barely hear the person next to you at times....AMAZING! It was quite an experience and it was also lovely to be reunited with Isabel, a friend from home who is also in Korea a few hours a way. The highlights; the food, the marble boat in the summer palace, the great wall, playing on the ice on little slider things on the frozen lake in Behaii Park and the amazing acrobats. Everyone should go there at some point!

It's about time!

I've been here for almost a year now and while I have had good intentions of keeping a blog....I haven't. So this is my second (and hopefully more successful) attempt! I'm only here for a couple of months before I head off on another adventure, but I will be returning to Korea in the fall, and hopefully as I travel through other countries this summer I'll be able to keep up with this blog. Cheers to good intentions!