Round 2 finisheee

Round 2 of summer camp finished today. I really enjoyed my 5 days with those 3rd and 4th grade students and was sad to see them go. One student gave me a nice note today taped to her old Korean elementary school textbook. She gave me the book so I could practice my Korean. So cute!

North Korean YWCA camp has been a blast. What spunky kids! Kids will be kids no matter what their background. We're having lots of fun together and practicing English, yipee!

Favorite moments from the week:

-Sandwich making: I let them put together whatever kind of sandwich they wanted with the available materials. Most ended up with some kind of peanut butter, lettuce, ham combination despite my warnings. Sound gross? I thought so but the students had big smiles, "Teacher, delicious!" Koreans have a unique sense of taste...haha.

-Kickball: To close out sports day I organized the students for a rousing game of English kickball (they have to answer a question in English before they can kick). Everyone had a blast! I had forgotten how much I LOVE kickball. Anyone want to start a kickball league?

-Ray Mysterio and Undertaker: best self-appointed English names ever. These are two boys in our YWCA N.K. camp. Ray Mysterio is a riot. On introduction day when answering "I want ________." finishes the sentence with "special powers." Specifically to be invisible. Love this kid.

-Adjuma shirt: Yesterday while riding the bus I saw the BEST shirt EVER. In glitter and sequins (appealing to the older Korean women) reads: I (heart) CRAP. I couldn't stop laughing! Finally one point for the foreigners--take that adjumas! I wish I could have snapped a picture. Then I could submit it for a learn English advertisement.

-Spaland: As an early celebration for Kate's birthday we all went to Spaland to lounge in the saunas and relaxing hot tubs. To quote Kate, "You know you've had a successful birthday when you've spent most of it in your birthday suit." True dat.

Tomorrow in come the stinky, non-appreciative 5th and 6th graders. I've worked hard to find activities that they will enjoy or find interesting but you just never know with them.....

Either way I'm leaving on a jet plane in exactly one week! Woohoo!

Summer, sweet summer

Since it's summer vacation and most teachers are on break I cannot take the carpool to school each day. This means I must wake up 40 minutes earlier and take public transportation; the subway for 10 minutes then bus for 45-50 minutes. It's been a long time since I've had to do this....since my first weeks here. And I've re-learned something about myself--

As much as I hate getting up at the crack of dawn, I LOVE taking public transportation to work. There's just something about standing in the subway station with loads of businessmen and women holding briefcases, people reading the morning metro newspaper and smelling the brewing coffee from the little station cafe, that makes me feel like a real grownup.

I get a lot of thinking and reading done during this time. I like that my mind has an hour to transition into "work" mode. On the walk from the bus stop to my school I must pass though the market/business district in the village. Few people are moving at 8:15, most businesses are closed, and the market is empty. It's a real peaceful walk. By the time I reach school I feel alert, focused and ready to start classes.

At the end of the day I have another hour on public transportation where my mind can transition back to "play" mode, pushing school thoughts out of my head and making plans for the evening.

So this is why I don't mind and actually much prefer taking public transportation each morning. Plus the woman who normally drives me to school is a Terrible, with a capital "T", driver. Seriously bad. Stories upon request. I have some good (or scary?) ones....

In addition to our own summer camps next week Kate, Chaz, Kat and I have the unique opportunity to teach English to young North Korean defectors a few afternoons as a part of a summer camp put on by the Busan YWCA (yeah, it's in Korea too!) and the government's Ministry of Unification. As you may or may not know, in North Korean schools the students are taught at a very young age that America is their enemy. We have a chance to change their opinions and show them how kind Westerners (specifically Americans) can be as we will probably be the first foreigners they have ever met. I'm really excited for this and will post another blog about the experience afterwards, stay tuned!

Week 1 of summer camp is finished. It went fast. Now 1 and 1/2 more weeks and I will be packing my bags for the whirlwind trip to Iowa, it's hard to believe!