Back to the playhouse.
This week is back to work as usual after an entire week off.
But my elementary sports day was awesome, the little ones do so much neat stuff in between their games! Each set of grades (1&2, 3&4, 5&6) has a different dance they perform and there are a lot of parent-child races as well. For example, the giant shorts race, in which the parent must go in one leg and the child in the other and they must complete a short relay course with their team. Or the apron relay in which the youngest grades must run with a parent in an apron (dad, mum, or older sib) and then successfully toss a few balls into the apron that the older partner is holding out from four feet away.
My personal favourite is bouhiki which is like tug-of-war but the two teams race to grab large bamboo logs and drag them back to their side before the other team gets them. They cover the ends with duct tape for added safety and sliver prevention.
Anyway, after that I headed over to Korea to visit Tiffany. I did a bit of wandering in Seoul the first day and found a lovely knit shop (and spent too much money) and explored the station area a bit. Then I trained down to Tiffany's town and spent the rest of the weekdays with her, wandering downtown Daegu in the mornings, spending the afternoons on my own relaxing or exploring, and then eating dinner with her and talking. I discovered some lovely pottery shops and almost spent way to much money. Next time. I am also ashamed to admit that it felt so much like visiting a friend that I forgot to take a lot of pictures.
On Saturday we headed back to Seoul again and did a great deal of wandering. Korea is quite nice. Lots of construction though. I feel I must go back as my schedule sadly did not allow for any visits of cultural concerts or temple areas. And I have more food to eat. And gorgeous pottery I must buy. My goodness.
Also I must have the time to convince some of the ladies at the tea shops to show me what the extra pouring vessel is for. I am unsure if it is for hot water to pour into the tea, for hot water to pour over the pot (which I saw while having Taiwan-style tea), or if it is to pour the tea into for serving so that it might cool a little. A mystery.
Being back to work is nice though. I do like my kids. Yesterday I was plied with hamsters by my little second graders during lunch break. Who can resist cute kids with cute furry animals? And I helped a couple of the older girls who were on injured rabbit duty. Poor thing has it's head on wrong. I am not kidding. It's turned 90 degrees to the right of where it should be sitting. Doesn't seem to hurt when I rub it's neck very gently though. After I discovered that they were afraid to pick it up we practised how to hold a rabbit so it feels secure and doesn't thrash around. And how to pet it and talk to it softly so it calms down quickly afterwards. And I gave piggy-backs to second-years.
Today I spent a lot of time talking with my JHS students. They seem to open up more every year I don't leave. I interrupted some snuggling by ruffling one of the more vain boys' hair while he had his smaller buddy in a headlock/hug. And one of my girls actually approached me and made an appointment to check her self-into for Canada two weeks before the actual interviews. I almost can't explain how happy that makes me! Last year I couldn't even get them to show me what they'd written when I approached them in their classes the week before they left!
And that is what has been going on. I feel that this week shall be a sleepy week which is okay since all I have to do on the weekend is go plant shopping with Yumiko and visit my town festival. (Persimmon season is here! Eeee! This year I shall endeavour to make a persimmon pudding.)
But my elementary sports day was awesome, the little ones do so much neat stuff in between their games! Each set of grades (1&2, 3&4, 5&6) has a different dance they perform and there are a lot of parent-child races as well. For example, the giant shorts race, in which the parent must go in one leg and the child in the other and they must complete a short relay course with their team. Or the apron relay in which the youngest grades must run with a parent in an apron (dad, mum, or older sib) and then successfully toss a few balls into the apron that the older partner is holding out from four feet away.
My personal favourite is bouhiki which is like tug-of-war but the two teams race to grab large bamboo logs and drag them back to their side before the other team gets them. They cover the ends with duct tape for added safety and sliver prevention.
Anyway, after that I headed over to Korea to visit Tiffany. I did a bit of wandering in Seoul the first day and found a lovely knit shop (and spent too much money) and explored the station area a bit. Then I trained down to Tiffany's town and spent the rest of the weekdays with her, wandering downtown Daegu in the mornings, spending the afternoons on my own relaxing or exploring, and then eating dinner with her and talking. I discovered some lovely pottery shops and almost spent way to much money. Next time. I am also ashamed to admit that it felt so much like visiting a friend that I forgot to take a lot of pictures.
On Saturday we headed back to Seoul again and did a great deal of wandering. Korea is quite nice. Lots of construction though. I feel I must go back as my schedule sadly did not allow for any visits of cultural concerts or temple areas. And I have more food to eat. And gorgeous pottery I must buy. My goodness.
Also I must have the time to convince some of the ladies at the tea shops to show me what the extra pouring vessel is for. I am unsure if it is for hot water to pour into the tea, for hot water to pour over the pot (which I saw while having Taiwan-style tea), or if it is to pour the tea into for serving so that it might cool a little. A mystery.
Being back to work is nice though. I do like my kids. Yesterday I was plied with hamsters by my little second graders during lunch break. Who can resist cute kids with cute furry animals? And I helped a couple of the older girls who were on injured rabbit duty. Poor thing has it's head on wrong. I am not kidding. It's turned 90 degrees to the right of where it should be sitting. Doesn't seem to hurt when I rub it's neck very gently though. After I discovered that they were afraid to pick it up we practised how to hold a rabbit so it feels secure and doesn't thrash around. And how to pet it and talk to it softly so it calms down quickly afterwards. And I gave piggy-backs to second-years.
Today I spent a lot of time talking with my JHS students. They seem to open up more every year I don't leave. I interrupted some snuggling by ruffling one of the more vain boys' hair while he had his smaller buddy in a headlock/hug. And one of my girls actually approached me and made an appointment to check her self-into for Canada two weeks before the actual interviews. I almost can't explain how happy that makes me! Last year I couldn't even get them to show me what they'd written when I approached them in their classes the week before they left!
And that is what has been going on. I feel that this week shall be a sleepy week which is okay since all I have to do on the weekend is go plant shopping with Yumiko and visit my town festival. (Persimmon season is here! Eeee! This year I shall endeavour to make a persimmon pudding.)