This is a picture of the first day we are all together, more or less. More people came the next day. This is Sabbath School and our first lesson in being flexible :) We got to know each other a little more and discussed the issues that we would face in this culture and with this age group.
All of us taking a tour around the building Sunday morning. Though the foreign teachers know the place, the visiting Americans needed to the update :) So we got our exercise in!
What is a summer camp without a few group pictures. We are wearing our green polo shirts. The kids all had yellow polo shirts. Very professional right? I love green so I didn't mind. Because it was so hot outside, I somehow convinced Janelle to french braid my hair for me almost every morning the entire ten days. The Americans brought with them a lot of fresh energy and were a breath of fresh air. They also broke a lot of the tension that had built up around the school from the previous semester.
If you are going to do group pictures, make sure you include the principal and a banner ;) They love their banners and I must admit that it gives the environment a certain new aspect that I like. We had a lot of fun even though it was hard work. We started at 7:30am and had our staff meeting at 9:00pm. Sometimes the staff meeting was only 30-45 minutes long. There were several nights though that were after 10pm as we discussed the events that would happen in the next day or two. The people that came and worked here with us have a wonderful sense of humor and excellent team workmanship. So as long as I was near one of them, I couldn't help but be happy.
This is Shan and I. Out of all those who came to our school, she is the only one who wasn't American. In fact, she is Chinese. Her English is very good and I love listening to her speak because she is more clear than most native English speakers. Shan made life a lot of fun and I enjoyed hanging out with her. She wasn't a teacher but she assisted wherever she could. One day she asked if I watched a lot of Japanese animation. I was surprised and said that I indeed did. She said she could tell from the way I talked and acted. I apparently have adopted some of the anime culture into my communication habits. I'm not complaining as that makes life more fun and interesting. Anime is very expressive :)
Jen and I became friends as well. She is very gentle and always positive. She takes life slowly but is thorough in all that she does. When others were becoming grumpy with tensions, she was still be talking in her happy and calming voice. Her talent with music is amazing and I would love to encourage her to go onto Britain's Got Talent because I think she would definitely get through a round or two of that. She writes her own music and sings with a voice I thought only existed on TV. Also, she provided a supporting shoulder when I was uncertain helping me to find the clarity needed to keep going strongly.
This year we only had 97 students which is about 53 less than two years ago when the school last held a summer camp. This is my class, The Papayas! Are theme was the Fruit of the Spirit and my topic was on peace :) From left to right in the picture, there is Mindy, Don, Simon, Elven, Rachel, Max, Sally, Sandy, Sam, and Amy. Don originally didn't want an English name so I told him I would learn his Korean name. After about 30 minutes of calling him Dong Hyun, he said he would accept an English name. I suggested Don since it was close to his legal name. He appreciated that. Next to him is Simon, the one boy who didn't bully another student. I tried to model and explain what bullies look like, but until I said that those in the class were bullying the people they were bullying, they didn't know. It is so much a part of Korean culture to "tease" others. Elven was the student bullied the most and when his mother's name got used, he started a fight in defense of her. I am hoping I was able to reach him. Rachel was a sweetheart for me. She strove to please me even when I wasn't looking. I'm hoping to see her again. Max, the main bully, was one out of ignorance. He worked hard, studied hard, practiced for the talent show hard, and made sure the other students knew the instructions of what to do and where to be. He was truly appreciated in my class and I hope he returns. He has a lot of potential as a leader and I want to cultivate that. Sally was one of my quiet girls and the student I learned the least about. Despite her uncertainty and shyness, I saw a glimmer of something wonderful and hope that she also returns so that we can learn more together. Sandy and Amy are artists... need I say more. I have a special interest in my students who are artists, especially in this culture where art is not cultivated. Perhaps out of the two, Amy is the better artist, but Sandy is the better scholar. They were a wonderful duel to teach. Finally there is Max, the tallest student in my class and the second most bullied because his hair is poofy. A sweet kid, he was always enjoying life but quick to take his seat when I started the next class period or activity. This group of 9 students stole my heart and I truly hope to see them next January at winter camp and then next March in class.
It was incredibly hot outside. Our first day at recreation, we were playing games out on the artificial soccer field. I wasn't sure how to keep moving in such heat, but put in as much energy as I could for the kids. We had to set the tone for the camp after all. Then a Korean came outside and hooked up a sprinkler. Once it was turned on, the game we were playing became a lot more interesting. I happily made my way throughout the game to one time and time again letting myself slowly become soaked in the cooling liquid. Didn't know there was a camera on the field :) Turns out that those sprinklers were a heaven-sent idea. In Daegu, just half an hour away, there were some other summer camps going on at other schools where some students collapsed out on their soccer fields... and were dead within minutes. So the heat was a problem.
You might want to click on this picture to see it larger. It doesn't do justice for the 97 kids we had. They were a lot of fun and songs was a fun activity for them. I learned a few new ones myself as well as the motions. I hope I don't forget them.
Our last night together. We had already had Mexican food for a late lunch and gone shopping in downtown Daegu. Now we had all met up in the Siji area at Readers Coffee before splitting up again. I told Geoffrey I was stealing his wife and told Amy she was coming to the Norebang with us. She couldn't bear to be separated from Hannah, her little girl, so the whole family came. The American guys went back to school but those that remained (Geoffrey was the only one) had a lot of fun at the Norebang singing song after song.
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