End of the first week

hello readers,
its friday evening here and we just finished our first week of class. Amy and I are going to hit the town tonight but before we do I wanted to jot down some thoughts about the week. so, it was pretty awesome. I feel completely comfortable here! well except when my legs get all cramped under the low little tables when we go out to eat because they are too long for the asian style eatery ...haha but the food is soo good, it doesn't matter to me at all...more about that later.

so the classes are small and full sweet children who are all interested in learning. sounds too good to be true right? well its for real. ive told some people that there is no way the kids can stay this perfect all year. :) but of course I hope they do! my littlest ones don't speak a word of english. they are only 4! i have two classes with 12 kids in them that are this age/level. but i dont really find them hard to work with because children that age learn much better visually anyway. So i've found that as soon as I get their attention (usually by banging on the wall, (which is totally kosher)) if i do exactly what i want them to do and then they are perfect little copiers. they are so smart, and good with their hands! mom pointed out that its probably because they use chop sticks. probably very true, i think if i have kids i'll make them use chopsticks :)

Then I have 1 class of elementary students. they are pretty awesome. they are smart and really good at working in their english textbooks. they are way ahead of their schedule, which is okay because we have more books to give them if they finish early... but this allows me a lot of freedom with them. we can basically play the rest of the year! :) my challenge to myself is going to be to get them to speak english conversationally with me; tearing them away from their precious grammar and into real life english. :)

Then I have 2 classes of kindergartners, who are just an amazing mix of both. they can speak english well and aren't timid about it like the older kids. they are always on task, ready in the morning in their seats, saying "good morning Brienna Teacher!" they are easy to teach and ready to learn. :)

and i get to teach an art class everyday! they have a "sketchbook" which is really a textbook with some blank pages to fill in an art assignment. the lesson i taught my classes last week was simple, and may not have had the content I would have been looking for last year during my student teaching, but they covered some basic art elements, let me know what level the kids were at, and produced some pretty successful and some beautiful pieces. needless to say, art is my favorite class of the day, even though it requires a lot more preparation. i just love to see what these kids can do. they are amazing!


okay so back to the food..yum. its so good. with every meal served here there is perfectly cooked white rice and kimchi. if all i ate for the rest of the time i was here was rice with kimchi i think i would be very very happy. but that of course is just the side dishes. the main dishes are full of flavor and their meat is cooked perfectly. the chicken tenders i had the other day were seriously the best chicken tenders i have ever had. and at the korean style restaurants you cook your own beef/pork right there in front of you on the floor. so good, and hot. the first day we were here we cooked pork like this and then stuck it in a piece of lettuce, dipped it in some sauce and about died. today we went out for lunch with all the teachers from our school and we ate something like a beef soup. but beef soup sounds disgusting if you are in the usa. here it was more like ribs sauteed in delicious broth with fresh vegetables, homemade pasta, and buttery potatoes. all served in a beautiful presentation towering at least a foot high when we first got to the table.

yum.

i like food, maybe that is why i am so comfortable here ;)


okay ta ta for now.