Field Trip to the Zoo!

This month we took a field trip to the zoo in Daegu.

Hahah. Bros.

Blair, Corinne's replacement, KR and Ms. Mina.

James and Ellie from KE.

Ally from KE thinks that the zebra is stinky.

KA posing on a bench.

KA using the buddy system.

Ms. Mina led a game for the students who were finished eating. It was a game that combined "red light/green light" and spider tag. The kids were very impressed.

Frozen, waiting for Ms. Mina to turn again so they could run towards her.

Bears, passed out in the only shade from the hot sun.

Goofing around after lunch.

The very exciting elephants.

From what I've gathered, the zoos here have very small accommodations for the animals. This was the case in Daegu's zoo. It was mildly depressing, so I tried not to post many pictures of the animals. The kids were thrilled nonetheless. It was nice to see them playing outside and excited about everything. Overall, I'm glad we went because it made the students happy, but I wouldn't recommend a friend going for their own enjoyment.

Lazy weekend in Daegu

Today Laura and I wandered downtown through a festival of some sort. Lots of strange booths - one with exotic animals, lots of shopping stalls, a whole row of booths giving away Korean alcohol samples.

This is a bell at February 28th Memorial Park - a major landmark downtown in Daegu. It is the site of an uprising in response to a "fraudulent presidential election" in 1960.

Of course, posing with a bottle of Makgeolli (Korean rice wine), and waiting in line for samples of Korean beer.

Saturday, Chris and I went to the Daegu National Museum to see the National Geographic's photography exhibit. Photography inside was prohibited, but here are a few I found online that were also at the showing.

Next we went to the actual museum. Chris hadn't been, so we did the traditional printing and made clay pots. It was a fun afternoon.

See, all those semesters in 3-D art in high school finally paid off!

Children's Day

This past Thursday was Children's Day! In Korea, this is a holiday so we got the day off work. On Wednesday, we had a big party for the kindergarten students. We did face painting, played games, and such.

I have a lot of pictures of KA - our youngest class - because they are one of my two homerooms.

This is KE, my other homeroom.

Relay races

Pretending to be a kitten

Banana phones, hah.

I have to mention that today is Mothers' Day (in Korea, its Parents' Day, by the way). To my amazing Mom, I hope today is fantastic and special, even with your daughters half a world away. To the many women that helped raise me, from my Grandma and Aunts to my teachers and mentors, thank you so much for everything. I can't explain how grateful I am for all of the women in my life and their influence on who I am today.

Corinne's last weekend

As I've mentioned before, Corinne's gone back to America. Its been an emotional week, but I'm happy that she's back with her family and pursuing her career.

Sad faces for Corinne's departure.

I was going to post some big paragraph about how much her friendship has meant to me, and how thankful I am to have been able to meet her... but she already knows everything about it and understands how I feel. Anyone who has read my blog has seen the pictures and knows already. So I will keep it short : She's a fantastic friend and has helped me see Korea in a way I might not otherwise. I've made tons of friends through her, I've seen tons of places. I couldn't ask for a better friend or coworker. She's enlightened me about teaching methods and life in general. I'm sorry to see her go but am excited for her future plans.

Of course, the final lesson I've learned from Corinne is the reality of life abroad. You meet people and form connections, but inevitably they leave. Everyone in this field has to cope with the loss of friends on a regular basis, and it is a hard concept to swallow. For every friend that leaves, you make more though. I've been lucky enough to have a solid, close group of friends, and every week I meet more great people. As hard as goodbyes are, I'm happy to be here. I'm happy to be experiencing all of this.