I arrived at school around 10:15 to prepare for the ceremony for the new incoming students and parents. Since I am a kindergarten teacher, actually, the 5-1 teacher, I was expected to give a speech explaining that I was sweet and kind and would indeed not eat anyone's children. All the teachers gathered to sing two songs and do a cheesy dance to make the kids feel less scared about starting school, and then they received their class assignments. In Korea, the ages are different than in America because they use the lunar calendar. This means that they are 1 year old when they are born (because they've been alive since conception) and that when they are 5 year olds, they are really only 4 years old in America. So, imagine something that is about Makenzie's height, but that speaks three languages almost fluently. So crazy. Since I have the 5-1 class, that means they are 5 years old (korean age) and on 1st year of english learning. They are the babies of the school and I absolutely adore them already. After giving my speech in the gym, they were called one by one if they were in "Marissa Teacher's" class, to which they then ran up and hugged me before forming a line to follow me to our Zebra's classroom. Once getting to the classroom, I helped them to sit at the tables and prepare for class. They started off shy at first, but warmed up quickly when they realized that our snack for the day was ice cream. We red a book on the mat and I had them answer questions about colors and shapes. Then we made worms and dirt! (The American snack with oreos, ice cream, and gummy worms) which they loved. Since our classes are only 40 minutes long, this concluded the day for us. I was afraid at first that I wouldn't be good at this, because the language barrier would be so difficult, but with my theatre background and big facial expressions, I think they really understood and connected with me even on the first day. It's going to be a great year :) Also, the parents were very sweet, most of them speaking some or lots of English to make me feel less intimidated. After this exciting morning, I went with my friends Aubrey and Mark to get lunch at the kimbop shop across from school. A kimbop is like a sushi roll except without the raw fish. Mine had seaweed on the outside, and rice and fried shrimp on the inside, and it was actually pretty tasty. I had a side of ramen noodles to go with it. They called it cheese ramen, meaning it was American style ramen noodles and a slice of Kraft cheese on top. YUM. I observed the older kids classes in the afternoon and got off work in time to have dinner with Jaclyn (a coworker) before we went back to the hotel. We were looking for more Korean food to try and ended up finding my new favorite place. They served some weird named dish that basically amounted to FRIED CHICKEN with CHEESE FONDUE. It was so tasty and accompanied by some hot dog looking thing and even french fries. You'll have to see the pictures to get the full effect. I'm about to head to school again for another exciting day of teaching babies! I wish there was more hand sanitizer, or as my niece says, "handzatizer" haha. Missing my family... missing Adam, and knowing that he's missing me. More to come later!
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