3. The Kids at Gurae!

Hallo!!

Well this morning I slept through my alarm, only because I put the stupid cell on silent the day before! So there was a mad rush to get into the shower and get to the bus stop before the bus left me behind and I'd have to walk in 5 degree weather for half an hour! Luckily I was there on time.. yaay! :-D The bus trip is another thing.. these kids come on the bus and say hello to the bus driver while boarding (Anyoung-ha-say-yo). The thing is though, the younger they are the more formal their bow is.. For example the sixth graders bow their heads, where as the kindergarteners fold their arms at their waist and bow almost until their heads are the same level as their knees! It’s the cutest thing to see, especially since the little ones are wearing these big snow jackets that almost envelope them all over! The bus driver seems to know everyone; he waves at the middle/high school students walking to school, he waves at random people on the street, waving if they’re younger and bowing if they’re older. This place has such a community feel to it, everyone seems to know everyone else and is on good terms, but I guess they have to be don’t they? I mean living in such a small village, each other is all they have!

Ok, so some of you wanted to know what types of things I teach here. Here are some ESL games that I play with the children during my lessons (all six of them, the other 13 are where I assist only).

Spelling Game:
~~Separate the classroom board into two or more equal parts by drawing rows and columns. The students will spell words in the rows. In the columns above write team names. (You can create more rows and columns depending on the number of teams.(tip- more than four rows is not advisable).
~~Give each team a board marker or chalk depending on the nature of your boards. Make an equal line up of first relay runners of each team.
~~The teacher then says a word s/he wants the students to spell. Each runner runs to the board and writes the beginning letter of the word. He/she runs back to team members and hands the chalk or board marker to the next runner in the team. Each team takes turns writing a single letter until the word is completely spelled.
~~The first team to finish spelling the word correctly scores a point or gets some form of praise.

Fly Swatter Game
· The teacher spreads of cards all over the classroom or sticks them on the walls.
· Then the teacher makes a sentence using one of the words.
· Students have to run to the word or card and hit it with their fly swatters.
· To get the necessary reward or praise, the students must say the word they hit with the fly swatters. For higher levels teachers can describe the word instead.

And there are heaps more but they take too long to explain and this entry would be too big after it.

Oh, another huge thing here is Singing. The students absolutely love to sing so the Education Board has taken advantage of that fact and now incorporate singing and chanting throughout their English learning course. As most of you know, I can’t sing. So I tell the teachers that first up so they can handle that part of it.. but the students get really excited, even the boys. Especially when we put them in teams and see which can “out-sing” the other! Here is an example of the stuff these poor kids have to memorize (remember this is in the curriculum!):

Yeah I know.. Some of them are ok, but others are reaalllly bad. But they do it all the same, we can’t really change the curriculum anyway. It fun too.. once I heard this kid say: “My mother is in the Chicken”.

Oh and for today’s little story as promised in the last entry. Simon is Korean born and raised in America, he loves to drink and go out and party. He’s been put in Hongcheon, though I think he’d prefer Seoul. But getting to the point, once when I was still living in Hongcheon we all went out to celebrate something and got a bit tipsy. Stumbling from the bar to the Naurebang (karaoke place), Simon turns to me and says: “Hey Sharad your Indian right?”
“Yep”, I said thinking that the next thing he’ll say is ‘I love butter chicken’.
“Oh ok”, he says and leaves it be.
“Why?”, I asked, wanting to know why he didn’t talk about Indian food like most people here do. But Simon remained silent for a couple of minutes with a distant look on his face, so I decided to let him be. Maybe he didn’t remember asking the question..

Just before we got to the Naurebang, Simon puts a firm hand on my shoulder, looks me deep in the eyes and starts singing. At first I was laughing, thinking its some sort of joke, but then I started to understand the words he was singing. He was singing, quite loudly: “Tum Paas Aaye Yoon Muskaraye Tumne Na Jaane Kya Sapne Dikhaye. Ab To Mera Dil Jaage Na Sota Hai Kya Karoon Haye Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai..”

All of a sudden it hit me that the others couldn’t understand what he was saying but I could. I stood there in silent awe of this bizarre spectacle. Here I was in Hongcheon, a city that a good 99% of the worlds population had never heard of, and this Korean guy was singing me a love song in my own language! I was speechless, breath-taken even! It was the strangest feeling in the world, teaching only English for so long and learning Korean as I went along; but here I was listening to my mother tongue, it was amazing! I listened to him finish most of the song (he couldn’t remember the rest) and then gave him a big hug and went into the Naurebang to drink more beer. Just like a dream; the next morning I had forgotten all about it.

Ok, only three classes today. Only one of those are mine, which I'm secretly looking forward to. Its the Grade 1 and 2, they're always so curious and ask all kinds of questions. But they can't understand a thing that I say so we just play ABC Games which is hilarious!! Bye for now and keep smiling!!