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May 24th
Yesterday we had a very long and exhausting trip (a little over 24 hours), but nonetheless we started our first day at the school today! There weren’t any classes at the middle school because there was a school-wide choir contest. All thirty homerooms prepared different songs and performed them in front of the entire school. Even more impressive was the fact that each class had one student accompanying the choir and one student conducting! Each homeroom teacher sang with the girls, and all teachers participated in the costumes and little dances that accompanied the songs. All of the groups sang beautifully, and after the girls finished, a group of the students’ moms performed, and everyone went crazy! The event lasted around 3 ½ hours, but it was still so much fun! After school a group of us walked to downtown Gwangju to buy some necessities and to check out the city. We were all very jetlagged, but it was fun to see the city where we’ll be for the next six weeks. I can’t wait to observe classes and meet more students tomorrow! May 25th We started our day by participating in the English broadcast, a miniature TV show which students watch in their classrooms almost every morning. We will be participating in the broadcast throughout the 6 weeks, but this morning we introduced ourselves and presented pictures of ourselves to around 800 middle school students! The teacher leading the broadcast asked about KU basketball, so I was even able to talk about playing in the KU basketball band! The broadcast was a nerve-wracking experience, but it was also a lot of fun. After that, we finally got to meet our students! They are absolutely wonderful! Half of the class was taking speaking tests, so we were instructed to go around to the other half of the class and introduce ourselves and talk to them. I had no idea how proficient in English the students would be, but I was very impressed! There was definitely a wide range of English abilities, however, so this will be a challenge as I begin to think about lesson plans. Some of the girls were shy and intimidated, but many of them were very eager to share things about themselves and about Korea and to ask questions about my life and about America. I can’t wait to get to know these sweet students better! We also helped some students with an assignment about their three wishes. A sad observation I made was the effect of the high Korean beauty standards on the girls. Many of the girls wished for changes to their physical appearance. There were, however, a few who wished to be doctors, teachers, and public prosecutors. The teacher we’re working with explained to us that one of her missions in her classroom is to give the girls confidence in their beauty and to help them appreciate other types of beauty. It was empowering to hear her talk about how much she cared for her students! I hope I can make such a big difference as a teacher someday! May 26th Today we got to meet more students and help them prepare for their speaking tests! Some classes were very shy, but some of them were constantly asking questions and were doing their best to write everything out on their own. The students are starting to become more comfortable around us, and they are so sweet! Every time we walk down the hallway we are greeted with bows and a greeting of“hello teacher!” from the students. Sometimes we feel like celebrities because whenever we respond to the girls, they turn to their friends and act so shocked. When we walk into the classroom students will often start clapping and screaming! The students are also incredibly generous! We’ve been given hand-drawn pictures, sandwiches, juice, chocolate, and candy. I really can’t believe how kind these students are, and I am so excited to get to know them! May 27th Today was sports day! Sports day began when students from all three schools gathered on the giant sand field to sing the Korean national anthem and to pray. There were a lot of sports events going on at the same time, including dodge ball, jump rope, and three-legged races. However, it was difficult to watch the events because we were swarmed with students wanting to take pictures with us! At certain points in the day there were lines forming around us. It was exhausting, but it was so fun, and it made the students so happy. After lunch, everyone lined up around the track and the fastest girls from each class raced each other! The students were very athletic. Sports day ended with a dance competition between all of the classes, and before we knew it, we were dragged out to dance with the girls! I am so certainly no expert in dancing to K-Pop music, but it was still an incredible experience! After sports day we naturally wanted a big dinner, so we went to get Korean barbecue. There were miniature grills on each table, and the waiters brought out huge chunks of meat for us to cook on the grills. We watched the meat and cut it up when it was cooked. The meat and the many side dishes were absolutely delicious. To top it off we went to a dessert café for bingsu, which is a combination of shaved ice and ice cream with a variety of toppings to choose from. Finally, we headed back to the dorms to rest after a long but very exciting day! |