I am thinking about fostering a cat for the 5 months I have left here in Korea. Today I asked some of my students for suggestions on what to name her. Here is a (very) abbreviated list.
Rooney
Naughty
*Nancy
Malaysia
*Kicky
McDonald
Magical
Ghost
Sandwich
Zombie Cat
Pandora
Christmas
Dime
Jelly
Lucia
Leeny
*Ham
Grandma
Bessie
* names I'm actually considering.
What do yall think?
*UPDATE: Meet the newest (temporary) member of the McCoco family: Kicky!
This July we had some awesome visitors come all the way from America to hang out with us and experience Korea for 2 weeks. Chris' brother and sister, David and Jessica, were so much fun to have around--we hated to see them go! They did so much while they were here-: visited our classes, saw a baseball game, visited temples, and all four of us even spent one weekend in Busan, a beach town in the south part of Korea.
Here's a picture story of what we did:
We read on the beach.
We acted really normal in public.
We hugged it out on the beach.
We were stared at by Korean children who, when caught staring, pretended to be sleeping.
We ate delicious Nowon ribs with gloves on because we are civilized people.
We whispered sweet nothings to our marinated ribs.
We rubbed Buddha's big belly for good luck.
We bravely ate live octopus at a fish market in Busan.
We ate some delicious street food (with tongs apparently) in the early morning hours.
And of course we did karaoke.
Thank you to David and Jessica for visiting--you are welcome back any time!
We're back! After a long and unnecessary hiatus. We hope you are all enjoying your summer, wherever you may be. Chris and I are teaching summer camp right now, but in 5 days we'll leave on a 2-week vacation to the Philippines and Thailand.
But before that, we have a lot to catch you up on!
The first semester at Sangmyeong Elementary always culminates with a Drama Festival--a 30 minute play put on in English by each grade, directed by the English teachers. Third grade performed the story of Cinderella. There were eight performances (8 different classes) of singing, dancing and cross-dressing. Here are some pictures and video of the event:
On May 5th, while Americans (and a few Mexicans) were celebrating Cinco de Mayo, Koreans were celebrating Children's Day. This is a hugely important holiday in Korea. Stores, restaurants, and schools close down and kids are given a short reprieve from all of their academies (after-school cram schools).
Sangmyeong Elementary celebrated Children's Day with a sports/games day, and then gave us the next two days off for a nice 4 day weekend. On sports day, the kids played games like tug-of-war, relay races, and watched their teachers arm wrestle each other. The foreign teachers (including Chris and I) even competed in a relay race with some of the students' parents. We lost horribly, leading us to believe that the parents chosen to race must have been Olympic hopefuls. We were actually told to throw the race and let the parents win (keep those paychecks comin'), so we could use that as an excuse, but the truth is we tried our hardest.
First, 3rd through 5th grade lined up to do their stretches (see video below)
This is the national stretching routine of Korea, as performed by the students of Sangmyeong Elementary School.
Waiting patiently for their turn.
When given free time, girls climb things and look adorable.
Boys make weapons and say "Son of Bitch"
This is a thing that kids do.
Best dressed baby: acid wash jeans, polo with popped collar, belt, name brand boxers.
Susie: "Laura Teacher do you live with Chris Teacher?" Me: "No, I live right here. Outside on these stairs." Susie: "That is ridiculous!"
Susie (after messing up my hair): "Laura Teacher please brush your hair, Chris Teacher will be so surprised!"
This kid wears suspenders everyday with his uniform. Sometimes I pick him up by the suspenders because he's also really badly behaved.
Posts
