Field Trips!

October 28, 2010

Yesterday I got the chance to go on a field trip with the fourth graders and teacher to Gyeongju (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyeongju). There are over 300 fourth graders so we had like 12 charter buses for the trip and it only took about an hour to get there. However, we were a little delayed because the bus drivers decided to go for an unannounced pitstop and the head teacher was pretty angry about it (I just found out about this today). But the kids were able to get a bit of a refresher for the early morning and got some snacks for their lunches for later on. One of the kids bought me a coffee drink! I was like "Oh! No it's ok, you have it!" and the kid was like "no, teacher, teacher, for you, I don't drink coffee!" lol. So freakin cute. Me and Yooree decided to get some roasted potatoes with salt...pretty freakin good for the rest of the bus ride. By the way, the kids were surprisingly quiet on the way there...I remember if me and my classmates ever went on a field trip we were freakin loud as crap...the kids here are a little more behaved...

(Loading the buses)

When we got there, me and Yooree decided to hang back behind the kids so we could have a little bit of peace and quiet while we explored. We were able to see the ancient buildings and the Buddha statues. I couldn't take pictures of the Buddha statues though :( they wouldn't allow it. It was kind of funny because before the kids went into the village they were given a worksheet to fill out while they visited and they were all running around trying to find the answers lol. I remember those days. After walking around for about an hour it was time for lunch...a picnic! The kids all had their mats laid out on the grass and all scattered across the lawn in the middle of the park. I sat with the teachers which was nice because I never get to see them since every time I come into their classrooms to teach, they leave and it's just me and Yooree. I didn't understand what they were saying but I was able to get a feel for their personalities.

(some of the 4th grade teachers)

Also, I found it interesting that the parents for each class actually pack the lunches for the teachers! I mean, they literally brought no food and all of the food they had was from parents. It was AWESOME too. Kimbop, sushi rolls, loads of fruit and cherry tomatoes...mmm, mmm, good! And then, the kids kept coming up to me and giving me a taste of their food! I was like "no, no, it's ok, I'm ok, I'm full!" but they shoved it in my hands and ran away! ...It was freakin good though! Once the other students saw one student come and give me some food of theirs, all the other students ran up to me just to give me something of their own! Even if it was just a chip lol. Sooo cute! I then started trying to hand out some candies to them for halloween...major disaster. I could only get through 3 different classes before my bag broke because the student bombarded me! So...tomorrow I will bring the candy in a different bag and go one by one to the students lol.