South Korea Study Trip - Day 6

Probably one of the kids best days and for one reason...

This was the 1st morning that all of the boys woke up on time and were ready to go.  Part of that was that yesterday I drug one room of boys in the hallway and had them do some morning exercises because they refused to wake up after numerous doorbell rings and telephone calls.  Needless to say, there were all up this morning.  

We left the hotel at 7:30 in order to get to the Siheung Middle School on time for our day with Korean students.  They met us at the gate and had name tags with our names on them.  We then proceeded to their auditorium where the opening ceremonies were held.  Everything was well planned out and there had to be English and Korean translations for each speaker.  

They presented our school with a gift of framed ancient Korean masks and Mathurine had purchased an Arabic teapot for their principal.  Their principal and assistant principal had a few welcoming words and I spoke on behalf of our school.  Luckily, I had some translation experience.   The students then exchanged gifts and prepared for their performances.  

Two Korean students performed on bamboo flutes, two more performed a couple of classical songs on the violin and piano, 6 girls performed a modern pop dance, and the finale was an AMAZING Korean drum performance by 7 students.  The principal said it was the "pride of their school" and they won competitions for it.

Our students then performed their dance of Party Rock Anthem which was a huge hit with the Korean students.  They clapped and went on stage with our students.  

The students had a chance to mingle with one another and the Korean girls instantly took a liking to one of our students.  He had a crowd of girls around him the rest of the day and they would even follow him into rooms and press their faces up to the windows to get a look at him.  Hilarious on all levels seeing them do this and mostly his reaction to it.  

The students then went for an English lesson.  It was a video teleconference with a native English speaker in New Zealand.  The school sets these up so the Korean students can have a lesson with a native English speaker.  It was interesting they way it all worked out, and of course, our students were the star pupils and participated appropriately and actively.

Next, the students had P.E. class where they played kickball.  The rules were a bit different, but our students caught on and actually beat the Korean school students by a score of 12 - 6 after 2 innings.  They do not have a gym, so the kids had to play outside in freezing cold weather.  They were dressed for it mostly and certainly warmed up by playing.  

Lunch came next and the students went with their Korean partners to their homerooms for a Korean meal.  Mathurine and I ate with the teachers and administrators.

The kids were treated like celebrities the whole time.  Most of these Korean students had never seen too many foreigners before, so we were all quite the novelty to them.  They loved the kids hair and faces, wanted them to write their names, and followed them around like paparazzi.  Unfortunately for our students, we had to leave, but they left with huge smiles and appreciation of the Korean students. 

Next, we went to a place for to learn about traditional style Korean clothing, which some of the students were able to try on and traditional forms of bowing, which all of the students practiced several times.  We'll be showing these bows at the assembly we'll have for the middle school when we return.  Next, the students were treated to participating in a tea ceremony, where some of the students served the other students with the proper way to fix and serve tea, Korean style.  While this was mostly boring for the student, some did like it, and they were able to gain some experience with some traditional cultural aspects of Korea.

We then went to a large shopping mall where the students were able to buy souvenirs or something for themselves.  We split up into 3 groups and they went from floor to floor shopping.  Some of the kids are so sweet because they want to buy something for every one of their family members (cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, etc) and not just their mom and dad.  

Dinner was at another buffet style restaurant where all of the students found something they could eat.  We caught up on journaling in our rooms before lock down at 10:30.  Tomorrow, we'll get to go ice skating and LOTTE Theme Park.  Fun day!!!

As usual, check out the pictures... I did what I could at the school.