On this national holiday, parents give their children small presents and spend time with them. In South Korea, it is very common for children to spend the day at zoos and parks. Besides my middle school kids who had to study during the holiday for midterm tests, most of my kids were
ecstatic about having a day away from schools and academies (
hogwans).
Cards with candy Anne-Mari and I made for my students.
My "early birds," Ru Sung Yup (in his
tae-
kwondo uniform) and
Chey You bin playing connect four the Tuesday before children's day. Sometimes, these two and a few others will come to school fifteen to twenty minutes before our class even starts just so that they can get a few games in! The other day, I taught them how to play "go fish."
On Children's day, Jenni and I went with our friend Bong
Suk down to her all girls high school in the town of
Yeong-am near the famous mountain
Wolchulsan. Bong
Suk commutes to
Yeong-am from
Gwangju every work day so we decided to spend and experience the day with her. Even though it was a national holiday, Bong
Suk had to go in and
monitor the study hall because the students at this half-residential school were going to have a huge exam the following two days.
At this school, we met Bong
Suk' s home room class and got to play "
Waguk (foreign) celebrities" for the day. The attention we got throughout our time there was unbelievable! You would have thought these students might have never seen a non-
Korean person before. Everything we said, a
hormoneous "
oooooo," "
Ahhhhh," "
waaaahhhh," and other exclamations followed. They were the giggliest bunch of girls I've ever met and of course what were their first two questions???!!! "How old are you?" "Do you have a boy friend?" Which are the most common questions people ask here when they first meet someone.
In their library, Bong
Suk asked me to share the book of Ansel Adam's American landscape photography that Kristin gave her as a gift. The girls loved it and they had great questions about Native Americans, the grand canyon, wild life, and other things! They couldn't believe that it was common to see deer roam the streets of Helena, Montana or that you could hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Kristin couldn't have given Bong
Suk a better gift to share with her students.
At noon, we had a delicious lunch in their cafeteria (who would have thought school lunches could be so good!) with many sides that I enjoy including: pieces of chicken, delicious egg
denchang soup, a rice dish with hot pepper sauce and a huge helping of bean sprouts (love those!) and other vegetables, and a few other things. I really enjoy Korean food.
The school's common grounds.
WolchulsanDuring the afternoon, Jenni and I decided to let Bong
Suk have some time to get work done, so we went on a glorious hike up rocky
Wolchul Mountain. Hiking in Korea is a bit different from back home. There are no switchbacks or gradual
ascension, it is usually directly straight upwards without any leveling out or breaks until the top! Kind of like the "
power-line" trail up Mt. Helena in the states, which people only took for a hardcore, fast workout. It is intense and your legs definitely start shaking after a bit, but the peak experience that I have felt in the mountains thus far in Korea, has been outstanding!
On our hike, we met an elderly couple who were born in South Korea, but have been living in
Maryland for the past 40 years. The husband just took a job as a Sociology teacher at a University here in Korea, but they still travel back to their home in the states. They were such great people and incredibly inspiring with their impressive hiking abilities.
It's SPRING... this
southwestern gal is still amazed with the vibrant shades of green!
Wolchulsan bridge
It was a bit of a hazy day, but it made the view look so much more mysterious.
I'm so proud of Jenni... she is afraid of heights, but pushed herself to pose on the bridge for a picture.
Fantastic structures on a trail below the mountain.
Another "thinker"
Cute!
Basking in the sun amongst the flowers and shrubbery.
