i had to go to work on saturday, november 4th, but i didn't have to teach. the kids were going hiking, so i had to be there to help keep the first graders out of harm's way.
hiking
in the schoolyard before the hike, from left: ginny, jenny, seunghyeon, and inseo
inseo insisted on a solo picture afterwards
to get there all we had to do was walk higher up the hill our school is on
my job (which wasn't easy) was to keep the kids from running into traffic
before we even got there all the lazy first graders started complaining
here's a quick korean translation guide if you're ever with complaining korean kids on a hike. you will hear the following phrases over and over:
힘들어! (him-deuleo) that means it's too hard! or i'm tired!
다리앞어! (dali apeo) that means my legs hurt!
you can hear those same phrases from adult hikers as well, but not in the first ten minutes like with my lazy bum first grade students.
hayeon wasn't complaining, she was in a great mood
getting higher up the hill, almost to the start of the hike
notice in that picture how there's a car coming and the first graders are all twirling around having a great time, completely oblivious of impending death rolling towards them. although, consider as well their teacher, who was supposed to be watching them, was pausing at that moment to take this picture.
what great little houses they have up on that hill
where the neighborhood ended and the hike started there was a buddhist temple
part of the temple
it was very peaceful and quiet there
the grounds were obviously very well kept and cared for
i wanted to soak in the peacefulness of the temple, but it was onward and upward!
we stopped to rest at this pavilion
after about a twenty minute complaint-filled hike up the hill, we finally reached a resting point. all the way up i was admonishing my students for all the snack foods they eat, that being the reason they were so tired. then we got to the top and it was snack time.
from their backpacks every variety of chocolate, cookies, and crackers were produced
one thing i'm not sure i've mentioned before but that day reminds me of is how generous korean children are. they are excellent sharers. i didn't ask for or even really want any snacks, but they were forced upon me by first graders determined to share with me.
what you get after pooped kids recharge on sugar and snacks
first grade class #1
first grade class #2
after that we headed back down the mountain, which as you can imagine was much easier and filled with far fewer complaining.
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