Well this is officially my first christmas away from home and its a rather wierd feeling! Its good that koreans don't seem to be so extravagant on the whole christmas season as if they were as dramatic as england i think it would be alot harder! Don't get me wrong, i will be spending christmas day on the american base with matt and having a real christmas dinner but without the after eight mints and crap tv well it just won't be the same!!
I asked the children in my elementary class what they were getting for christmas! most of them said they didn't know and one boy said "i don't get presents"! obviously i have to delve deeper into this matter! i asked if he was a johover wittness, he didn't understand! i knew he wouldn't! but i had to say it! I felt heart broken, he was annoyed with me for asking people, he is in fact the worst kid i teach, defiant, annoying and rude to me, he eats in class and disrupts the other kids and i constantly send him out and threaten to level him down! he is not interested... but when he said that he didn't recieve any presents i felt terrible and told him i would buy him something! maybe a new pencil case i offered! he smiled at me and kept his head down for the rest of the lesson! Children here tend to be happy with some new crayons and an eraser!! its true, i have not heard one child ask for something more expensive than 5 pounds. Obviously some kids will want mobile phones and x boxes but in general i don't think they get much!
In my kindergarten class i asked the kids to write a letter to santa, it was so adorable, i was so excited to have them be excited about christmas that i can see why parents don't are what they get a christmas time and just want the children to experience the excitement and joy that goes along with the whole festive period. One on my students called jenna wrote to santa that she wanted Leanne teacher not to go back to england! i could have cried, bless her, she told me the other day that her mum said that when she is eight years old she can come and stay with me and learn english in england. She also said, "but you have to tell me where because mummy doesn't know where your house is", i told her i would write my address down.
I have been their teacher now for 9 months, its a long time to spend with these kids without becomming attached to them, i will of course miss them even though when class is over i feel mentally exausted. They also help me learn, obviously i had never been in a classroom of 5 and 6 year olds before but its fun to watch them learning! Last week the science project was to show how our lungs worked. The first part was to tie a knot in the end of a deflated balloon (don't ask!!). I showed them the process and told them to tie the knot. After 10 seconds they decided they couldn't tie the knot. I decided that today i would not help, it was up to them to tie the knot, difficult or not it was a challenge they would be proud of completing. "Teacher help" they echoed. I tell you now, all but four of my twelve kids did it.. it was great, when they did it they were so pleased with themselves, then they wrote their name on the white board to say they had completed their first task! i didn't realise how simple it was to get them to concerntrate on a motor skill that i would in have just done for them without concidering they actually have a go. It will be little memories like this that i take with me.
Anyway, i have finally added some chicago photos for you to view.....
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