It's Autumntime

The Jinju Lantern Festival and Gyeonguju trips were amazing, but our trips to nearby scenic locations have been concluded for the year, because it's quite chilly now.

All of the rice has been harvested and smoky fires spotted across the dying fields replace the bright greens of summer. It's cozy, actually. Instead of traveling now, most of us are taking turns catching some sort of virus or other and this weekend it's my turn. Having slept through most of my weekend, thanks to Nyquil, I had decided to share a little video clip, but it doesn't want to download for me...argh. We recently had a story telling and speaking presentation day at our school, for which I served as judge. This time, however, I had 3 classes of students involved in the event and directed them through their part in between judging, so I fumbled a few times. I put together a conversation for them, using grammar points they'd studied, along with 3 songs. This is our very first try at a speaking presentation, and we had only days to really prepare the final production. But this class of 4 girls were very enthused and willing, so I'd hoped to share it with you!

Their "English names" are Elly, Julia, Jessica and Heidi. I got to hear some of them perform this week at their schools too and, while I'm fond of many of my students, this group of 4 girls holds a particularly large space in my heart because they're so enthusiastic about anything and everything. They're smart, talented, creative and it's contagious. Over Chuseok vacation, I painted the classroom to brighten it up and no one was more enthused about the change than these girls!

Now we're working on preparing for more academic tests, along with another round of speaking presentations, so I'm trying to incorporate things to be thankful for with an old story of a competition between the sun and the wind. This blog probably feels a little disconnected, because I'd planned on sharing the video of my girls singing and speaking...sigh. Maybe later? However, good things are happening, life is vibrant and varied, as the students keep me from ever, EVER being bored! Finding stuff to do at the end of an already long school day is no small task, since these kids come to us after a full day of public school classes already and "fun" is defined in so many different ways.

Whether it's bowling, basketball, stick the nose on the ghost, or toss the eraser egg with chopsticks, every day holds something different, with or without trips out of town!