graduation.

The following Saturday was graduation.  Cherry Class was technically a pre-kindergarten class, so they weren’t graduating, but they still attended to receive a certificate for their completion of pre-k.  I got to announce every students name, give them a certificate and a book, and take a picture with them.  Without a doubt, Jake ran across the stage and hopped right in my lap for the picture. 

The administration had planned for the whole school to perform the song “Tomorrow” from Annie, as well as a couple songs from the younger classes, Cherry Class and Happy Class.  On top of those performances, Max Teacher jokingly suggested that the teachers perform a song as well.  The sarcasm did not translate over to the Korean teachers and so they took his suggestion seriously.  The Friday before graduation the Korean teachers asked if we would practice our song for them so they could see it before the big day.  With nervous laughter we admitted that we had no song to perform.  The Korean teachers were not happy so we had to scramble to think of something to do.  Not all of the teachers were thrilled with the idea of performing, so we had to come up with a song that didn’t require much talent.  Brave Lesley and Max stepped up to save the performance with their spectacular rendition of “’Aint No Mountain High Enough”, borrowing from Lesley and my standard karaoke go-to moves.  

At the end of graduation, the whole school sang "Tomorrow" from Annie. Mona would have for sure cried.  

cherry class has got talent.

As the term comes to an end, Suji Kids College decided that it was probably a good idea to have us teachers come in on two Saturdays in a row.  The first Saturday was for the Talent Show.  My class, being one of the younger classes, only had to perform a skit and two songs.  I had to find a skit that would allow for an equal amount of speaking parts for each of the children so everyone was given an equal chance.  I was having trouble finding a skit that had 10 equal parts, and was not a total bore.  I tried to try and tweak The Three Little Pigs, but I found that by tweaking I was adding more and more lines, and I decided to bail on that idea because these poor little kids are like 5 and can barely speak English in the first place. I came up with a way better idea, to have them explain the life of a flower beginning as a seed and withstanding all of the harsh weather conditions until it can bloom into a beautiful flower in spring.  It worked perfectly, and after practicing every day for 3 weeks in a row, the kids had memorized their lines (who knows if they knew what they were even saying). 

Of course, in Kids College’s attempt to appear organized and put together, we had to pick out costumes for our kids out of a Korean costume magazine.  This magazine was funny in itself, but had nothing to offer in the flower area.  Since most of the kids were involved in the green part of the flower, I tried to find a green outfit that everyone could wear.  I had to settle on a Peter Pan and Tinkerbelle costume, but Peter Pan ended up looking more like a Peter Pan from the 60’s. 

The kids did such a great job on the day of the performance.  I made huge poster drawings for each part that they were playing.  They all knew their lines, and where they needed to stand to form a flower.  It was actually really fun to get to hang out with them on a Saturday, in an environment where I didn’t need to enforce any rules or always make sure they were in their seat.  We got to hang out in the classroom while the other classes were doing their performance, so we were playing games and dancing around and such.  

the philippines.

For the Chinese New Year, Lesley, Max and I went to the Philippines. We had to wake up at 4 in the morning to go stand out in the cold to catch the bus to make it to the airport for our flight, but it was well worth it!  After a 4 hour flight to the capital city Manila, we had to take another hour and a half flight to another island Kalibo.  From there we drove in a little bus across the island to the ferry port where we got on a jam packed little outrigger type ferry that took us to Boracay Island.

 Bonzai hostle

Though it was a little cloudy during the day it was the perfect vacation.  The island had a 2-3 mile strandway along the beach where all of the shops, bars and restaurants were located, and at night the bars and restaurants would spill onto the beach.  We would go sit with our feet in the sand and eat dinner or listen to the live musicians, or watch a fire show, or sit in hammock chairs. 

The second day we were there, we signed up to do a zorb ball.  This is where you get in a giant beach ball type thing, that has a little bit of water in the bottom, and you are pushed down a hill inside of it.  It was so much fun, we were just laughing the whole time as we were sliding down the hill. 

The trip was so much fun, and such a great vacation, but I think my favorite part of traveling is the long bus rides through rural places.  I love to see how different people live all over the world.  It really puts into prospective how I live and how lucky I really am.  It also makes me wonder about the similarities and differences that I share with these people.  Do they have the same worries as I do?  Do they find the same joys in life? I love the peaceful pondering that is allowed on a long drive through a strange land.

the end.