I Need a Pur-pur-purple Car!

So as you may know, these past 4 months I had worked on a play in my musical drama classes with the "5" and "6" year olds. Although it had a relatively simple script, it was incredibly challenging to get these super young kids who are brand new at English to a) remember their lines b) remember WHEN to say each line and c) remember where and how to stand while saying the correct line. Oye.

The drama was called "My Magic Crayons." The roles were Elmer, the magic tree, and kids. Each kid "needed" something (red hat, yellow jacket, pink scarf, green shoes, blue bag or orange flowers...in that order). Here is basically how it goes (in theory)...

Elmer: Good morning!

Kid A: Good morning! Whats your name?

Elmer: My name is Elmer. Whats your name?

Kid A: My name is ____.

Elmer: Nice to meet you!

Kid A: Nice to meet you too!

Elmer: What do you need?
Kid A: I need a red hat!

Elmer: Can you draw a red hat?
Kid A: Yes!

(Kid A uses crayon and draws red hat on paper taped to a white board which is supposed to be Elmers body)

Elmer: Look behind me!

(Kid A goes behind Elmer and curtain and puts on a red hat. Kid A walks back out)

Kid A: Red hat! Thank you Elmer!

Elmer: You're welcome!

Anyways, this goes on for all of the items listed above and there were two songs, one at the beginning and one at the end, which they had to sing as well. Each class did a FANTASTIC job. I was in the front directing them in case they forgot lines or actions and couldn't help but beam with pride over how well these small small children performed their first English play. Vicky and I co-teach the "5" year olds and our boss said it was one of the best performances of that play by "5" year olds EVER so it was just a really good moment all around. The parents came to watch and gave the kids flowers and we all took pictures together and whatnot. Totally made the 4 months of listening to the same script and same 2 songs over and over...and over again worth it!

For all of you wondering about the little girl who looked at me the first few weeks like I was the devil in blonde curls, she is actually one of the kids who has warmed up to me the most, and no longer gets up and moves her chair across the room if I sit within 5 feet of her, haha.

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The other night Rach and I made our 2nd Costco run! We took a cab home since we could barely carry everything (Costco is a pain to get to and has stuff you can't find anywhere else so when you go...you go all out!). We soon realized that cab rides are far more awkward when the cab driver speaks a bit of English. He was a very nice man who told us about how he was applying to be an international taxi driver, and how he really wanted to master English like a native speaker. So much so that he informed us he watches "Sex and the City" frequently to learn slang...hmm. He also told Rachel she looked like Cameron Diaz and told me I look like Brittany Spears. Then he began to sing "Womanizer" by Brittany...but thankfully our ride was almost over by that point!

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Very exciting news: our neighborhood recently got a little jewelry shop where you can by necklaces and earrings for w1,000 each. So...about 75 cents. We stop enough to browse around that when we finally bought a few things the lady recognized us from the neighborhood and threw in a free bracelet. Its kind of fun being so recognizable. It gets you free candy, high fives, and now jewelry.

Also new to our neighborhood is a small restaurant located in the spot that the fire destroyed in May. They have a section that's outside on the street where they sell chicken burgers (and by chicken we mean, "well..we know its not beef so...?"). They are also only w1,000 each. Awesome.

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The fourth of July was a bitersweet holiday here in Korea. Of course, it makes you think of home, swimming, bbq's, fireworks, clean summer air, etc. I was personally aching to be up at my cabin in Birchwood, WI with my family. Its just really not summer until you've swam in a lake, had a picnic on a boat and made a campfire in the woods. Anywho, we tried to do as many "American" things as we could to celebrate.

We went to the baseball game, the LG Twins vs. Doosan Bears. They are both the home teams of the stadium so we knew the game would be just as packed and awesome as it was last time we saw them play. We were meeting some of our friends there so Rach and I went early to get everyone tickets and save seats. We'd never been "early" persay so we were curious to see what the pre-game entertainment would be like. Can anyone guess what they did? I'll give you a hint...COMPUTER GAME. We just had to laugh because only in Korea/Asia would this happen lol. They took 4 guys from the crowd, placed them on 4 desktop computers they put on the baseball field and had them battle each other in "Temple of Doom" while they broadcasted the fierce battle over the jumbo-tron (ctrl "a"!, ctrl "a"! ...noooooo! hahaha).

After some good ole baseball we all went back to our neighborhood to go eat at a place where you grill your own meat at a tabletop (similar to a bbq yeah?). After dinner we went out on the town to celebrate one of Tyler Stoke's last weekends left in Korea. Norebong (karaoke) ended the long night and our 4th of July celebration was complete.

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Yesterday Froebel kids took a field trip to the Seoul Zoo! We definitely did not have field trips as cool as this when I was a kid! We went to the zoo in our cute little yellow shuttle buses. Once we got there we walked through the park, browsing animals such as tigers, lions, and elephants on our way to the place where they were going to have a presentation for the kids.

We all sat down in a big room and I got ready for what I thought was going to be a pretty uneventful presentation (they are usually all in Korean so the foreign staff just hangs out). THEN a lady brought out a tiny monkey! Not only did she have it do some tricks, she brought it around to each table for the kids to pet and play with. At this point I was so excited I was bouncing up and down waiting for MY turn to play with the monkey. At one point the lady put the monkey on top of Monica's head and it started searching through her hair for bugs. The look on Monica's face was absolutely priceless. I would have been completely happy after petting the monkey but the day just kept getting better and better.

After the monkey left the lady brought out a baby lion! It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. After the kids had the opportunity to pet it, the staff actually got the chance to hold it in their lap. It nuzzled up against my elbows and made me miss my cat (Kassie). After the baby lion they brought out a huuuuuge yellow snake and put it around each kids shoulders. To my surprise there were only one or two kids who were too scared. Even Tim Teacher had to leave the room because he was too scared :P And lastly they brought out a penguin. For real. It waddled around the room while a group of kids waddled after it. We all got a chance to pet it and shake its flipper too. Probably the BEST field trip EVER. I'm fairly certain I had more fun than the kids did.... haha.

In other news, Tony is here to visit for two weeks! He got here Wednesday night after traveling about 25 hours. He will most likely be doing a "guest" blog entry toward the end of his stay.

Rach and I leave for our 10-day Thailand vacation in 2 weeks! We are also looking at going to Busan for chuseok (Korean's "Thanksgiving" holiday).

PICTURES OF DRAMA AND THE ZOO HERE!

Stay tuned for our stories from MUDFEST that we went to this weekend!