Saturday, April 17, 2010

School Follow up!

Hi friends across the globe,

Jamie's cousin Michelle sent us some questions about your last post so we thought it would make sense to answer then here.

You started your job in the middle of a school year?
Yes. We started our job in the middle of the school year. This was a little difficult for us. We were the new teachers so the students had the upper hand in that respect.

Is the rainbow thing literal, like their actual rainbows have more detail, or artistic?
So, there's some debate here as to whether or not I've been wrong all my life. I was taught (or so I think) to remember the rainbow colors with the phrase ROY.G.BV. Now, as I have never seen the word written, I always pictured it as ROY.G.BV. It may have been ROY.G.BIV and I've been oblivious all my life. Jamie has no clue, I've asked him and he said he'd never even heard of that mnemonic device. So, first and foremost, can someone tell me the U.S. Rainbow has 6 or 7 colors? The actual rainbows look exactly the same (well, we assume - we haven't seen any yet).

How do they deal with the little kids who really always need to be babysat? If the teachers moved around, the kids would be left unsupervised.
The elementary school the system is a little different and is similar to most schools in the states. The class has a homeroom teacher who stays with the class most of the day. There are also some subject teachers who will teach the kids (aside from the homeroom teacher), but we think there is some sort of class trade off involving the homeroom teacher.

Do they prep for science day, like a science fair, or just show up and get kits or something?
(Shannon's School) They just show up and the science teachers have things prepared for them. My science day did water rockets, airplanes and lots of painting. I think there were other things too, but those were the ones that were happening outside and that I could see. However, If the students so the rocketship or the airplane they have to pay for the supplies.
(Jamie's School) The students who were involved in the water rocket activity had all built their rockets from kits. They took 1 liter soda bottles and attached nose pieces and fins with what appeared to be electrical tape. Some of them were really great! Additionally, in the Fall semester the high school does a model project with regular fire propelled rockets. Very fun to watch!

Do the parents have to pay for the 3-day trip?
I don't know. I'll ask. But we guess that they do.

I actually thought you were teaching college kids or other adult learners, for some reason. Do you teach both?
We have both had classes with adults, but only one per week and organized through the school. For example, Jamie is teaching a parents English class for an hour on mondays, and last semester I taught a teachers English class for an hour on Thursdays.

Exciting things about Korea:

Breakfast:
People certainly eat breakfast in Korea, but breakfast is the same as dinner. Rice and Kimchi. The do have a special hangover breakfast. It's this sausage soup with lots of pig bits in it. And sausage. Well, it's pretty unique. There's a picture of it included in the school slide show. Watch for it!

Yogurt Delivery
There are these ladies that deliver tiny little bottles of yogurt. They're like the old milkman, I guess. Anyway, they wear cream colored clothes and push matching carts. My head teacher has one delivered to her every day. I think it's so funny that this lady has to walk around a deliver 4 ounces of yogurt. I mean, I'm sure you can buy whole packages of the little yogurts, but it also adorable to see her carrying one to deliver.

Pets
People have lots of small dogs as pets. If the dog is white and fluffy, some people will dye some part of it a super bright color like pink or green. This fashion statement is not limited to young dog owners nor is it a rare occurrence.


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