Picnic

Yesterday our school had field trips. Each grade went somewhere different. I was told 1st grade was going to the science expo in Daejon, 2nd grade was going to a temple, and 3rd grade was going to a park to have a picnic. Not much of a field trip, I know, but I chose to go with the 3rd grade because this way I could sleep an hour later, and some third graders can speak enough English to communicate. I went to the park with my host brother, who couldn't get out of bed as usual so we were late. Every day, Host mom consistently yells at him off and on for at least 10 minutes before he gets up. "Ji-hyun-a!! Ji-hyun-a!!" That day I think it took a half hour! Maybe he shouldn't stay up so late watching... just an idea.

The picnic was nice. The kids were supposed to write 5 line acronym poems in Korean using the syllables from Umsa Middle School. Some did, some didn't. Basically the kids just got to hang out. There really wasn't anything to do so we came back early. But that didn't take away from the day. The weather was beautiful, and the kids got to wear normal clothes, run around, listen to music, the teachers weren't beating them, and the stress from studying every night for the midterm was gone. The atmosphere was carefree; things seemed right.

Also, my host sister got a haircut and a new hair style. I've recently been trying to see if my host brother and sister interact socially (I don't think they do), so I asked host brother what he thought. He had to think for a minute. Later I asked host sister if her brother liked her haircut. That's just one small example. New goal for the year: get host siblings to interact. This could be even tougher than learning Korean.

Not sure what I'm doing this weekend. Maybe Seoul, Seoraksan or Songnisan.