Monday was a holiday...no school. Ae-Ran invited us over to her apartment for an afternoon of relaxing together. We needed a rest after the hike up to her house!! It is completely uphill all the way! It's a interesting phenomenon...somehow it seems like we're always walking UP the hill, never down. Now, logically, I know that does not make sense, but believe me ~ when you're here, that's what it feels like. Maybe this is partly due to the fact that the hills are steep, so even if you are walking down, it is not a relaxing slope downward, but still an effort.
On Tuesday, there was a change in John's and my teaching classes....we swapped my big class of 30 1st & 2nd graders and John's adult class. This works out better for the both of us. John has the assistance of JeongWon for the big class, and I do better teaching adults. I still have the second, smaller class of 3rd-6th graders which is fine. They are a nice class and know more English.
***A interesting thing I've been meaning to share about school is this: the older kids from about 4th-6th have designated classrooms that they clean up, sweep, and organize the desks & chairs each day after classes. Groups also sweep & clean up the school office and the stairways. I was impressed when I saw this. The only place we've seen "janitor-work" is in the bathrooms to mop up and clean. The children are pleasant while doing the chores and have a good time cleaning together. I have yet to overhear fighting or bickering while they are at work. (One can walk up on them goofing off sometimes, though!!) But everything is cleaned up by the time school closes.
On Thursday, our couch arrived...it was such a luxury to have somewhere to actually relax in our living room! The kids had received some gifts from Kindergarten, so we celebrated in "style." :) It's a small sofa in American standards, but a perfect fit in our tiny house! (see below)
On Friday, John went in to Seosan as a judge for an English contest. He reviewed essays written by mid- and highschoolers, and graded the student's verbal answers to questions such as, "What do you think about "house husbands" and the wife working?" and "What do you do to help the environment in your daily life?" He said that the answers varied a lot! He had to judge the logic, pronunciation, and formation of sentence structure. He said he enjoyed it overall. At first, he thought that HE was the one being tested and was nervous about going. (Many times we understand very little of what is actually going to happen until we're in it!)
Today, we rested!!! I slept all afternoon and still woke up tired...something that amazed the kids since they were bouncing off the walls after their nap. John took them out for a walk while I was sleeping and they got soaked even with the umbrellas they were using. Hopefully we will not have the sniffles tomorrow! This past week has been cooler and more rainy & wet than earlier this month. I'm guessing somewhere around in the 50's. (We have no thermometer.)
As I write this, the kids are playing Battleship on the bed behind me so I snapped a quick picture to post.
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