2-Wheeler

 During the summer - while Grandma and Grandpa were here and dad was taking Korean classes in Seoul - Ben learned to ride a bike!

And someone else practiced on a run-bike she was outgrowing.  

Wacky Hair Day

 Ben's school recently had Spirit Week.  We were unable to find green hair color (washable) so his "grass" had to be red.  It was still pretty wacky!

Two of the wackiest students around...  most of the kids just had strange ponytails.   I think the kids will get more into it next year now that they have an idea of what they can do!

I didn't get a fantastic photo of the bugs, but he had a spider, scorpion, fly, grasshopper, cricket, cicada... We used a glue gun to fasten them to cheap metal hair clips.  Several fell off during the day, but we just glued them back on.

Ben was the talk of the school for the day!

Jack Rabbit

Here is Ben with a jack rabbit that he made for a school project on animals and their habitats.  He made it out of a drinking yogurt container and some strange craft material we came across here, which is like tiny painted styrofoam balls.  

Wacky Hat Day

This is a duck hat.  I love you !  (to the Grandmas...)  OOOOOOOOXXXXXXXX

by Izzie

Field Trip

The 3rd through 6th grade recently went to a track and field meet, so on that day the 1st and 2nd grades went to a cultural center in Gyeongju.

The students poured chocolate into molds shaped like important Korean relics.

(That's a background picture on a stage behind her, if you are wondering.)

The worst part was when the students had to eat the chocolate that wouldn't fit in the molds.  Nobody liked that part at all...


Then they made masks.  They used a strange substance that seemed like tiny styrofoam balls in a mixture of glue and paint.  You could even mix the colors to make new ones.  Somehow the paint did not stay on the children's fingers.



Ben made a fox and I got to make a rabbit to give to Izzie... but it has since ripped and been recycled.

Then we had a picnic lunch and played some outside games before returning to the school.

One of the typical Korean games is called Talk Dari Sa-eum (literally chicken leg fight) and involves kids standing on one leg while they bend their knee and hold onto their other foot.  Then they hop toward another person and try to knock him/her off balance by bumping into him or her.  If the other person falls or lets go of his/her leg, that person is out and the other one wins.

It reminds me of games we played when we were younger, games that I hope are not played much anymore... like Red Rover.  Really, isn't it a miracle we survived childhood without multiple trips to the hospital for dislocated shoulders?  I also remember sitting on the crossbar of the swing sets at my first elementary school and playing clapping games with my friends.  This means we were not holding on with anything but our legs...  and I don't ever remember being told to get down by any of the teachers.

Were those teachers crazy, or have we become overly cautious in this day and age?   At any rate, the students all survived to chicken fight another day.

Izzie's Christmas Program 2012

Izzie's class did a handbell performance, a dance, and the song "You Raise Me Up" with hand motions.

Izzie did a great job and kept her eyes on the teacher so she would know when to ring her bell.

You might notice that Izzie has the same expression in all the photos.  The teachers gave the girls a slight bit of lipstick, and Izzie kept her lips slightly parted throughout the entire program so it wouldn't come off!

Spelling Bee

Late last year Ben was one of 2 students from first grade who went to a spelling bee in another city.  He had to wake up very early to get on the bus, so he slept in his clothes.  Twelve students went from our school, and I was able to go with him as one of the teachers.

Here is most of the group from our school.  Ben studied hard and did a great job.  One of his favorite parts was getting to have a burger for lunch and pizza for dinner!