More about the rug-rats...

My new role as a kinder teacher has not only forced me into morning classes (ugh... I hate getting up no matter where I am in the world), but it's also given me a much better opportunity to be a lot more involved in the hagwon I work in.  Although I still only teach some classes 2 or 3 times per week, there are 19 kids that I teach on a daily basis (one class of 7 and another of 12).  I feel like I'm starting to establish a good relationship with some of these kids (even though some of them drive me absolutely nuts!)

On top of this I'm the only foreign teacher on the full kindy shift and consequently I've become quite the celebrity around school... Often when I walk out of the staff-room for a class I'm confronted by a sea of children fighting over who will hold my hand (lucky I've got two) and who will carry my basket to the classroom.  Upon arrival in the classroom there is often a scramble to give me a back massage (I honestly did not teach nor ask them to do this) and a fight over who gets to be my 'helper' for the class.  If only all of this meant they'd behave themselves a little better during class time... 

The kids seem to love all the teachers and we are often inundated with attempts to get our attention.  Every time I walk down the hallway I'm greeted with choruses of "Hello Amy Teacher!!", vigorous waving and peace signs (très cool yes).  Sometimes they just run up yelling "Amy Teacher, Amy Teacher" (they always say it twice) to get my attention, but then forget to have something to say for after the greeting... or they just say something so totally odd that all I can do is nod, say "oooh" or "hmmm" and smile.  For example, the other day while on my way to the photocopy machine, I had the following random exchange with a girl called Gina who is in her third week of learning English.

Gina: "Amy Teacher, Amy Teacher!"

Amy: "Yes Gina"

Gina: "Hello"

Amy: "Hi" (smile... wait for something more, then continue walking)

Gina: (running after me) "Amy Teacher, Amy Teacher!"

Amy: "Yes Gina"

Gina: (pause) "Uuummm... Zebra!"

Amy: "Hmmm! Zebra.  Good!" (smile... wait for something more, then continue walking)

Gina: (again, running after me) "Amy Teacher, Amy Teacher"

Amy: "Yeah"

Gina: (long pause) "... Glue!"

Riiiggghhht...

Anyway, last Thursday three of my kinder classes were cancelled due to some nasty fumes coming into the school from renovations happening on the floor below.  While the school was being aired (opening up the windows, cranking up the fans, laying out plates of giant chopped onions- wtf? I thought we were trying to get rid of the smell...) we took the kinder kids to the Gyeonggi Provincial Museum.  YAY field trip!!  It was really fun to spend some time with the kids out of the classroom for a change - although I didn't get much of a chance to see any of the exhibits as I was constantly either chasing seven 4 year olds around the museum or trying to get them to stop hanging from my arms screaming "What's that! Look! What's that!".  I have to say, as annoying as the hanging off the arms was, it was also pretty of sweet.  Joey, one of the girls, was particularly clingy that day and spent most of the morning kissing my hand, or my jacket, or my scarf, or my bag, or my camera.... or anything that was remotely traceable to me.  As weird as that was, it was nice to know that my students like me... and really, it's days like that that make the more trying times in class a lot easier to bear.

 Anyway, here are some pictures of my kindies at school and at the museum...

The kinder kiddies en masse.

And now for the classes - little rascals that they are...

SUN CLASS

L-R: Julie, Kelly, Sam and Daniel.  

These are the babies who are 5 y/o in Korean age - hence about 3 or 4 in Western age.  Missing from this picture is Candy.  She was crying - as she does 95% of the day.  I have never seen a kid cry so much... seriously, she colours outside the lines - cries.  Drops a crayon - cries.  Sneezes - cries.

Kelly and Julie are the most awkward, clumsiest little girls I've ever seen!  Consequently I think that they are both an adorable and constant source of entertainment.  They can barely walk without bumping into something - each other usually, otherwise it's walls, doors, chairs, tables... everything.  They both break into a sweat at the slightest hint of physical activity and are often found with food all over their faces, clothes on backwards and shoes on the wrong feet. Standard kid behaviour, yes, but these two take it to a whole new level. Gorgeous.  

As for the boys in Sun class... Daniel is lovely and generally pretty well behaved.  Sam, on the other hand is trouble. Actually, I think he may be a reincarnation of the devil - but he still has his cute moments.  He has 2 older brothers who play rough with him and as a consequence he is indestructible (yet still loves a band-aid on a bruise).  Sam enjoys; breaking things, head-butting things, throwing things, climbing on things and yelling.  I actually really like him, but wouldn't be surprised if he serves a few stints in juvi  before he reaches high school.

I teach Sun class twice a week - one of these classes is Science.  They can't even write their own names and I'm somehow supposed to talk to them about the properties of magnets and polarized lenses! Whatever, we just play with the science stuff, do some drawings and generally just make a mess instead.  

Sam at the museum.  He ran around for a solid hour wielding this beating stick and terrorising all in his wake in the process.  Between 6 teachers, we couldn't manage to take the stick away from him. 

(also, you may notice a little pair of black legs in flight in the background... they belong to Erin - more on her later - who was mid-tumble as I took this photo.  I don't know if you can see it too well on here, but her legs are completely tangled together just from walking... something only Erin can do)

Hmm... Safe kids games.  Let's all stand in a circle and throw a pointy stick into a really small opening.  Of course this turned into 'throw the stick as hard as you can at the person opposite you'...

MOON CLASS

I still can't remember all these kids names... neither can they.  

Moon class are 6 year olds (4 or 5 western age) who have never learnt English before.  They were all given English names on their first day and I can guarantee that 90% of them have either forgotten or changed them without telling us.  Therefore most of them generally don't answer to any name.  They are HARD work... thankfully I only teach them a few times a week!

MOUNTAIN CLASS

Paul, Andrew, Andy (the one who cried through his first week at school), Alvin (I don't know why he chose that name - he was called Eddie before and that's heaps cooler!), Brian, Ricky, Gina (zebra/glue girl) and Judy

I pity the two girls in this class of boys.  They are sweet and quiet while they boys yell, punch and kick each other ALL DAY.  Mountain class are 7 in Korean age and have never learnt English before either.  The difference between the 6 and 7 year old classes is HUGE though, and these kids actually remember their names (despite changing them often), so they are a bit easier to control.  Andrew and Brian had a little stint of sitting outside the classroom earlier in the week and the whole class is starting to calm down a little as a consequence as I think that they are now a little scared of me (mwah ha ha ha!).

OCEAN CLASS

Back: Cherry, Lewis, Lynn, Grant and Jacky.

Centre: Sarah, Kevin and David.

Front: Angela, Andy, Sophia and Ann.

Ocean class is the other class I teach 5 days a week.  I love them sometimes and really-don't-like-verging-on-hate them at others.  Today, I kind of like them again, but yesterday I was definitely not a fan.  There are 12 kids in this class including 6 big, strong personalities.  This creates chaos.  When they are good, they are great though (ain't it always the way?!)... it's just getting them to be quiet for a few minutes that is my greatest daily challenge.  We are all on a discipline rampage with this class at the moment and I really don't like having to be strict, but they get seriously out of control (just thinking about that makes me not like them again)... please be good tomorrow, please be good tomorrow, please be good tomorrow. 

The boys: Andy, Kevin, David and Grant... Andy is an absolute angel (I heart Andy!).  The others are the trouble makers.

Sarah is possibly the sweetest kid in the entire school.

Sophia hugs my leg for a solid 5 minutes every day.  I tell her she is a leech... but I don't think she gets it.

Angela knows how to strike a pose.  She's a feisty little one who likes to dish out the hugs when she's happy...  Tell her off though, and she can deliver a dagger stare that rivals the most practiced divas.

Grant - the smallest boy in the class but the biggest pot stirrer around.  Grant makes the bullets for the other boys to shoot (but he looks so cute!).

STAR CLASS

Leo, Lynn, Rosemary, Joey, Kyle and Erin (hiding behind her book).

I'm not going to deny it, this is my favourite class - hands down, no competition whatsoever.  It was this class that noticed my resemblance to the Korean penguin cartoon Pororo and it is this class that I am generally in charge of when we do anything outside the school walls.  Leo and another boy, Sean (who was sick the day I took this photo), were recently moved into star class, giving Kyle some boy power (and apparently a growing attitude!).  As a class they can be pretty rowdy, but usually quieten down when I tell them to (or threaten to take away their stickers). There are often tears, but we all hug it out and everything is fine (yes, I taught them to say 'hug it out').  They have the attention spans of, well, the 4 year olds they are, but can dance to the Wiggles 'Hot Potato' song for a solid 15 minutes (which I love as it doesn't involve me trying to teach them to write! Plus, let's be honest here, I certainly don't mind a boogie to the wiggles every now and then... or every day as the case may be now). 

Joey (the hand/jacket/scarf/bag/camera kisser).  

Distinguishing characteristics: Very cuddly. Is built like a midget giraffe . 

 Likes: Pinching my cheeks and singing the "5 Little Monkeys" song.

Dislikes: Blueberry lollies.

Favourite crayon colour: Purple. 

Leo

Distinguishing Characteristics: Always wears entire outfits from the GAP

Likes: Saying "I can't do it" and pretending to be the Red Power Ranger (see above pose). 

Dislikes: Reading and writing

Favourite crayon colour: Red (like the Power Ranger)

Lynn

Distinguishing Characteristics: Almost always has her dress tucked into her tights after using the bathroom.

Likes: Saying "No!" (Amy: "Hello Lynne!" Lynne: "No Hello!").

Dislikes: The "5 Little Monkeys" song (she hates it so much that she sometimes covers her ears and hides under the table when I put the CD on... shame, as I have to play it every day because it accompanies their story book).

Favourite crayon colour: Pink.

Rosemary

Distinguishing characterisitcs: Wears nothing but PINK.  Sometimes looks like an old lady.

Likes: Arranging crayons in their correct colour order in the packet.

Dislikes: Being called Rosie. Crayons that are haphazardly put back into the packet. 

Favourite crayon colour: Sky Blue ("No light blue", she tells me, "sky blue").

Erin (the one who spotted my similarity to Pororo)

**Erin has 2 personalities that switch in an instant - happy Erin and angry Erin. See below the next picture for angry Erin's profile**

Distinguishing characteristics (of happy Erin):  The youngest in the class.  Is very floppy, bendy and awkward (trips over her own feet often).

Likes: Hiding behind the door or under the table and calling me "Pororo Teacher".

Dislikes: Leo and Kyle.

Favourite crayon colour: Orange.

Angry Erin

Distinguishing characteristics: Exhibits a scornful look that she has down to an art-form.

Likes: Scratching, hitting and screaming.

Dislikes: Everything.

Favourite crayon colour: None of them.

Like I said, sean was absent the day I had my camera in class and I couldn't get Kyle to stand still for long enough to take a photo, but I will give you their profiles anyway: 

Sean

Distinguishing characteristics: Very small and quiet.  Is often sick.

Likes: Picking his nose. Rosemary.

Dislikes: The "Heads, shoulders, knees and toes" song.

Favourite crayon colour: Dark blue.

Kyle

Distinguishing characteristics: Always wears flannel, tartan-print shirts.  Has rainbow striped leggings that he wears as stand-alone pants.

Likes: Playing the part of 'Mr. Crocodile' in the "5 Little Monkeys" song/story book. 

Dislikes: When I touch my nose (no idea why, but it limits my 'Simon Says' and 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes' repertoires somewhat).

Favourite crayon colour: Green.

Here they are again as a complete class at the museum... they don't look very happy because they were hungry and pissed off that we had to go back to school...  So was I.