Happy campers

Camp has begun! It started a couple days ago actually. Yesterday? I don't know, I'm always confused about the date/time here.

Our daily schedule starts with breakfast at 7:40 (with morning exercises at 7:10 for those who want to join/watch the kids sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up, windmill windmill windmill) and we are constantly going until 9pm. My main role is to organize and MC the evening activities with the head teacher, Darren. He has been teaching in Korea for four years now so he knows a little more about teaching/organizing/Korean education. So I spend the day running around trying to figure out where we are going to do the activities, making sure we have all the materials required, setting things up, making sure all the teachers have what they need, doing whatever the Korean head teacher and principal tell me to (often contradictory things), etc.

Yesterday we welcomed the kids to the camp. They are all about 14 years old and some are super shy and some are trouble makers (what else would you expect from 14 year olds?). Each teacher has a homeroom class of about 12 students, and the homeroom classes rotate through all 12 classrooms learning those specific lessons-cooking, fashion, directions, nature, etc. Then Darren and I take care of the big whole-group activities. Yesterday we had a little assembly where each team got on stage to introduce their team name, a cheer they had come up with and a poster they made. Because we had to fill up two hours with this, and none of the students wanted to talk, we had to come up with some other ways to pass the time. This included things like trivia questions (thought up on the spot), team rock-paper-scissors, Simon says, cheering competitions, etc. We somehow timed things perfectly so we were done right on time. The kids had some fun and got more comfortable with us and with each other, so I think it was quite successful!

Today's activity was a bit more structured. It was a trivia game called KaBoom! The kids pick a square, we find out how many points its worth (or if they lose their points), then they have to answer a question. The university that we are at does not have a gym, so this makes large group activities quite difficult. We decided to split the teams in half, so 7 teams were in the auditorium with me and the other 5 teams were in a classroom with Darren. So I would call a student on stage, they would pick the square then answer a question. We keep hearing how Korean students looove competition. So true! They had a blast, especially when they had a chance to steal another team's points. Again, this somehow worked out perfectly and we got done right in time for dinner. Every evening the kids have to journal about their day. And some of the teachers told us that their students had journaled enthusiastically about KaBoom! (especially the winning team!). That made me pretty happy knowing that they had enjoyed it!

We have lots more activities to come (ones that will be even more difficult without a gym) including relay races, etc. These ones will require even more planning! The principal (Mr. Chang, or "Simon") is really friendly although kind of intimidating (even though he is tiny and old) and the Korean head teacher (Mrs. Na) is very organized and demanding, always wanting me to tell her whats going on and create charts and schedules for her.

So far, this has been a really good experience! I really like South Korea, the people are wonderful, the food is good....mostly (although I thanked Jesus that they had bread and peanut butter for us for breakfast this morning....in addition to the whole fish, spicy pork, kimchi, anchovies, salad, etc. that is the usual), and I am learning a lot and pushing myself, which I always like to do! I of course miss everyone back home, but I know I will be back in four weeks, which will go by in no time!

Tomorrow we have been invited by the principal to go on a walk. "Invited" means, you really need to be there. Its at 6:20 am. Soooo another long day tomorrow! Which is why I'm going to bed right now :) I promise I will put up some photos soon, as soon as I have a second! One of my Korean roommates has an iphone and she can somehow share her wireless internet. She's not even here right now, but apparently its turned on so I am stealing her internet. Iphones are great!