Korean Field Day!

In Korea, every elementary school has a full day where students compete in individual games, perform dances and taikwondo routines, as well as compete in team games! The kids have been practicing really hard in anticipation for this day!

Before they compete, they all stretch together (1st graders - 6th graders)! They do a routine, set to music, that has been done for over 60 years, all over Korea! Some of the moms were stretching along on the sidelines!


The teachers stand in the front of their classes line and lead the stretches! Their English names, from left to right are: Crystal, Chloe, Susan, Lee, Lisa, (He doesn't have one) , Ella, Josh, Barbara, and Laura. (All great, great, great people!) I'm blessed to be at Gamjung School!


2 of the 2nd grade girls waiting to start their relay!


This poor girl could not figure out how to put her jersey on! She literally tried 3 times before she finally got it.

This was one of the games for the 2nd graders. They had to run around some cones and then eat a piece of candy, and put the wrapper in their pocket! This is MY kind of game! :)

This sweet little girl is one of my favorite kids at the whole school. She's in my kindergarten class, and is sooo smart, and so sweet! She always hugs me and says, "I love you teacher."

Some of my 6th grade boys running the relay!

Some of my 5th grade boys exhausted after their relay: (left to right) ______, Jacob, John, and _______.

These are some of my 5th grader girls: (Top left) Lauren, ______ , Kristy, Amy (Bottom left) ____, Melissa, Kristin, Skylar, _______.

This is another one of my kindergartners. Her mom is one of the teachers at my school.

These are some of my darling 3rd graders: Molly, Jenny, and ____.

This is another one of my kindergartners. They're so darn cute, I couldn't stop taking their pictures. :)

This was one of the games for the 2nd graders! They had to run about 50 feet and then sit on these balloons until they popped! This is a tame picture... Some of the boys were jumping 2 feet in the air and landing on their butts to try to pop these balloons!

Yes, he is holding a pom pom!


One of the 6th graders games was to walk across this beam with a hulahoop!


The 1st and 2nd graders did the most adorable dance. It's a traditional Korean dance about an old bride and a young groom. The groom doesn't want to get married, because his fiance is old! haha


More pictures of the dance...


More pictures of the dance!

Part of the 4th graders relay was to do a summersault on this mat. It's AMAZING that no one got hurt!

This is my kindergarten class! What a bunch of little cuties huh?!

The last competition of the day, is a good old game of tug of war. The kid in the front of this picture is Garrett. He is one of my absolute favorite 6th grade students!

My 6th grade girls, waiting to hear their score from the judges

All in all, it was a great day! If there's one thing I would bring back to America with me, it would be field day!

Boyz II Men are making a comeback!

One of my co-workers was on my bus this morning and we started making small chat about music. He asked me if I liked "Boyz II Men." He was definitely feeling pretty good about himself because he knew an American pop group. But, when I replied, "yeah. When I was 12 years old, they were very popular," the look on his face was of utter defeat as he realized the pop group he mentioned was less than impressive. Instantly, I knew I had hurt his ego, so I began to say how much I still liked their music... He quickly perked up again! Later this afternoon, he sent me this e-mail:

"Alexis, do you have a this song file? Would you like to hear this file? i love this song.^-^
see you at lunch time ^-^"

-- He attached the song "End of the Road." I have a feeling all of our conversations from here on out will be about Boyz II Men. What have I done?!

Just bought a camera...

... from my own husband! Yep, you heard it right - I bought my husband's CANON camera from him... and it's not because he wanted to get rid of it! 

We were talking about our trip to Japan this weekend and he said "We're both going to be wanting to take pictures at the same time and we'll probably end up arguing over who's turn it is with the camera!  I think you should buy your own camera!"   At first, I thought he was crazy, but the more I thought about it, the more appealing the idea became!  We came to terms that even though it's silly, we will both have our own professional cameras because we know our strengths, and we definitely know our weakness - SHARING!

Happy Birthday Buddah Parade!

Last night, I was shopping for coast hangers at a local market and heard loud drums in the distance, so I walked towards the sound... and found myself stumbling up the hidden gem of the night! It was a parade celebrating Buddah's birthday. It was one of the longest parades I've ever seen, which tens of thousands of people involved! The costumes were beautiful, the lanterns were magical, the floats were cool, the drummers were awesome, and the dancing was beautiful!

These elderly women were sitting in the back of a truck because they couldn't walk the whole parade route!

Anyone up for a day at the mall?

This blog is for those of you who have the misconception that I'm living in a 3rd world country! Quite the contrary.... This blog is just to prove it!

On Sunday, we ventured over to Shinsegae Mall, the biggest, most elaborate mall I've ever been to, which makes sense why it is named the "largest mall in Asia." It had an ice skating rink, an art exhibit, a park, a movie theatre, tons and tons of really fancy restaurants, a salon, a spa, etc...


This is the bakery area of the mall... yes, that's right! There is an entire floor of cakes... and let me tell you, the cakes you see in your Safeway Bakery at home are NOTHING compared to the cakes in Korea! They are intriquitely decorated and taste like heaven!


This is the view from the top floor, looking down from the 7th floor. (and yes, I was shaking taking this picture!)


There is an actual park at the top of the 14th floor of the mall, called Sky Park, that overlooks the city! It was such a beautiful day, so we spent about an hour here just lounging together and enjoying the view.


The view from one side of "Sky Park."