The last two weeks in March found us traveling around Asia. While the second of the two weeks was maybe a little more memorable, (what with river tracing, snorkeling with whale sharks, canyoning down waterfalls, and mango smoothies- ahhh I can't wait to write about it!) the first of those weeks was a big part of our teaching experience at KIS. Every spring, our school takes the students of each grade (Middle-High) on a week long service adventure trip. On the trips, these wealthy and ethnocentric students get the opportunity to experience another culture and learn what it means to serve others. Steve and I LOVE that our school does these trips, even though it meant that we had to spend a week apart (seriously, that's the longest we've ever been apart in the last 4.5 years!). Steve went on the 7th Grade trip to Taiwan, and I helped chaperone the 6th Grade trip to mainland Korea.
The picture of the restaurant above represents our trip quite well actually, as my week was filled with mountains and Korean food. I love one of those things....
This spicy noodle soup was actually my favorite meal!
This spicy noodle soup was actually my favorite meal!
The first part of our week was in Sokcho, where we were able to take a cable car up and hike around in Seoraksan National Park. It was fun to see students overcoming fears and challenging themselves to keep climbing.
My absolute favorite aspects of the trip though were by far the service components. It was amazing to see the change in the students would exhibit when they were in an attitude of service!
Our first experience was in Sokcho at a center for disabilities. In Korea, persons with any sort of physical, mental, or learning disadvantages just don't exist in the social world. Any sort of disability is ignored or hidden, so it was very interesting to visit such a counter-cultural organization. We were invited to participate in the activities time (basically the PE-type time for the people at the center), with the goal being to help our students see the world from the perspective of a person with disabilities. The students were able to participate in wheelchair-style-bicycle races around the track, receive a ping-pong lesson while observing two amazingly skilled quadripledgics playing each other, and discover how a person with cerebral palsy can play bocce ball (botcha in Korean). I feel very blessed and thankful to have been able to be a part of that experience.
Our first experience was in Sokcho at a center for disabilities. In Korea, persons with any sort of physical, mental, or learning disadvantages just don't exist in the social world. Any sort of disability is ignored or hidden, so it was very interesting to visit such a counter-cultural organization. We were invited to participate in the activities time (basically the PE-type time for the people at the center), with the goal being to help our students see the world from the perspective of a person with disabilities. The students were able to participate in wheelchair-style-bicycle races around the track, receive a ping-pong lesson while observing two amazingly skilled quadripledgics playing each other, and discover how a person with cerebral palsy can play bocce ball (botcha in Korean). I feel very blessed and thankful to have been able to be a part of that experience.
Of course I was also proud to win the teacher race! There was no restraining my competitiveness when the reward was an ice cream later on that night! Korea seriously knows how to do waffle cones ;)
The second service component of the trip was a date with a senior citizen! While Korean culture may have some idiosyncracies that are not my favorite, I do really appreciate the respect that youth have for their elders. I LOVED seeing the students genuinely love and serve the senior citizen they were paired with for the day. They spent a morning guiding their partner through an aquarium and up to a tall observation deck in Seoul. I was surprised at the amount of gifts that were bought on both sides, haha! Students buying souvenirs for their elders, and adopted grandparents buying treats for the kids. It was definitely a meaningful cultural experience to witness firsthand.
Other than that, the trip consisted of bike riding, night markets, museums, bowling, basketball, and discovering black tea lattes for the first time :)
I am thankful for the opportunity to have gone, and am glad for the reminder that my job everyday is to serve my students, which, sometimes in the craziness of life I forget that's why I became a teacher! It was nice to take a break from planning and be reminded of the more important parts of my job :)
I am thankful for the opportunity to have gone, and am glad for the reminder that my job everyday is to serve my students, which, sometimes in the craziness of life I forget that's why I became a teacher! It was nice to take a break from planning and be reminded of the more important parts of my job :)
After a week of nonstop pre-teen energy in a cold climate with as much rice and kimchi as my heart could desire, you could say that I was more than ready to enjoy a week in the Philippines with my long-lost husband!!!!
To be continued...