Love from the students

So yesterday was the last day of the term. It seems like the terms are going by faster and faster. Well that means I have been here for a little over half of a year which is just a strange thought. It seems like i have been here forever but at the same time first arriving feels like yesterday.

Anyway a couple of girls in my lower level classes decided to write me letters on the last day of class to say thank you so I figured I would share as they are not only nice and heartwarming but amusing.




Click the picture so you can read the notes.

You may notice that pretty much all of the letters call me Leor Chicken. No its not a horrible mispronunciation of my last name but a nickname I received the first day of class. When telling the students my rules of the classroom I told them that if they are late from break they have to do the chicken dance and thus Leor Chicken was born. Its funny how much they liked, they would always draw pictures of chicken on the back of their tests and label it Leor Chicken.

Also one of the letters says Hi Leor Teacher? While the punctuation and grammer is not the greatest in the letters the ? is not too out of place for a Hi. In Korean when you write hello 안녕하세요? you put a ? at the end because it is actually a question, are you at peace? Thus it was carried over into her English letter.





If you cant read this one is sates as follows:

To Leor teacher.
Hello! I'm Emily.
Today is Last day in mega.
I'm feel a sence of loss. some!!
You are very interesting teacher
so I'm very interseting in
mega class.
Thanks to teaching me!
Teacher. (insert a picture of emoticon and then a picture of a thumbs up) Good!

I will don't forget you!
Because you are very funny
teacher. (another emoticon)
If I don't forget you,
I am going to visiting
you're class!!
THANK YOU (emoticon)

and the drawing has a thought bubble that reads To Leor chincken

-2010. may. 27th from. Emily(12)

the 12 is her age but Korean age so she is really 10 or maybe 11.



From Emily (going to giga class)

Lotus Lantern Festival

"Please attain Buddhism in your next lifetime by lighting a lantern in this life.''

This past weekend I attended the Lotus Lantern Festival in Seoul. Its Buddha's birthday this Friday and the way Buddhists prepare for it here is with the Lotus Lantern Festival. The weekend is comprised of all things lantern. There are lantern making festivities around the Jogye Temple as well as many other festival activities that locals and tourists alike can part take in all in preparation for the Lotus Lantern Festival parade. I didn't partake in the lantern making activities but I did attend the parade and watched all the crazy lantern floats where they were shown off in all there glory as well as all the people proudly marching down the street carrying their own personal lanterns lighting up the darkness. Here are some pics, I took a bunch and this is just a sample.




















Animatronic elephants





Fire breathing dragons



















Buddha in a helicopter



I know its a Buddhist symbol but is still strange to see marching down the street



Especially when its presented like this. They are waving, but from this angle it looks like they are saluting. Good thing the car wasn't a Volkswagen.