Waffle in my hand!

It is finally starting to feel like spring in Daegu. Which is following with the 6th grade lessons on the different seasons. Last week, I was telling the students the difference between when school starts in the USA compared to in Korea. Their first semester is in Feburary and I told them ours starts in September (elementary school). I also told them about the different vacations like a short winter vacation and a long summer vacation (over 2 months). The kids asked what we do during the summer so I said you can, travel with your family on vacation, visit grandparents, summer camps and hang out with your friends. The Korean kids then asked if we had to go to school and I said, no. They all want to be American now because there is no school in the summer. One kid goes "I envy you." I said "wow!" good word! 

I don't think I mentioned how a day works for many Korean children. They wake up and go to school, 8:30 am. Then have school until around 2:30. Then there is after school classes which last to around 4:30. After school and after after school classes, children (whose parents can afford it) send their children to hangwons or private academies. I know a bunch of hangwon English teachers. The hangwons usually run to about 10 pm. In theses hangwons, students learn more, do homework and attend classes. After hangwons, if the student has not completed their homework, they do so at home. Then play video/computer games then sleep and repeat. 

Also, every other Saturday there is school. I do not have to come in on Saturday but the teachers and students do. They have only 2 full weekends a month. So back to vacations, the students tecnically do not have school but they do have hangwons and educational camps they go to. This summer I have 2 weeks of "English camps" which really is just a normal school day with classes but I can be a little more creative with these classes. 

So after elementary school, the kids go to 3 years of middle school and 3 more years of high school. Elementary school is free but middle and high school is not. In the 3rd year of middle school, the kids take a test. What ever score they get on the test depends on what type of high school they are allowed to attend. Then the third and final year of high school they take another test to determine if they are allowed to attend college or not. It is not a placement test its a test to see if you can go. Kinda like the SAT but more important. Okay, so obviously the education system is way more hardcore than in America. 

Back to spring, so this weekend was gorgeous and Sophia and Louise came to visit from Busan. Saturday we went to Suseong lake and did paddle boats. They were alot of fun and shaped like ducks. There were cherry blossoms everywhere! Who needed to go to the cherry blossom festival when they were right here in Daegu! We were then going to go bowling but it got too late so we went out instead...good alternative!


Sunday, I had my co teacher Ji Yun's wedding! It was so nice. She looked amazing! A traditional Korean wedding is alot different than American wedding. Koreans get married in wedding halls. The wedding hall has many weddings at once on different floors. We arrive to the wedding and instead of gifts, you put your money in an envelope with your name on it. Then they give you your food vouchure. The bride sits in a room and people come and take pictures with her. There are a few chairs to sit in but alot of people stand in the back between the room and the entrance. There is also a live video people can watch who are in the entrance way. The ceremony is very short and the groom sang to Ji Yun. She cried. Her husband is in the army and there were fellow army personnel there who formed two lines down the aisle. Ji Yun and her husband had to walk past the army men and do different task before they could continue to the end. At one point the groom was doing push ups on the floor. 

He said funny (I assumed because everyone was laughing) jokes, they had to kiss for 5 seconds but when the army counted to five they did it very slowly so it took about 2 minutes. After the wedding was over everyone eats. It was not a reception for their wedding though. There are food halls and you use your vouchure to go to the buffet. There were people from the other weddings in the food halls as well. The buffets are for everybody. The the whole building So I ate with another one of my co teachers and her family. 

After the wedding, I met up with my friends, went to the park to see cherry blossoms, went downtown and then home for the night. Ofcourse, I realized after Sophia and Louise left on the train to Busan that they had my keys. I guess Sophia just needs to come back!!! 

Oh, so we were finally able to take Sophia to waffle in my hand, or so she calls it. I think the place is called big waffle. They have the ice cream waffle which is a belgium waffle with 3 scoops, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream and then chocolate syrup. The first time Sophia came to Daegu, we did not go to waffle in my hand but kept talking about it. I think this was why she came back to Daegu...WAFFLE IN MY HAND!!!