These are a few of my favorite things: Korean children

Sure, I have my reasons to be partial, but even my fellow native teachers have commented on the attractiveness of the Korean people. The babies and children are especially cute. Just look at this little beauty in mother-daughter matching outfits. She shyly waved at me while maintaining a pretty serious face.

Ahhhhh.

These are a few of my favorite things: student names

Me and the home room boys

At our elementary and middle school English camps, the Korean students are asked to choose an English nickname to use during classes. Many of the students are reluctant to choose a nickname or are unfamiliar with English given names, so we have tried to prepare lists of possible choices. For my elementary home room class in the Home Life booth, I wrote a list of names associated with the Brady Bunch characters: Carol, Marsha, Jan, Cindy, and Alice for the girls; Mike, Greg, Peter, Bobby, and Sam for the boys. Just a few of my students chose their own names: Angela, Rachael, Fred, and Jay.

The Fashion class teacher was able to get really creative in her class with her name suggestions: Georgio, Hermes, Calvin, Louis (as in Vuitton), Versace, Gucci, Tiffany, Choo, Coco, and Chanel are some of her students. And students have selected some really interesting names on their own. At our camps we have had Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Paris, and Bill Gates. Einstein and Picasso (both girls), Debbie (a boy), Mr. Room Nine, Trash, Staff, Hose (pronounced like José), Dog, Orangutan (a girl), The Joker, The Musician, Taz, Berlin, Bombay, and Rio.

I have mixed feelings about requiring Korean students to select Western-style names, but I suppose it is done mostly to make it easier for we native teachers who do not read hangul or would have a more difficult time remembering Korean names. And it's not unusual for adult Koreans to use an English nickname. But I did appreciate the fact that when native teachers hand out certificates to their home room students at the end of camp, we do use their Korean names.

this is how I felt after completing 108 bows

Monday afternoon we returned to our camp location after enjoying a three-day break between the elementary and middle school sessions. Our hosts arranged for us to attend the Mokpo Maritime Culture Celebration, a trip to Blanco Beach on Jindo Island, a performance of traditional music and dance at the Korean National Namdo Center for Performing Arts, and an overnight temple stay.

While at the Daeheung Buddhist Temple, we were given the opportunity to participate in performing 108 bows following prayer. Several of our group completed the bows, which required us to go from standing position with hands in prayer, to kneeling with forehead touching the ground and hands in supplication. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT TIMES.

Whew. It wasn't easy, but I'm glad I did it. Most of us were sweating and grimacing when it was all done. And now, three days later, I'm still feeling it in my legs when I go up and down stairs. I can't say I found enlightenment, but it was a good workout.

These are a few of my favorite things: Coffee Shake

Coffee Shake
Originally uploaded by katkimchee

There have been so many things that I've enjoyed about my time in Korea so far. One of the best is Lotte Coffee Shake. Our small convenience store at the camp cafeteria has a large freezer filled with frozen treats - mostly ice cream bars. In this treasure trove, I discovered the coffee shake.

Packaged something like juice pouches, but with a capped nozzle instead of those annoying small plastic straws, the coffee shake must be gently massaged to break up the icy sweet goodness contained within. It's something like my favorite treat back home - coffee granitas. There are other varieties: vanilla, strawberry, and Oreo cookie, but my favorite is the coffee version.

Several of my co-teachers are now hooked, but the convenience store's supply has been exhausted. I tried my best to find out whether they will be getting more, and I think the clerk understood my demonstration of sucking a coffee shake and shedding tears over their disappearance. She held up five fingers, which I take to mean that the supply will be replenished in five days.

Hopefully.