Hello everyone!!!
   So, my friends and I have been in South Korea now for almost three weeks! The Global Youth Forum seems like ages ago. Valerie and I were saying earlier today how this trip seems like four mini trips: the global youth forum, the tour of South Korea, the prep for the EMC, and the EMC itself. We are on the last and most important leg of our trip. I think we all hit a wall during the preparation for the camp. Our friends had left and we were growing weary of kimchi and rice at every meal. We all prayed for perseverance and the Lord answered! I have found blessings in the small things...like a nice run in the morning with Jaime and a good night's sleep in the air conditioning. Also, THEY ARE NOW SERVING AMERICAN FOOD!!!! It is beautiful. A few days ago we had fresh fruit, ham and cheese sandwiches, and PB&J. The next day we had bow tie pasta with grilled cheese. It was such a nice reprieve from rice and kimchi.
    Yesterday was my first day of teaching and it was soooooooooo amazing! I have seven third graders and they are the most adorable kids in the whole world! Their names are James, Jeffery, Jane, Judy, Cherry, Cindy, and Haley. Each one has such a unique personality! James is my sporty and competitive student. Whether we are playing a vocab game or playing duck duck goose (which in Korea is "kimchi kimchi moo"), James gives 100% to win. Jeffery is my quiet and shy student. The rest of the class is outgoing and vivacious and Jeffery is quiet and reserved. And soooooo adorable! He has the chubbiest cheeks. Judy and Haley are both very studious. Each student hs their own notebook in which they take notes and practice their spelling and writing skills. While I was correcting Haley's notebook, I noticed that she spelled a few words wrong. I circled the words and wrote the correct spelling beside them. About ten minutes later, I passed by her desk and saw that she had practiced writing each misspelled word three times on her own without me asking her! Judy is like my shadow. :) Whenever I turn around, I see little Judy tagging behind. Cherry is my tykwondo master! She tried to teach me some moves and laughed as I butchered them. Jane and Cindy are also as cute as can be and amaze me every day with their willingness to learn.
    Today in class we talked about syllables, vowels, consonants, adjectives, direct objects, subject and object pronouns, the verb "to be", and spelling. It is so funny to teach the kids songs and jingles that I learned as a child at Tall Oaks when I was their age! Valerie is also teaching third grade and has the classroom right next to mine. We teach the same material so after each lesson we have what we call "Battle of the Classrooms". Her class is "Team Winner" and my class is "Team Awesome". "Team Awesome" and "Team Winner" play vocabulary and spelling games together and it is so funny to see the kids get competitive!
    The Korean girls are fascinated by our eye colors and our eye lashes. They come up and stare at our eyes and ask us to close them and then break into giggles! They are all so adorable. They also love a game called "ninja". Valerie and I taught them the first night of camp and they loved it! James will randomly raise his hand during class and say, "Teacher Teacher! Ninja?" Then I'll say, "No James. Not right now." Then he will raise his hand and say, "Teacher Teacher! Kimchi Kimchi Moo?" Haha they are so cute. My translator is wonderful! Her name in JuAe and she is so great with the kids. Valerie's translator is named Bruce and all the little boys love him!
     While teaching is really fun, it is also exhausting! I have a new found respect for all my childhood teachers. It is a good feeling though to be so tired at the end of the day. Well I have to go prepare my lesson plans for tomorrow! Take care.
~Hannah Crismon