Who Was That Masked Child??

Korea is pretty cold during the winter and people here worry quite a bit about being sick. The first cold day of the year brings in legions of people wearing medical face masks wherever they go. 2/3 of a class might have on face masks when I come to work, and for some reason I decided to snap as many pictures of students as I can. Sometimes I have to sneak, other times I they are more than willing to appear in a picture.

Sports Day Is An Excuse To Wear A Costume During P.E. Class

Students flutter around in colorful T-shirts and pants. The usual blue and while uniforms are exchanged for green and blue P.E. Sweat suits. Out come freshly made signs written in Korean. The teachers are dressed down. It's my favorite school day of the year: Sports Day.



Of all the school days in the year, Sports day is the one I find most fascinating. It's the one day were the students are allowed to kick back and be a little wild. They get to paint their faces, wear costumes and funny clothing, along with oddball accessories. I have nothing to do but watch and observe this day, so I get to really enjoy watching the students.


Sports day is like Field Day for some schools in the states or summer camps. In this case it's class vs. class. There are various events, most of them kind of silly; but it's meant to be fun.



The students usually wear some kind of uniform clothing to match with their classmates. 2-4 might wear blue t-shirts while 1-3 might wear funny hats. This year one of the second year classes decided to wear headbands with Giant flowers on them. Boys as well as girls. Another class decided to wear animal ears. Another got Giant Bows.



They all make signs, most of which are in support of each other. Most are Korean so I can't understand what the hell I'm reading. However, many of them are in English. What's even funnier are the ones that are written in Korean to phonetically spell out an English word or phrase. Clever kids.



My role in this is very limited. I walk around all day and do squat. No classes, no tutoring. Just wandering around and talking to students and/or teachers. I usually take a lot of pictures because it's one of the few times I can get pictures unexpectedly. It also might be one of the few times students might willingly pose for a shot. So I get to pose in pictures with them and they act a little silly.



I spent most of my time around the 3rd year section. This is odd considering that I tend to favor the second year students. But many of them were talkative.



I won't go into a lot of detail, but will say I was a bit disappointed with this year. Last year seemed to have more events and the students wore more interesting clothes. This year they mostly wore their P.E. Uniforms with an added assessory or two. Also, the students seemed to have more fun last year. I recall several students doing commentary during events over the PA system. I also remember them having a Talent Show after the regular events. No Talent show this time, so no students showing out. I have no idea why, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with the more conservative principal we have this year.

Regardless, pictures are here for your enjoyment.

Recap: Part One - Salsa Dancing?

I've been REALLY Late recently with posting. I've had a lot of to do, but at the same time things I've wanted to post about.
So what have I been so busy with? Well, here's one of them:





If you want, you can go to the 2:55 mark to get a surprise. I'll get better in time for when I come back home in August.

There's more to come. I have back logs about sports day, doing a dog & pony show known here as an Open Class, and a number of crazy things. I promise the wait won't be as long.