Our Trip to 하늘공원 (Sky Park)

Last Friday was my first field trip at YBM. This day was wonderful for a number of reasons; nice weather, able to play with the kids outside, and a relaxed dress code for the day. Not that our dress code is a problem, it's just that our company policy is that we need to wear slacks, dress shirts, and ties unless it is summer and we are allowed to wear polo shirts instead. We loaded up on the bus around 9:30 am and headed off for 하늘공원. The trip there took around 25 minutes, and it was actually quite fun. The kids all have such personalities and seeing them all playing together on the bus was nice. We got to the park and waited around for a bit until the other buses of kids arrived, then we headed off for the main field to set up camp for the day.

 We got to a field full of kids from all levels of school that were playing games and enjoying the weather. The main end of the field had a stage where people performed and they shot off rockets that fell down attached to parachutes. It was a lot to take in. The kids all acted great and it was a lot of fun watching them run around and play games. They liked to chase each other around. One of their activities was getting in a moon bounce and jump around, but the only catch was that other students would throw balls in while the jumping students tried to keep the balls out. This left "teacher Sam" with a lot of balls to chase here, there, and everywhere. I felt like a soccer player again. We all sat down for a lunch of kimbap (see picture), strawberries, and 참외 (chamwe) which is a melon of sorts that reminds me a bit of a honeydew melon mixed with a cucumber. Delicious.

At some point of the day, kids got to get "tattoos." Even I sported an airplane one for the team. Around 1:00 we loaded back up in the bus to head back towards the school, but our adventure wasn't over yet. When we arrived at the school we still had an hour left before parents came to pick them up. We grouped up and walked to a nearby park to play. At the park we ate ice cream and played for 45 minutes before heading back to teach afternoon classes and send the little ones back home. Tomorrow we will all go to Seoul Land for a picnic. The other foreign teachers and I will head back a little early so that we can teach our advanced classes in the afternoon. I can't wait to go. Who knows what adventures lie ahead?