It is the year of the dragon. But it’s a very special year. It’s actually the year of the black dragon. All I really know is that it comes around every 60 years. Incidentally, this year is a leap year on both the lunar and solar calendars. I thought it was an interesting factoid.
So Happy New Year to all my Korean and non-Korean friends. You are all special to me and hold a dear place in my heart.
Well, here we are again. I don’t know what 2012 will bring, but I hope it’s health and happiness.
So here’s to you and yours!
So it’s almost Christmas. Just a small detail. I was going back over some older posts and realized I never put up the Halloween pictures. I don’t have too many because I was too busy manning the craft zone. We made door knockers. I took a template and added clip art. As the kids were coloring, I was laminating and cutting. It was a crazy day. Not too many kids dressed up this year.
Happy Peppero Day all. I was wondering if there were going to be any super fun or weird pepperos floating around. I can say, I’ve seen the biggest boxes of them EVER.
I got about a half-dozen boxes from my students. One of my kindergarteners gave me a cell phone charm that is a little girl holding a giant peppero. Now that I love. It’s so cute.
Believe it or not, I didn’t eat any. Well, no, I take that back. I ate one and then gave the rest of the box to the two students in my class.
You can buy them year round, but people usually only eat them on 11-11. After 6 Peppero days, I can say I never want to see another one as long as I live. It was worse when I taught in a full kindergarten. I came home with a shopping bag full of them. Most of all, I think my palate has changed. I don’t crave sweets the way I used to.
I decided to go to Outback (what, did you think I was living in war-torn Korea?) for dinner. I decided to get the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under. Big mistake. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a scoop of whipped cream on top of a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of a warm brownie. My stomach is still yelling at me.
And thus so ends another Peppero Day. It’ll probably be back to the same old regular sized boxes. And for those who have no idea what I’m babbling on about, here a short history.
At the end of February, our 7 year olds graduated from Maple Kinder. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the event. However, Karin was kind enough to get a few pictures for me. I’m proud of what these students accomplished in the kindergarten. And I’m doubly proud of what they are accomplishing in the elementary school classes. Congratulations Spring and Winter Classes!
On Tuesday, the Kindergarten celebrated Korean New Year. All the students came in their 한복 (hanbok). In the morning, they made their 복주머니 (lucky pouches) for the school’s New Year’s day celebration. They then practiced their 세배 (saebae, New Year’s Bow). After the traditional New Year’s meal of 떡국 (TteokGuk, rice cake soup) and some free time, the kids played 윷놀이 (yutnori). Then they went home. Enjoy the pictures of the kids in their hanbok.
Today is 설날 (Seolnal; Korean New Year). It’s the first day of the lunar calendar. Although Koreans do celebrate January 1st, 설날 is probably one of the most important holidays for Koreans. Traditionally, children wish their elders a happy new year with a deep bow called a sebae. It was interesting to watch the kids do it at school on Tuesday. This site has a nice illustrated guide on how the bow is done for boys and girls.
In our celebration at school, the kids also made a lucky pouch, which is used during the sebae bow. Elders typically give the children money. Upon asking some of my older students how much they typically get, my jaw about hit the floor. I’d say the average is between 150,000 ₩ and 200,000 ₩. I’ll let you do the currency conversion on that one.
On 설날 people traditionally eat 떡국 (Ddeok Gook) a soup made with rice cakes (the chewy kind from Korea, not the crunchy kind westerners think of).
There is a traditional song that children sing on New Years called 까치까치 설날은 which translates to Magpie, Magpie. New Years Day. Traditionally seeing a magpie is an indicator of luck.
Some excellent sources of material:
Teaching guide (pdf)
ESL Photos
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