Carrie and Bradley's Excellent Adventure!!: School update

Hello!

I was encouraged by my friend Jessica to write an update about school. We continue to have a great time with the students. Most days, our job is really fun. The kids are very bright and usually work hard in class. It has been great getting to know them.

Some things we don't want to forget:

Every morning when we arrive to school, we are enthusiastically greeted by the younger students. Usually we arrive when they do, as they are getting off the bus. Or, we see them as we are walking to our classroom. They run across the playground, down the stairs, or down the halls when they see us, shouting "Carrie teacher! Bradley teacher!" with huge smiles. Sometimes we get hugs or high fives. It is so nice to start our morning with so much love. A lot of times they are yelling "Teddy Bear Teacher!" This is Bradley's nick-name, as he jokingly told a class at the beginning of the semester, "I may be big, but I am just a big teddy bear!" The first graders call him that. The older students call him "Bong-ly Teacher" In Korean, the word for "bread" is bong. Because of the way words are pronounced in Korean, students usually mistakenly say "Breadly" instead of "Bradley" so they jokingly call him "Bong (Bread)ly Teacher" now.

Another thing the younger students still seem amazed about is that Bradley and I are married. Every so often a younger student will raise their hand in class and say, " Carrie teacher married?" I will say yes, to Bradley Teacher, and they will giggle and laugh. I guess it is funny to have two teachers who are married to eachother :)

Whenever we say anything in Korean, students and teachers alike are very impressed and we sometimes get applause! Once in class I was explaining what a pilot is and I said the word for airplane in Korean. The first graders started clapping, and said, "Oh, Teacher, very good!" One student in that class often comes up to me at passing period now, and starts animatedly talking in Korean, and I just smile and nod, and he runs off smiling . . . I have no idea what he is saying.

We travel to other teachers' rooms to teach classes. In one fifth grade class, the students made me read something in Korean off the board. I didn't know what it said, something about a class assignment, but Korean letters are pretty easy to read once you know the pronunciation and the alphabet. After I finished, the kids gave me a round of applause and the teacher joined in! "Oh, very nice! You are very smart!" I was definitely blushing :) But it is fun to learn some Korean and nice when it is so appreciated.

Last week, there was a science fair at school. The kids got to do different science activities in booths that were set up around the school gym. Bradley and I were assigned to a balloon animal making booth! I guess the teachers assumed (correctly) that we wouldn't be able to explain science activities in Korean, so we got to do the fun activity. We had so much fun with the kids and now I know how to make a balloon dog and sword, if I am ever unemployed. Also, I learned a new fact about Bradley; he already knew how to make balloon animals, thanks to his years at Bar-Mitzvah parties. He made some really cool hats!