birthdays abroad

it seemed april was destined to be a birthday month. in my elementary schools, i have to follow the national curriculum. i can add to it with additional games and activities but i have to teach from the book. i think some teachers wouldn't like this, but for me with the amount of lessons i have to write per week, its nice to have a starting point. a framework to plan with. all this is said because, my lesson for grade 3, 4 and 6 was birthdays: how old are you? happy birthday! when is your birthday? lots of fun lessons! so while teaching the lesson, the students quickly learned my birthday was around the corner and began planning.

i love being at small schools, because i know all my students. maybe not their names -- their names are so hard. man, i feel proud when i get their names right. but i know their faces and their personalities. i feel really fortunate for that.

my students at changho got really excited about my birthday. the week before my 4th grade class, a class with a grand total of 10 children, started to get the details right. this class is incredible smart. my lessons are always too easy for them and i think it bores them. honestly, i didn't even think they liked my class at all. but the week before my bday, we spent the first 10 minutes of class reviewing the facts: how do you spell 'hannah-teachers' name, how old are you going to be? (28 in korean age), do you like chocolate or white cake? very important details.

on thursday (the 22nd) of the next week, the buzz around the school was hannah-teacher's birthday was saturday. because we had just learned birthdays, they all excitedly used english to say happy birthday. we had just learned the birthday song so there was lots of singing in the library (thats where my classes meet).

thursday after school, a little 3rd grader (one of the cutest) came in and quickly took her place at the white board and began to write. she wrote an entire letter, then smiled and left. the only problem was it was all in korean. i could make out hannah-teacher (하 나 선생) but that was it. there is one 5th grader, siah, that is incredible at english. she has such a passion to learn. i have been tutoring her at lunch time everyday. the next morning i found siah and asked her to translate the letter. it went a little like this: "hannah-teacher i love you, hannah-teacher happy birthday. happy birthday hannah-teacher. i love you......" what a great way to start my birthday weekend. the rest of the day, i was showered with gifts of sweets.

then it was time for my 4th grade class. the students had been running around all day with markers and colored paper, slyly smiling and whispering as they passed my classroom - they were definitely planning something. the bell rang and in they walked singing happy birthday holding a candle-lite cake and presents. it was the sweetest thing. they were so proud. we had a full on birthday party. they each wrote birthday letters in english and glued them on to this beautiful poster board they covered with handmade oragami, beautiful. one of the boys bought in 28 crossiants (for my 28th birthday) - 8 kids consumed them all in 40 minutes as we watched the simpson's espisode when mj sings happy birthday lisa - i thought it was appropiate.

it was the best birthday party. this week, siah brought in her gift for me. it was incredible. it was this old beautiful jewerly case that is from the jongsain dynasty. she wrote an incredible letter explaining its importance. so kind.

for the rest of my bday weekend, we went out in gangneug and you can read the remaining story from matt's entry.

it was a perfect korean birthday. when else will i have two suprise birthday parties and go hiking up a mountain completely hungover with korean children climbing on my back. here's to hoping 26 is as great as 25.