field trip

Yesterday I went on a field trip to Seoul Land, an amusement park, with the first graders. No teaching again, but I knew about this ahead of time. I think it was Student Day at the park because there were kids in uniforms everywhere, of all ages. The really little kids were adorable in their uniforms!

Going on a field trip here was very different from my field trip experiences as a kid. First, every first grader in our school went at the same time on the same day so we had a convoy of 10 greyhound-style buses headed from Pyeongtaek up to Seoul. I don't know if permission slips were required from parents, but there were no chaperons except the teachers (maybe 12 of us) for about 400 students and the minute the kids got inside the park entrance they were off. There was no staying in prescribed groups or with buddies or anything like that. The kids went off and did their thing while the teachers gathered for lunch, after which the teachers did their own thing and didn't worry about the students at all. They were in a park where it was mostly if not all students and teachers, so it wasn't unsafe except for the normal trouble boys can get into anywhere they go, but it was just weird. The field trips I remember as a kid were always pretty structured and if you were given leeway to go off on your own you usually had to check back in at least once during the day. Not here. They had free rein of the park all day.

As we walked to a park restaurant for lunch I saw kids with corn-on-the-cob on a stick which looked really good, but I didn't know if I was supposed to stay with the teachers or not so I continued on to lunch with them. Later I wished I'd said I was getting the corn-on-the-cob. The food here is not growing on me. Every once in a while there's something really good, but this lunch was not one of those times. We sat down to a table set with a broiler full of raw beef, onions, long stringy mushrooms and some greens, which was cooked when we sat down. There were some sides of kimchi, some brown jello-ish stuff, some lettuce leaves, green chili peppers, and rice. As much as I still don't want to be eating meat I still try the various meat items at school in small quantities, so I tried this also. It wouldn't have been too bad except there was so much fat left on the meat! If it had at least been lean I think I could have eaten more of it, but as it was I ate a small amount just to be polite, then mostly ate rice wrapped in lettuce leaves and some of the jello stuff. It looks a lot like jello but it's made out of acorns, is a not-so-pretty brownish-gray, is salty not sweet, and was drizzled with hot red pepper paste. This was one of those things that was better than it looked.

I've done food so here's a cultural thing. It isn't uncommon here to see friends walking arm in arm or holding hands. This goes for women, girls, and boys (not so much for adult men). The idea of personal space here is not the same as it is back home. Kim and I were always together growing up, but we never walked around holding hands or with our arms around each other everywhere we went. Even William and I don't always hold hands when we're out, but I've become used to seeing grown women and children walking around in this way. After lunch, several of the teachers wanted to see "Grease: The Musical" playing at the park theater. This didn't sound appealing so when Mrs. Ta, one of the teachers I'm helping with her English, suggested going for a walk I was all for it. We walked all over the park and even left it for awhile to go to The Korean Museum of Contemporary Art nearby. Off and on throughout the day as we attempted to converse she would put her arm in mine or hold my hand as we walked. I'm sure this was a completely natural thing for her, but it was awkward for me since I don't know her very well and it's not something I'm used to doing. But, as awkward as I felt, it was nice to know that she felt comfortable enough to treat me as she would a friend.

It was a fun day but in the end I was a little disappointed about not riding any rides. There was only one roller coaster so the line was huge all day. None of the other teachers rode anything either. At the very end of the day Mrs. Ta and I stumbled across this ride, which was a favorite at King's Island! I wasn't surprised to see the roller coaster and other festival style rides, but I never expected to see a log flume in Korea.


One last food thing I just remembered: if you don't know what a cuttlefish is, look it up online because it is an amazing animal that I can't imagine ever eating. But, I saw a food stand at the park labeled, "butter baked dried cuttlefish." Definitely not something you would EVER see at an amusement park back home! They did have the normal fried foods, ice cream, popcorn, and candy stands to go along with the cuttlefish :)

Here's one last pretty picture from outside the art museum.