It finally happened! We (Lorie, Marco, Josh and myself) have been working on getting together a Christmas party that was originally going to be for 40 students, was pared down to twenty, was changed to January 20th, was changed to 40 students on the 7th and ended up on that date with 25 plus. Oddly enough, I was the organized one that had to be flexible and accommodating (it normally works the other way around). Regardless, we had our party, gave gifts and had a fantastic time! It was unfortunate that we learned about the student number change when we arrived, but that is just your standard Korean-English confusion. It happens so regularly that I should expect all information that I receive to be in a continuously transient state.
I was shocked at the reaction that the kids had to the gingerbread men. They were made and ready to go with the candy and icing to be put on and the kids were so focused on the activity that they were virtually silent. They were just completely absorbed by the placement of gum drop buttons. It was as if they were all mini Piccassos creating self portraits in gingerbread form. I will never underestimate the power of gingerbread again. It was a great contrast to our loud energized children doing the games - one set of kids silently focused and the other batch laughing and cheering loudly. We switched groups and the children just morphed into complete opposites depending on the task at hand. It was fascinating to watch.
Anyway, here are a few pictures of what went on. A big thank you to those who put time and energy into it!
Lorie:
Marco:
Josh:
Sense of scale:
Duck Duck Goose MADNESS!!
The Gingerbread Factory:
Waitin' for presents:
Finally finding a present wrapped specifically in a Spider Man sock: priceless
