Jin Joo Cow Farm

This week we took our kids on a field trip to a cow farm (I guess the proper name for it in English, as my mom pointed out is a "dairy farm") This was one of the coolest field trips that we have done, and the kids really enjoyed the experience.

The first thing that we did was go on a tractor ride. This started out exactly how I expected it, slow and bumpy. When we turned onto a narrowly paved road, it turned into more of a rollar coaster. We were going pretty fast, the driver was weaving back and forth like crazy. Then he would slam on the breaks and start going backwards! The kids were falling out of their seat and bumping agains the safety bars (which someone very wisely had put padding on).

Next we walked through a pear orchard (they grew all of the food that they fed the cows on the farm) up to the calf nursery.
At the nursery, each child got to bottle feed the calf. There were six calfs, so each child was given a bottle with just a little bit of milk in it. You can't really see, but the girl that I am with in the bottom picture was terrified. She was squirming and trying to run away, but I had her between my arms pretty tightly. For her, the cows were nice to look at from afar, but not something to go anywhere near.

The next thing we did was probably the best part. Each child got the chance to milk cow. The "farmer" kept the cow from kicking them, and helped all of the kids actually get milk out. I did feel pretty bad for the poor cows, who would get tugged on by so many children, but there were a lot of them, and most of the time they were milked by machines. I hope that they rotated the cow every time a new group of 25 children came.
On the way to the last stop, we walked by the grass bales, so they let the kids feed the cows again.

Our last stop was making icecream. It was surprisingly easy. Each group of 3-4 kids got a big bowl of ice, which had a smaller bowl in it. We poured about a cup of milk in, and they took turns mixing it. After about 10 minutes most had turned to icecream (a few were more like milk-shakes) and they added strawberry or chocolate syrup. Yum!

Yesterday I met some friends and went to Children's Grand Park, which is really similar to Como Park. It has a zoo, botanical gardens, a water play area, and a small amusement park. We just went to the zoo and gardens area, but everything we saw made me think of Como. (maybe because everything reminds me of home when I know that I'll be there so soon) We had a great time. The best part about it though was that this park is right next to my new school that I will start at in September. My friends wanted to see my school, so I took them. I thought it would be kind of dumb ("here, look at the building that I will work in"), but there was a security guard there who let us in. My friend told him that I will be a new teacher there in the fall. He asked what grade I would be teaching, and wanted to show me the classroom that I would be teaching in. I had never seen my room before, so it was really exciting. My actual room was filled with extra furniture because they were cleaning, but I got the idea. He showed us another elementary classroom so I could see what they really look like. I am going to have a Smartboard, which I am thrilled about.

Nine days of work left! Eleven days until I leave!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, but of course, especially to my dad!!!!

Summer Heat

Really nothing special has happened in the last few weeks. I am up to my ears in prep work for the month after I leave. All of the lesson plans have to be made, homework and quizes written and copied, classroom decorations (song lyrics, letter sound signs etc...) and flashcards have to be made. This all has to be done at the same time that I do my regular prep work that already fills my time. Plus, the week before I leave we have open classes, so parents come in and watch a class. This is basically like putting on a play, and requires hours of practice and work in making special teaching materials so that the parents think that everything is really fancy. I got kicked out of school at night every day this week by the front desk guy who wanted to go home. In addition, I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row for my next job, my next apartment, and my 5 week vacation. I am exhausted.

It has been really hot here, which usually I would love. The only time I don't want the heat is when I go for my long runs. I have done a 14 mile run each of the last two weekends. This felt great last weekend. I had originally been registered to participate in a half marathon, but had pulled out when I re-sprained my foot when I was training. As it turns out, my foot was okay by the day of the race, so I just ran the distance on my own. Yesterday when I did my long run, the heat was aweful. I think that I was pretty dehydrated, because by the end of it I was just about dead. I wasn't sweating anymore, could barely breath, and actually was getting the chills and goosebumps.

As I am running along, dying in the heat I look around and this is what I see: All of the people (okay, most of them) around me are wearing long pants, jackets, hats, HUGE visors, and are carrying umbrellas. There are even arm covers that people wear (kind of like arm warmers) to cover any open skin on their arms. They have this intense fear of the sun here. Mostly, they don't want their skin to get darker. I don't know how they can stand it!

Okay, I have 14 work days left at my school, and 18 days until I leave for my vacation. Every time I talk to my mom I get more excited about being in Minnesota where there is fresh air, nice lawns, birds chirping, and lots of family!!!!