Half...full?

Yes, I've been a Bad Blogger lately. Camp required a ton of preparation, including many, many hours of procrastination. I managed to fit in a LOT of YouTube videos because they are each only five minutes long, as opposed to blogging, which, at about an hour per entry, is obviously unsuitable for someone with homework. Some of the videos--several Mr. Beans, I Love Lucy, clips from the Vacation movies--were actually school-related, since I let the 3rd graders chill out on the last day of camp. Hours of U2, an inventory of Great Big Sea concert bootlegs, and the new CBC series Republic of Doyle were strictly for my own edification.

So camp is done, and so is half of my exile. The official halfway point of my entire absence was last week; the 6-month mark for Korea actually occurs next month during my visit home, but, as I don't have to teach any classes 'til the new semester in March, I'm as good as there. I do have to be careful though, about thinking of this week's trip to Jeju Island as time off. "Korea's Hawaii" it may be (with temps expected to move well into the 50s), but I'll still be responsible for 12 excited and rowdy kids, perhaps 4 of whom understand English with anything resembling facility. I've no idea what to expect, but since all the planning is done by other people, it's GOTTA be better than camp. Right???

Speaking of camp, Dr. DeSoto turned out to be a tad ambitious for the 2 classes that read it, although there were 3 or 4 students who understood it and made some really nice cartoon versions at the end. The Very Hungry Caterpillar (or California, as one class called it), on the other hand, was a home run. I hammered on "caterpillar", "hungry", "stomachache", and the days of the week until the kids had them as firmly as I dare hope, and a few of them were using "cocoon" too (when we first turned to that page, in every class was an outcry of "Bundaegi!!"--the popular larva snack sold on Korean streets). They made books, with a Very Hungry character of their own choosing, and I dictated most of the words, leaving the items consumed up to them. It was structured enough that most of the strugglers got it, and creative enough to occupy even the ones who found the vocabulary easy. And the products were fantastic! Those of you who'll see me when I'm home can enjoy The Very Hungry Maneater, The Very Hungry T-Rex, The Very Hungry Yoda, and The Very Hungry Dragon Obama, complete with some Very Charming illustrations.