Weekend Playtime With Kids

I love kids. I mean, I really enjoy being with children. I don’t exactly know what it is called, but there’s just this special fondness that I have of them, and it makes me go high. It’s like I can be my most comfortable self to unconsciously pick my nose in front of them, and I won’t even be any kind of embarrassed in doing it. It must be the rawness of their minds, the innocence that people mistake as being less intelligent, when most of us know that they can even be way smarter than us sometimes— that draws me to them. Here I am stuck at getting older, technically acquiring more knowledge and experience, yet making things more complicated. I then talk to any kid licking on his ice cream, and I am again reminded of how life can just be anyone’s coned vanilla. Plain and smart-ass simple.


This special fondness of children made me volunteer for UNESCO’s Cross-Cultural Awareness Program. I found out about it online and attended an orientation that officially included me in the roster of foreigners in South Korea who said “yes” to the organization’s invite to a mutual exchange of culture with Korean students. Two weeks after the orientation, I finally got my first call for a Saturday class, and my, I couldn’t just be any more excited.

The UNESCO office informed me about my first stint a week before the date set by the head teacher of the school I was to hold the class at. One thing that astounded me with the class details was the big number of children that I had to handle. Come on, they’re fifty. That’s an educational system issue already, even in Philippine standards, to have a 1:50 teacher-student ratio. Anyway, with the help of my KIV (Korean Interpreter Volunteer), whom every CEV (Cultural Exchange Volunteer) like me should be paired up with, I was able to get further advice on how to go about with my class, particularly when the head teacher said that he would like it more if I’d brew some games or teach a dance or song to the kids.

So that’s how the subjects on Philippine traditional dances and games came about. There sure are a lot more interesting topics to come up with and share about my country, but I considered the head teacher’s request, and the fact that we’re talking of a big number of students whom I just cannot afford to bore with dates and names in Philippine history and those other serious craps.

And so Ate YY (my very nice and pretty KIV) and I have been exchanging e-mails and Skype messages since the day I got her mobile number thru the official UNESCO website where the invites are received and confirmed. I gave her my class outline, while she, in turn, gave pointers and even shared her experiences with her previous classes with other foreign volunteers. Our agreed meeting place at Line no. 1, exit 4 of the Cheongnyangni station then sealed our first travel adventure as one-day teachers.

The Saturday morning drizzle that I had to embrace along with the big, brown bag that I carried on my right shoulder was something that I sure was fine to deal with, as I excitedly rode the train to conform with our 7:20 am meeting time today. The big, brown bag had all my “class stuff” in it, anyway. Ate YY practically led the way in the whole travel, being the Korean that she is and the foreigner that I am in South Korea, *teehee*. She even had our tickets prepared prior to today, which was cool because she just showed her mobile phone, and we were off to our seats in the train that had the 7:50 am departure schedule. Apparently, she had bought our train tickets online, and had her receipt sent through her mobile phone. Oh the convenience of life, here is.

The head teacher had been waiting for us for a little more than five minutes after 9am, when we arrived in Cheongpyeong, after which he let us go inside his car so he could then drive for another 20 minutes. The school that we were going to is Miwon Elementary School, located in the province of Gyeonggi-do. It was a pretty big school to just house elementary students. The facilities were all new, that no one would actually think it is a public school. But nah-uh, it is. I then told YY how it can be hard to distinguish a public from a private school in South Korea, then. In the Philippines, public schools would usually have vandalized desks, overly-scratched green blackboards, broken jalousies, and very old arm chairs.

I hopped out of the car, still with my big, brown bag, as we finally arrived. Since it was drizzling, it didn’t really surprise me to see that there were no students even in the corridors of the school building. It was very quiet. Mr. Han, the head teacher, then prompted Ate YY and me to the principal’s office where the principal formally welcomed and gave us a little plaque of appreciation, which is technically called a “call of attorney”. After some small talk and picture taking, Mr. Han then led us to the indoor gym where the class will be held.

It was yet fifteen minutes before our ten o’ clock class, but all the kids were already seated in the steel chairs that were arranged at the center of the gym. Then there was that big brown table with a laptop and projector on, which practically told my a-bit nervous self that I should be anywhere near it. Ate YY had forwarded my class outline to Mr. Han, so he already knew what I would need for the class. I prepared a PowerPoint presentation and a very simple video, so those gadgets were what I exactly needed.

I was given ample time to prepare, since I had to make use of what my big, brown bag had to offer. It basically had all other paraphernalia, which I thought would help in making the class more meaningful. It’s where I took out my maps, my giveaways, and some other “props” for the class. I also drew out my outline and prepared spiels from it, just to guide me as I speak in front of these children. I never really know when I’d just suddenly go blank. Tsk. Tsk.

One thing I noticed with the class is how the seating arrangement was grouped according to gender, with the boys filling up the first two front rows. The girls were all at the back.

All the students were very active. I really enjoyed every minute of the whole cultural lecture, pacing around as I walk to a student for an answer to my question, then back again to the big, brown table in front. Since it was a pretty big gym, I used a microphone so that even the kids at the back would hear me. The students confidently responded to my little queries, not minding if they were already saying Jebu (Cebu) for an answer. They must’ve liked the idea of winning a prize for a correct answer, that I really saw a lot of hands raised in every question.

The most fun part of the class was when I tried to teach them the basic steps to a traditional dance called the Pandanggo sa Ilaw, where I gave each kid three paper cups as “props”, to replace the candled glasses that are normally used— two cups to hold with each hand, and one to balance on the head. The students sure spent a great deal of their time balancing the cup that they put on their heads, and it was funny how this led to them being a bit uncontrollable. I showed them a video of the dance prior to the actual teaching, so they knew how to use the three paper cups, as they have seen in the video. I then had to just instruct everyone to leave out that one cup to be put on the head, and to use just two cups for both hands, instead. I taught the basic swaying steps, and called on a girl whom I thought did it well to dance with me in front, as her classmates followed her. I gave her a prize for that :-).

Then the part I was most proud of. Along with the Philippine traditional dances, I have decided to also show to them some novelty dances in the Philippines, so I showed everyone the music video for the famous “Otso Otso” dance. I asked everyone to dance the famous moves for it, afterwards. They were sport enough to try it out with me, though I sure saw some kids who went a little uncomfortable with the idea, since it is a pretty hard dance to do. When it was time for me to choose the best dancer, I called on this fairly-browned girl at the back who was oh-so pro in dancing the “Otso-Otso”. As I have already thought, she’s half-Filipina and half-Korean. She was even way better than me.

And so as to make it even more memorable for my first class ever, how about a question from this handsome kid in front who have since been so active in making comments as I went along with my presentation? I remember him raising his hand just to tell me that he has drunk buko juice straight from its shell, which he said his family had bought from a supermarket here, and that it didn’t taste sweet for him. So to officially cap off my class for the day, he went on to ask, “Ate Ella, who is the president of the Philippines?” With it I said, “Her name is Gloria Macapagal Arroyo”. I made him say the name, to which he preferred to just smile and keep quiet ;-)

The warm cuddles from the students, especially the girls, as they approached me after class was the sweetest of all. Some asked me questions, some asked for my mobile number, some had their pictures with me taken from their mobile phone, while some plainly came up to me to give me a hug (which is the most memorable, really). I spent some minutes chatting with the Filipino kid in class and her classmates, and told her how I was so proud of her because she did well in dancing the “Otso-Otso”. Haha, way to go!




After the class, Ate YY and I ate lunch with Mr. Han, who had been busy taking the video of the whole lecture as we did our jobs earlier at the gym. It was very flattering to hear from the head teacher how he was very satisfied with what I did, to think that I was really having my first-time jitters, even seconds before I actually opened my mouth to talk in class. I gave Ate YY and Mr. Han my own small token of appreciation while on the table, and that pretty much loosened everything up in me. The early day has ended, and this by far, is one of the very few times when I felt like I did something so valuable and fulfilling. :-)

I'm now so excited about the succeeding invites to come!

(And here are some more pictures!!!)