Kindergarten Graduation 2011

A few weeks late, here is my post on the JungChul Kindergarten graduation of 2011. This time at graduation I had been with the kids for the entire year, so it was just a little more exciting and endearing for me to see the little angels (and the devils) celebrate another year passed.

As people should know who read my blog, the graduation ceremony involves some plays and some dance routines by the kids. This year musical preformances were also included, so everybody had the chance to enjoy dozens of kids playing ocarinas, xylophones, and castanets. Anyway, I'm just going to get straight to the photos, AND VIDEOS!!!

Here are all of the kids set for the musical numbers:

Kelsey got to MC (master of ceremonies) with a teacher named Evelyn:

Here is the Aries class performing. They first did the "No more monkeys jumping on the bed," which was super cute, and then topped it with this song about reaching for the sky or something:

As they were walking off the stage, the smallest girl in the class, Kelly, decided to stop behind and wave to everyone. It was incredibly cute:

Next came the Snow White play, and this is Jessica looking very beautiful as the witch in her dress:

A few of my favorite students, Jenny and Anna. Anna is Snow White:

I was allowed to watch from the audience in the beginning, but after 45 minutes or so my boss Jay asked me to help backstage. I of course said OK, knowing full well that there would be nothing for me to do back there but to take pictures of the kids. Anyway, I got a few nice photos, although I had to miss the rest of the show.

Here is Lucy, but my favorite part is Ella and Rex behind her with very bored looks. Part of me wonders if they really know how demeaning their costumes are:

The Polaris class did a very well choreographed dance to a K-pop song, which I missed. I did, however catch a rehearsal earlier that morning. I like the video even though Jay and a teacher walk in front of the camera at the end:

Here is Tiffany with the Aries class:

One of my favorite photos is Louis. I'm not sure what his costume is, but he was in the Pinocchio play:

Here is Tom, looking handsome as the prince from Cinderella:

And a shot of the two foreign teachers at our school, AKA me and Kels:

Well, once again graduation was very fun (way more fun that teaching anyway). I was glad while it was happening, but also very glad when it was over. We also didn't have to teach Kindergarten classes until about a week after that.

Keep on the lookout for another post with more photos of the kids from the ceremony!

Some Close-ups

Not much to say, just enjoy these photos:

Andra

Monica

Barbie

Noah

Gloria

Ben

Thomas

Cindy

Oops, don't know his name.

Kids in Costumes

So I promised that I would post again within a day or two of the last one, but I have a really good excuse this time. Tuesday I was super sick from this deep fried octopus tentacle that I ate, and then my internet was down for a day. I finally told my boss about it today at noon, went home, and a service guy was at my apartment by 1:15. That's what I call service.

That brings me to my post, which holds some of the overflow of great pictures I took during the graduation ceremony last week. I will go on the record of saying that Korean kids are the cutest in the world, and putting them in riduculous costumes definitely does not hurt. So, I present to you: Adorable Korean Children in Demeaning Costumes. Enjoy.

This little munchkin is now my student, but I cant remember his name. Just look at that costume.

Can't get enough of it.

Cindy lookin' great in a giant pink bowtie.

Joseph was really upset at this moment, but it made for a great picture.

Daisy dressed up as the fox from Pinocchio, dancing to a ridiculous K-pop song.

The Superman costumes were way overdone.

Donald lookin' great as a puppy.

Alyssa doesn't look like a wicked witch, does she?

Michael played Cinderella, and they found a great wig for him.

This kid Ryan makes a convincing girl.

Well, that's it, but I do plan to post again soon with more pictures of little kids, so I know you'll be back.

Graduation

And.....we're back. It's March, vacation time is over, let's get back to it. This first post is a great one, too. I promise.

Recently, my school held a graduation ceremony for all of our kindergarten students, which is about 50. This involved loads of preparation for the Korean kindergarten teachers, but luckily none for the 2 foreign ones, who continued class as usual. The Korean teachers had to help the students memorize speaches, teach dance numbers, and choreograph and practice plays for the students. A lot of work to do, but as I mentioned, I did none of it.

The work did pay off, the graduation ceremony started at 5 o'clock with handing out diplomas to all of the students. I got to read one of the diplomas in front of the audience, so I felt special to be involved.

Here is the background that the students performed in front of, pretty ridiculous. The students all had to stand still in the bleachers in front of their parents, and lets just say that these kids couldn't stand still for more than about 4 minutes.

Next, they had to recite some speach about seeds growing or something like that, it turned out OK.

The plays were a definite highlight of the night. They performed parts of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, and Beauty and the Beast. Here is most of the cast of Sleeping Beauty.

And the cast of Pinocchio:

This is Micheal, who performed as Cinderella. He did a really good job actually.

Interspersed within the plays were dance numbers. They performed pretty well choreographed moves with popular K-pop songs which turned out the be the most entertaining event of the night.

More students in dance costumes:

This is a cast of 6 year olds about to perform a song in notably skimpy outfits. They performed so well that the parents demanded and encore, so they performed the same exact song twice.

This one is my favorite class performing in superman costumes, which was really great.

It really turned out to be an entertaining night, and it was the last I got to see some of the kids who were moving away, quitting, etc. We also went out for dinner afterwards for Korean barbecue. Well, I took a lot of great pictures from the night, so I'm going to put up a few more posts with just kids in costumes, so check back soon.