Closer Than We Think

Busy times to be student

stmattern — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:31:42 +0000

For schools all over the world this is a busy time of the year. In America, students are taking finals and the semester is coming to an end. In Korea, the semester ends in February but right now Korean students, from elementary all the way to high school, are taking cumulative tests similar to finals.

The web site has slowed down a bit with the extra crunch on students, but 11 year old Sara Shin from Seoul Korea found time to write a quick, up lifting story to help get everyone by.

The story of An Apple

The apple was born.

But he was sad.

He was so sad.

“Ah, why I have to live here,

I wanna go out!”

The apple felt misfortune.

One day, he opened his ears.

Then, he opened his eyes.

Then, he opened his mind.

The individual apple looked at the other apples.

The happy voices made him happy.

He saw other apples.

The smile seems so happy.

He looked for another’s mind.

It looked so good.

One day, he fell from the tree.

The cold day stayed for a long time.

He waited, and waited until spring came.

Then, a flower came out.

Apple was a happy, looking flower.

Flower fall down, and an apple grew from the tree.

It was smiling.

Korea: My first few days

Mr. O — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:38:09 +0000

Things have been awesome so far. I’ve visited Seoul twice and I plan on going back a few more times this week. It’s about a 40 minute bus ride into downtown Seoul from Seth’s place but the transportation systems here make it very easy. I think I’ m going to visit a few palaces this afternoon after some shopping in Ilsan. Their shopping is very similar to ours with stores like Puma, Niketown, and the Gap. American clothing is very expensive here because they have to import it. Here are a few pictures of what I’ve been doing…

Seth teacher’s class, If you had four days in Korea, what would you do? please reply so I know what to do with the rest of my days…

Mr. O is in Korea!

Mr. O — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:59:12 +0000

So I just landed in Korea and everything went very smoothly. The flight took 12 hours and I was able to read a little of my book, work on some of my masters homework, and watch 4 movies. Singapore Airlines was very nice and eventhough I was in economy class I recieved 3 meals, unlimited drinks, and my very own entertainment center with movies, tv shows, and even video games.
The first thing I noticed after landing is that I was much bigger than everyone and everything is designed for a shorter type of person. A very close second realization is that the Korean culture is always in a hurry. After getting through customs I visited the currency exchange to get some
Korean Won. After handing over 100 precious American dollars the lady behind the glass handed me a pile of green bills that look like play money, a handful of coins, and of course a friendly Korean smile.
I am now waiting for Seth to emerge from the crowd of unfamiliar faces to lead me on an adventure of a lifetime.

Korea + 1 hour

Our First Video Post. This is a video of Korean 11 and 12 year olds discussing everyday life and interests as a student in South Korea.

stmattern — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:54:26 +0000

White Winter!

Mr. O — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:47:23 +0000

Blizzard today in Colorado and it’s not going to stop snowing until Thursday night. We are expecting up to 18″, that’s .5 meters! Schools are closed around most of the state and many people, including myself, are enjoying their day off.

My Dog Zeus

Snow!

American Foods: By Nikki Abeyta

Mr. O — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:47:27 +0000

Hi! My name is Nikki. I go to school at Vikan Middle School. I am in 7grade! In America we eat many different foods. On a daily basis we ate hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, and a lot of other yummy stuff!

Turkey Dinner

On Holidays we usually eat turkey, potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Everyone has their own way of celebrating

We also have annual barbecues where we usually eat hamburgers, hot dogs, potatoes salad, chips and dip, and all the fixings for hamburgers.

Hamburger and Fries

Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

For family dinners we usually eat things like meatloaf, steak, pastas, and other traditional items.

In America a lot of people are in a hurry so we usually eat fast foods like tacos, hamburgers, French fries, pizza and chicken! We get all this good food at places like Taco Bell, Burger King, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and KFC. America has a lot of fattening foods, but they are delicious!

Pizza!

Fries!

Americans have a very wide variety of food, we eat at least 3 meals a day and of course the occasional snack! We eat a lot of beef and pork! We eat a lot of grown things too, like fruits and vegetables. Our country is lucky to have plentiful amounts of such wonderful tasting foods.

Inside and around an American school.

Mr. O — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:48:26 +0000

Mr. Osbourn's Classroom

Science Lab

Library

Gym Class

Office

Front of Vikan Middle School

Baseball field behind school

School Cafeteria

Posting comments

stmattern — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:32:19 +0000

Please feel feel free to post comments to any content on this page. When posting you need to include your name and email address. And please leave the country your are from to make all a bit more fun. If you are a teacher or a student and would like to post content such as an essay or pictures, please email Mr. O or Seth Teacher for more information.

American culture has spread all over the world but many people around the world may not know much about Korea. Here is an article by Eric Won to get you started.

stmattern — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:32:36 +0000

By Eric Won
My country Korea has lots of strong good points. People in the United States or from around the may not know much about Korea. I want to introduce you several important things about Korea.
First, in Korea it is very important to respect elders. Our ancestors developed honorable words to use to elders. This means that age is important thing in Korean relationships. Even between twins, there is an order and a younger. The one who was born ahead is elder, so he or she is an elder brother or sister.
Second, there are thousands of academies in Korea. Most of them are for English, math, science, music or art. In Korea, when school is over, we go back home and take a rest little bit, and go to academies. A lot of Korean students go to academies for their study. We take lessons and do homework like in school. You may think we are going to one more schools. Personally, I love to go to academies. I’m writing this writing for my English academy. My class’s English teacher is Mr. Seth, who helped make this site.
Third, I’d like to introduce Korea’s capital city, Seoul. Seoul has lasted for more than 500 years as a capital city of The Joseon Dynasty. Seoul has old palaces of the Joseon Dynasty between modern buildings; two world heritages are among them. Can you imagine antique palaces spread in the modern city? I think it should be called ‘meeting of the modern and tradition’.
Forth, Korea has a long history, over 5000 years, and powerful energy in all of Korean’s minds. We had a great tragedy in the 1950, Korean War. When the war was over, almost everything in Korea was destroyed. With our powerful energy, Korea has made great economic growth. We are proud of this development. I believe we can use this energy all over the world.

Traditional Korean Food By Sarah Shin

stmattern — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:50:50 +0000

Hi! My name is Sarah Shin from Poly School academy, in the 4th grade. I’ll tell you about traditional Korean Food, and they are very special. Koreans always eat them on special days, so let me start.
First, it’s rice cake soup (설날). Korean eats them at New Years Day, called ‘Seul Nal’. When Koreans eat this soup they think they will become one year older!

Second, it’s songpyon(송편). It’s made by rice cake, steamed on layer of pine needles. Pine needles make songpyon taste better when you eat. We eat at Thanks giving day, called ‘Chuseok’(추석). We always put other things such as chestnut on there to make it taste better.

songpyon

Third, On the longest night of the year Koreans eat ‘Pat-Juk’(팥죽). Koreans eat it on Dong-ji. Dong-Ji (동지) is the day that has longest night of the year. Because it is the longest day of the year, it was believed that ghosts would be out longer. We think that ghosts hate the color red, so it is made from red-beans. Red beans taste so sweet. It’s most delicious when you use it in soup.

Pat-Juk