Summer (oops! Spring!) in Seoul

The weather today in Seoul was absolutely fabulous, and I would be happy if it didn't get any warmer here... ever! I walked to school in a t-shirt and wished that I had worn shorts. (I didn't even bring shorts with me, what was I thinking?) The best (worst) part of all of this is that it's only the beginning of April, and that means that I am going to be truly uncomfortable during the months of May, June, July, August and September. Newfoundland barely has 5 weeks of semi-summer. What was I thinking of coming to a place where real summer lasts full-blown for 5 months?!? Yikes! Hopefully my body will adapt quickly. On the plus side though summer at the beginning of April means that we have some beautiful flowers blossoming right now.

Virtually over the past few days, trees have gone from barren to green in some cases, and to just filled to the brim with blooms in others. It really is absolutely breath taking. Especially for a city where the air quality is so poor! I was amazed to find today on my way to school that in spite of the general poor air quality and omnipresent large-city-odour that the fragrance of flowers hung heavy in the air, quite literally. Like it was warning me of just how hot and sticky this summer is going to be :) There is a chance I may melt before I make it home. Aagghhh! I did take some pretty fabulous pictures though which I will post tomorrow when I get home from school.

There are plans in the works to take in a cherry blossom festival this weekend on an island in Seoul called Yeouido that I'm pretty pumped about. The city has really been coming to life over the past few days and even my walk to school has some breathtaking moments. Suffice to say, there will be many pictures. There must be millions of flowers in bloom in Seoul right now if you include all the cherry blossoms, the tulips, azaleas, forsythia, pansies... you name it, it seems to be beautiful in Seoul right now. (Including me of course! But as you know... I'm always beautiful. :P )

On a completely unrelated note, I've been doing a fair bit of research over the past few days to see if I can't make my classes a little more interesting for the kids, and I was wondering if any of you out there happened to have any ideas, especially those that don't involve game that are only for the sake of entertainment. I like to play games with my kids, but I run less of a risk of getting in trouble with the higher-ups if they are actually clever learning activities disguised as games, which is what I'm really hankering for. Also, suggestions on how to help the kids really feel accountable for the work that they do, so that their sense of pride over a job well done kicks in. I've found a few ideas of my own, and online, but any and all help is always appreciated!