Today was group 5-8’s day to teach our first Social and Emotional Learning lesson “Secrets of my body language”. The children came into the lesson hyped up on S’mores and mac and cheese, which was perfect for leading a calming lesson (sarcasm). 

​Yavelee and Venessa kicked the lesson off with a story to get the kids settled in and ready to learn about how body language is connected to our emotions. 

​Melissa and Emily did mystery mail. The children were given envelopes with pictures of emotions, and they described how the body reacts to each emotion. 

​Jared and Juli did the figurines and photo prop. A child stands in the photo prop demonstrating an emotion with their body language and the children are to guess the emotion. Pictured below is Samuel demonstrating…… SADNESS! 

​Kyle and I lead a group yoga session to finish the lesson with calming yoga moves to help the children settle their big emotions (and marshmallow/ chocolate sugar high) through movement, stretching, and breathing. 

​After the lesson I got a yummy beef bulgogi bibimbap dinner and a much-needed manicure pedicure. Today was a good day! 

​XOXO,
Laura 

We went to the building where students who will teach kindergarten-aged children study. First, we were taken to a classroom and paired up with a few Korean students to form small teams. The first activity was a small lunch gathering. Although I forgot to take a photo, there were croissant sandwiches with ham, fruits like pineapple, Korean rolls reminiscent of sushi, fried chicken, and kimchi. This was our first opportunity to talk with the Korean students about our favorite foods and daily lives.
After lunch, we moved to another location and continued with our activities in the same groups: Our group made bookmarks, created tools for traditional Korean games, and actually played these games. While making the tools, we talked about why we chose our respective majors, and through playing the traditional games, we felt like we grew closer. Other groups did calligraphy, made lanterns, painted, and seemed to be having a great time as well. Some students spent the rest of the day having dinner near the school with their Korean counterparts. I also met up with them again on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, to play more traditional outdoor games, had dinner, and went to karaoke together.

~ George

​​Our Saturday morning began early as we prepared for our final day of prep week, starting with a teaching session at 10:30 am. Today's theme involved having the Korean students create welcome packages filled with personalized handwritten notes, self-portraits, favorite snacks, games, and friendship bracelets for their soon-to-arrive American peers.

We started off the session by having the students draw on the welcome bags. The room filled up with an atmosphere of creativity as the students meticulously decorated their bags. Each student showcasing their artistic persona with their unique and detailed art.

​While the students were busy decorating, Vanessa called each student one-by-one to take Polaroid pictures of themselves. As each student finished their photo, we introduced the next activity: making friendship bracelets for the American students. We explained the process and asked them to select beads while keeping this a secret from those who hadn’t had their turn (for photos) yet.

​The students eagerly assembled the bracelets, ensuring one had the letters “FOX” for the American students and another with “USA” for the Korean students to keep.

Next, we moved on to writing welcoming messages on alligator memo pads, symbolizing our SFSU mascot, Allie the alligator. For the final step, we included a selection of snacks voted by the students, along with a traditional cookie called “Yakgwa” and a traditional Korean game. We ended our lesson with a lot of excitement, as the Korean students couldn't wait to meet their peers all the way from America!

After the lesson, some of us decided to head to Fox Cafe to work on our assignments. While I was there, I had a refreshing drink and a croffle, croissant batter made in the shape of a waffle. The treat was perfect after our busy morning.

Once our assignments were completed, Cameron, Kyle, Vanessa, and I decided to head to the
nearby Shinsegae Art & Science mall. The usual 15-minute walk took a bit longer due to the
rain, but the slower pace and the rhythmic pattern of rain made it a serene walk to the mall. For dinner, we explored the mall's food court. There were a plethora of options from various cuisines to choose from. After much deliberation, I decided on a popular Korean street food, Tteokbokki, a dish of chewy rice cakes and fish cakes coated in a spicy red sauce. We ended our evening by shopping for some cute stickers at Artbox and some clothes.

~Emily

​Today, I went to the Sung Shim Dang Bakery to grab some pastries for breakfast, then walked over to Fox Edu to work with my group on the SEL lessons to prepare for Day 2. During the meeting, we discussed how we wanted to plan each lesson and which partners would be doing each activity, and we went over each lesson plan to practice for Wednesday. 

​Since today was our rest day, I returned to the hotel to finish homework, had shrimp and pork dumplings for lunch at the dumpling shop near Paik's Coffee, and read over my book lesson for Wednesday, "A Little Spot of Anger." Then we went to the Shinsegae Mall, shopped around, and found a Lego store with many new Lego sets I wanted to buy back in the US, including a Lego of a Japanese Temple. Then we went to a Kkumdori Kkumsuni store and put pictures of our character drawings on the wall.

We then decided to go to Sports Monster. Sports Monster is an indoor sports gym where you can do a lot of fun sports activities. Cameron and Jared went last year, so they wanted to go again this year, which was such a cool place. We all went on an inside obstacle course, which was a cool but really scary adventure course where we had to zipline across the gym and move our way through obstacle courses. I was hesitant to go at first, but I wanted to try to do everything while in Korea, so I decided to do it. it was also scary because even though we had safety equipment, there were some parts of the course that didn't have a net on the bottom. They had a baseball and bowing section, which was great because I loved batting practice when I was younger, and there was also a tennis section and a basketball section where you could play with 2 people. We also did archery and a shooting range, which was a lot of fun, and it was my first time ever doing archery. Overall, it was a really good rest day. We relaxed and went to Sports Monster, which was fun, hanging out with everyone.


​~Kyle

​​​​From San Francisco State we came to FoxEDU where their mascot is a fox, and so we wanted to introduce our mascot Ali the Alligator to FoxEDU. We started the day off prepping our lesson with separating eggs, cutting stickers, and creating a "get to know me" blackout bingo game. ​​For encouragement we put on alligator temporary tattoos to represent our school and team work.

​​Later in the day we started our lesson with the students and played a guessing game with our names. The students did a good job remembering our names and facts. However, to bond  even more with the students, we played the blackout bingo game with the students. The students went around the room filling out the bingo sheet with their classmates and teachers.  ​ 

​As we finished bingo we had the students gather together to sit in a circle to discuss the bingo sheet. We shared facts about each other like our birthdays and favorite activities. We were able to learn so much about each other! 

Then, we closed the circle time to transition to helping Ali the alligator find their eggs by preparing the eggs with letters, stickers, drawings, and origamis. They filled up the eggs with their goodies for their new American friends. This is in preparation for a scavenger hunt the students will be doing with the American students. We finished up by collecting the eggs and cleaned up with the students. To close off, we ended the day with the game Spot It.

~Melissa

​After we stayed in this area for a bit, we ended up hailing a taxi and going over to Daejeon Jungang Market where we dropped off Hannah at a cafe so she could finish up some homework and the rest of us went to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant that Cameron picked out. I ended up getting some pork with rice and egg as well as some spring rolls to share which was all super delicious! After we finished eating, we decided to walk around the market as we waited for Hannah to finish up at the cafe. The Jungang Market was so long, it felt like it could go on forever! Whenever we decided to take a left or a right turn, there was a whole other section like a giant maze. It was amazing getting to see all of the different items each vendor was selling from shoes and fabrics to fish and fruit. 

​Once Hannah finished up her homework, we all went and did some underground shopping at the Jungang Underground Shopping Mall. This is another place that went on what felt like forever. I didn't buy too much stuff here, but some items did catch my eye that I definitely have to come back for. Hannah did buy me a really pretty bracelet I was eyeing as an early birthday present which I was really grateful for even if my birthday isn't for another two months! We also found some funny shirts in English as well as a fun photo booth place where all seven of us squeezed together for some pictures. Once we got further and further down this mall, we decided to finally go up to the surface since we never truly did find the ending.

Our group walked for about 10 minutes until we got to Sky Road, Daejeon’s central shopping area. The saying, shop 'til you drop, definitely had this place in mind because I did just that! Not only did I shop and then shop some more, I also ate my favorite snack here in Korea, Tanghulu. I think with how much sugar I consumed from eating the Tanghulu, it encouraged me to shop even more! I was able to get a few new bags, some sandals, stickers, a Hello Kitty scale for my bathroom, and much more stuff that I will definitely have to ship back to myself. Hannah and I ended up venturing off a bit while looking for my sandals and ended up finding a laundry-inspired photobooth which turned out to be my favorite yet! When Hannah and I went back to the group, Santana ended up meeting us around this time as well, which I was excited about since I hadn't seen her for a few days! We even ended up running into Professor Paik, Professor Duh, and Professor Rodriguez, who were doing their own shopping adventures. It was really fun getting to talk to them and hear what their plans were for that night as well.

While we were still at Sky Road, we ended up meeting two of the Woosong University students that Cameron and Jared knew from last year's program. Their names are Chaerin and Jihyeon. Right after meeting them, we all went out to dinner together at an Italian restaurant where I got Aglio e Olio which helped my craving for pasta! After we finished up our meals and learned more about each other, we headed to a photobooth to capture this memory then to a karaoke place, where I originally planned to not sing at all and just watch since I have always been too nervous to sing in front of others. It wasn't until someone put on One Direction that I decided that I wanted to join. After this song, all my nerves went away, and I ended up singing so many songs. I thought my voice was going to go away! I even ended up getting a perfect score of 100 when singing One Thing by One Direction with Hannah for half the song and Jared for the rest, which I was really happy about! Two hours of karaoke later, we finally ended the night and said our goodbyes as we went back to the hotel to sleep. Having fun with my friends and meeting new people helped me forget about being homesick for the night, which allowed me to have probably the most fun day I have had in Daejeon yet!

​Here is a bonus of one of my favorite moments of the day when all of us took a group picture when the camera was showing us all projected onto the top of the LED canopy structure!

​~Presley

​Today was the second day of teaching, but the first for eight of us. We spent the morning preparing and practicing our lesson in front of our professors and classmates. We got lots of great feedback and suggestions, and everyone was super helpful! That's when it started to feel real for me. For the first few days, there were lots of free time to go out, eat, and have fun, but once we had our morning practice run I had truly remembered our purpose for being in Korea. I began to feel nervous about teaching the children for the first time but was also getting super excited to meet them, learn about who they are, and for the day's lesson.

After we had lunch provided by the FOX staff (so kind of them!!!), we had a little bit of time to relax, mentally prepare, and make our final preparations for the lesson. A couple group members went out to purchase last-minute items and the rest of us stayed back to practice our lesson a few more times. There were lots of last-minute changes that occurred regarding attendance--and by last minute, I mean almost to the VERY last minute! But despite that challenge, our team was able to work together and come up with quick solutions.

​At last, the time to teach came and the students started coming in one by one. I had anticipated this moment for a long time and I was feeling all the nerves of what would and could happen in the next two hours. We started off the lesson by introducing ourselves and our favorite American snacks, then had the students take their turn to introduce themselves and their favorite Korean snacks. We then split off into two separate groups to head off to Daejeon's famous bakery--Sung Shim Dang--or to the convenience store--CU. In teams, they picked out their favorite pastries and snacks to vote on and share with the American students who will be arriving next week. We created this lesson with the objectives of teamwork, understanding the impact of group decisions, and learning to recognize our differences in our opinions.

​Once we got back, the taste tests and voting began. We began with the snacks from CU. Our supporting team passed out a sample of each snack for the students to try, and once they were ready, they cast their votes along with all the teachers in the room! We then moved onto the items from the bakery. Our first item was a spicy hot dog that we didn't realize would be as spicy as it was! All the students took their bite and looked like they were enjoying it, but one by one the spice started to hit. Our supporting teachers had to make trips to refill the water bottle for them to cool off before moving onto the next items. Surprisingly enough, especially after their reactions, the spicy hot dog had quite a few more votes than I had thought! After we finished all our taste tests, we had quite some time left. That gave us the opportunity to find out our favorite activities in Daejeon. There was a big group discussion about what activities to choose, and we ended up casting our votes between playing soccer, watching a baseball game, and playing hide-and-seek. We still had a few more minutes left before our lesson time ended, so we spent the rest of our time decorating the final posters. Overall, the lesson ended up going well and it looked like the children had lots of fun!

After we finished our clean-up and debrief, we had the rest of the evening free. Cameron and I had prepared vegetables a couple days ago to eat hot pot, and we finally found the chance to cook our own dinner! We had lots of fun cooking and eating together. I really enjoyed being able to eat a homemade meal and sit around our table to talk and laugh with one another. Being able to wind down and have a chill night in our room was a really nice way to end our super busy day.

I want to take the time to thank everyone who supported our group with this first lesson! We couldn't have made it work without the help of Danica and the FOX staff, our professors, the students from Busan National University of Education, and our supporting teachers. Now that I've finally been able to teach the students, I'm so excited to see what the rest of our service-learning has to offer!

~Hannah

Tuesday was the first day we got to meet the kids. We started the morning by collectively going to FOX EDU. We all took the five-minute walk to FOX and set up in the lab room. The nerves were high for group one (Ariyha, Katelyn, Santana, George) and group three (Laura, Melissa, Jared, Noah), since we were the ones teaching. Our first order of business was to celebrate Ariyha’s birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ariyha!!!)

Next, group one ran through their “all about me” lesson with group three's support. We acted out our plan as the rest of the students and professors pretended to be the children. After a few run, throughs, and some feedback, it was time for lunch. FOX EDU treated groups one and three a lovely lunch in the cafeteria at FOX. Thank you Ann!

After more practice (and caffeine) it was finally time to meet the kids. Groups one and three met the professors in the lobby of the hotel at 3:15 and we went back to FOX. We did ten more minutes of prep and then it was go time. As soon as we saw the kids, all our nerves went away. The kids were so cute, sweet, and eager to do the lesson plan. We started by introducing our “all about me” papers to let them get to know us better.

Once we presented a bit about ourselves, we tested the kid’s memory to see if they could remember which sheet belonged to which teacher.  They had amazing memories. Next it was their turn to fill out their all about me pages. As they colored in their papers, we asked them questions, related to them, and told them about the new American friends that will be joining us at FOX next week. We told them how the “all about me” papers are a good way for not only us to get to know each other, but a good way to introduce ourselves to our new American friends.

Once the “all about me” pages were filled out and discussed, we got our sillies out with a freeze dance and read a story about friendship. We had a successful day one with the children and we are all ready for our American friends to join us.

XOXO, Laura

Today was a pretty chill day because we were all exhausted from our day trip from Seoul yesterday, so we all slept in or at least tried to. Unfortunately, me and Laura got woken up because housekeeping came in to our room around 8:30 am to clean, and so that woke us up and we were not able to go back to sleep. So then we just had some breakfast and did some homework and watched some Netflix. We relaxed all morning, and then around 2 pm I decided to start getting ready for our group meeting at 3:30 where we spoke about how our Seoul trip was and about the upcoming week where we will be preparing different activities to get to know the Korean children and welcome the American children that will be arriving next week. Then, I got together with my group so we could make sure that we had everything prepared for Wednesday when we helped group 2 prepare their activity and complete our activity on Friday. After our meeting, some of the girls decided to get some dinner so we went to a cute little restaurant where we had some fried squid as well as some stir fry that also had squid and pork. It was good, but it was honestly not my favorite because it was really spicy and I don't really like spicy food. After that Santana came up with the great idea to go watch Inside Out 2, so we all came back to the hotel to freshen up and then we went to the Shinsegae Mall, where the theater was located, to watch the movie. It was such a great movie, and it was nice that we can relate it to the SEL lessons that we will be doing next week.

~Yavelee