My first outing with the children (both Gemini and Aries class) was today. We visited Bear Tree park. This place is very true to the name for there are both plenty of trees as well as bears. It was quite an amazing park from what I got to see when I wasn't counting the kids (that statement makes me laugh... I'm officially a teacher.. doing head counts!), giving them water and pushing them back in line. The park had a beautiful botanical garden, a lot of different trees and forested areas, a few different caged animals and a huge cage of bears. The cage of bears was a little sad and inhumane in this heat... tons of bears were basically crammed together in a box with some circus looking equipment to play with. We were all tired, sweat dripping down our faces; I can only imagine the bears suffered the same.

I rode the bus to Bear Tree Park with one of my classes (Aries) but I still got to spend time with Gemini class as well. I had snack with Gemini class. They brought snack from home because it was a special field trip. Man, did they bring a lot. It was so sweet seeing how well they shared snack. They even gave me a little bit of everything ( I ended up with an orange, a few pieces of candy, a chocolate from China, a few little cookies and chips). Each kid passed out one cookie or candy or chip to everyone in the class. It was so nice. The concept of sharing with these students is well understood, appreciated and practiced. Then, I personally lead Aries class through the park, but since I am also coteacher for Gemini, we basically lumped the two classes as one and went around the park. They were all very well behaved. The only issue was at the end they got a little burned out and grumpy because of the heat (towards the end they got so grumpy they would still throw up a peace sign but with such disdain that the peace sign turned out looking like limp little bunny ears instead). I didn't lose any children and no one was hurt so big success. I very much enjoyed being able to be their buddy that took them to the park instead of their teacher that yells at them about doing the Treasures workbook and sitting down and being quiet and ... the endless list. I know they enjoyed that aspect of today. Then we ventured back to SLP by bus. On the bus, a few of the little boys in Aries (Denny (the only boy in Aries that has a little soft spot for me), Jeff and Tom) took my phone and wrote something in Korean (which is a big deal at SLP... NO KOREAN! ) on it and were giggly the rest of the day... I still don't know what those mischevious little dudes wrote.  Speaking of Aries boys, Daniel, the one I think has it out for me, didnt want to wear his hat today and let me wear it all day. That small gesture made me feel like I had a tiny break through with him. I'll hold my tounge... he has plenty of other headbands and accessories of mine he can break.

I'm reading "Life of Pi" at the moment. It's by Yann Martel. The setting is in India for the most part... an Indian family travelling to Canada when their boat sinks and only one 16 year old Indian boy still alive, out on the ocean, fending for himself. It's beautifully written and an easy read. I suggest it to anyone looking for a good book.