Korea.: School Field Trip in Gyeongju

There are quite a lot of things happening this semester at school. A few weeks ago, I went on a school trip with the kids. Pretty much everyone in the school was there. It was a really fun and beautiful day!

It was so green!

School picture!

The first thing we did was hike up a mountain to see the seokguram grotto. It's a big Buddha statue that is a part of the Bulguksa temple in Gyeongju. It was added to the UNESCO's heritage list in 1995 so it's a popular site for most people visiting Gyeongju. I really enjoyed the hike with the luscious green trees. It really felt like spring with all the bloom of all the different flowers.

We then took the bus down to a picnic area and ate kimbap for lunch. The kimbap was really good! It's so interesting that Koreans are so prepared for all occasions. The students all had their little mat to sit on and their food was all neatly packed in nice lunch boxes. After lunch, we went to see Bulguksa ("sa" means temple in Korean). The temple is surprisingly really pretty with lots to see. After being in Korea for a while, you start to think everything (including historical sites) looks the same. My co-teacher and I left after that and I took the bus from Gyeongju back to Pohang.

my 2nd grade boys!

you can tell they're growing up; 5th grade

The students were also very excited to see me there! They were all surprised to see me and wanted to show me around. It made me so happy to see them outside of the classroom setting. I also got a chance to meet a lot of the parents (mainly moms). I was surprised to see so many parents because when I was little, my parents never went on any field trip with us (mainly because of work). I asked my co-teacher is it common for moms to stay at home. She said it used to be really common but it's starting to change now. I also teach in the countryside so I'm guessing most of their parents wouldn't have full-time, eight hours a day jobs like the parents in big cities.