Four months later, Charlotte has finished Preschool. Hard to believe she has been going to school here in Pyeongtaek that long but she has done so well. We had some ups and downs along the way, but we are very proud of her.
The graduation ceremony really deserves that title. It was like a commencement at college graduation. There were songs, a speaker, each child went forward multiple times to be acknowledged. It lasted about 1 hour. Here are some highlights from the ceremony.
This is Charlotte's teacher. There are 3 but she is their main teacher. It was very evident throughout these 4 months that she loved Charlotte and Charlotte loved her. In fact, while walking home after graduation Charlotte just started to cry spontaneously. She doesn't even do this when we make her walk (every day), rather she just whines. But after a minute of sobbing, I finally got her to tell me what was going on; "It's just that I love my teacher so much and am really going to miss her." It was then my turn to cry. All I could do is give her a hug and let her know that I understand and that saying goodbye to people we love is never easy.
Here she is with the two other teachers. They were also very kind to her and frequently greeted me when I would pick her up in the afternoons. Very kind women.
I did not remember paying for these though Jari did, pricey but worth it. Here is Charlotte with her graduating class. I know what some are thinking - Fred, a graduating "class?" - this is preschool remember? Perhaps you are thinking about this movie clip (51 seconds to 1:00). I will say that I agreed with Bob Par until I went. It was pretty cool.
I mean, look at her! Cute as can be!
She seemed to be in her own world for a while but then when she finally caught eye of us ...
...her face lit up so bright! She was so proud and happy we were there.
Here she is with her friends
This is a clip of everyone singing the National Anthem of South Korea. If you listen close you can hear all the kids singing along with them.
Charlotte is on stage about to receive her graduation certificate.
Bowing to the principle. I wish I had a picture of his fancy pink tie. It did not match his suit/shirt at all but it was flashy. Koreans love flashy.
Returning with the goods.
Here is Hazel as she practices bowing to the principal.
And Zachary was just ready to move.
And here is Charlotte and the kids singing some songs for everyone. She did learn a bunch of songs at school that she continues to sing. When I ask her what the songs mean she says, "Umm... I don't really know" but she sings them all the same. In fact she taught Hazel part of Santa Claus is Coming to Town. It is really funny to hear a little girl sing in a language she does not know, as taught by her 5-year-old sister who likewise does not really speak the language. Images of A Christmas Story may pop in your mind, "Tis the season to be jaw-we, fa ra ra ra ra...."
We were really happy to support her, and Hazel was happy to go see the balloons.
This is one of her best friends, Yedini (Yeah-De-Knee). Her mother is on the right in the next picture.
This is Rain, another one of Charlotte's friends. She was invited over for her birthday if you scroll back through the blog you will see her again.
The siblings. I imagine we will be taking this photo again in 13 more years at high school graduation. I wonder what they will look like/be like then?
Dad and daughter.
Charlotte not only received a diploma of sorts but several gifts from the teachers. Really cool.
We are really happy she had this opportunity. I remember in December when we were ready to pull her out of the school out of fear the other kids were excluding her. Charlotte reported to us that the other kids would talk about her and she felt bad. Then Jari sat down with the teacher and a friend who could interpret and we discovered that all the kids loved her. They did talk about her but in endearing ways. The teachers showed that her penmanship in Korean was better than most adults. It became clear that Charlotte just had a big misperception of others' feelings. In the end, we are glad we kept her there and have since decided to keep her in the school for kindergarten rather than enrolling her on base with the other Americans. Looking forward to seeing what else she learns.
Comments
High five!