Korean Preschool

Anyone who has read this blog from the beginning knows I was heart-broken to withdraw Tobin from his adorable preschool in Alexandria, Virginia after attending for only 3 months. One of my biggest concerns about moving here was finding a nice preschool for him where he could meet other kids his age and do fun things to supplement whatever he does at home with me. He's a social butterfly and really needs and craves friendship. I didn't know what to expect in Korea so I tried to do some research while we were still in the US. The trouble is, when you type "preschool Pyeongtaek" in Google it doesn't come up with anything really helpful in English and the rest is in Korean. I joined a few Facebook pages for Pyeongtaek and Camp Humphreys and started asking questions. This being a small community, there aren't many options. From what I can tell, the options are the Child Development Center (CDC) on post, Korean elementary schools that have a Pre-K class, or Kids Land, a Korean/English preschool in town. A lot of people love the CDC but others say its basically daycare until they start Kindergarten. I like the fact that he would be with English-speaking peers, but I also feel like he'd be missing out on a great opportunity to learn some Korean at the prime time in his life to pick up another language.
I also wanted to check out the Korean Pre-K option at the local elementary school so I showed up last Monday to find unlocked doors but dark, empty hallways. I didn't see anyone but figured we could take the opportunity to walk through quickly and check it out. It was really cold but looked like a normal (for Korea) school with classrooms on either side of the hallway. I heard voices and found an office. Even though school was apparently not in session that day, there were a few ladies in the office, none of whom spoke any English. They called a young man to come down and help interpret but his English was really limited - far better than my Korean which is ZERO -but still limited. I know another American woman whose son goes there and she likes it, but I didn't like the fact that I can't get any information about the place. It's straight up KOREAN. My sweet boy has just been through a move to a foreign country, losing his friends and school, adjusting to a new home and a different town, so I don't know if I also want to throw him into a place where he won't understand anything, at least for several weeks/months. This option would definitely be the fastest way for him to learn Korean, and heaven knows I could use an interpreter, but I think it would be hard on him. He'd probably be ok and adjust, but I'm more concerned with him being happy and having fun than making him learn the language. 
So, the third option is Kids Land. Lame name, but its a Korean school that a lot of American kids attend because its just down the street from the Army base. Several parents had only good things to say about it on the Facebook pages. It's where Korean kids go to learn English, but as far as I know only two of the teachers there can speak it fluently, so I'm not sure how well that works out. 

I know. It looks weird. Kind of like half carnival-fun-house/half asylum.

This is it.

I made an appointment for a tour last week and met with an English speaking teacher. It turns out he was actually born and raised in Arizona with Korean parents and decided to move to Korea with his family and help run this school. He would be one of Toby's teachers, speaking fluent English and Korean. His 4-year old son goes there, too. It's really nice that I can talk to him about it with no language barrier. We chatted in his office, then he gave us this tour...

Entrance from the shoe room

First floor

Some of his future classmates having their morning yogurt.

Up to the second floor

Cute little portraits in their typical very-decorated way

Second floor

One of the classrooms

They celebrate each month's birthdays once a month on the third floor with a party for everyone.

I think its cute how they set it up so neatly. Notice the sushi rolls for preschoolers! As if!

This is the kitchen where they make healthy Korean food for lunch each day. One of the things on the menu that day was seaweed soup because it was the birthday party day. Seaweed soup is given to kids because its so healthy. Good thing Toby likes weeds from the sea!

I liked the school and the fact that we can pay month to month in case it doesn't work out and Marc was up for it, so we filled out the papers. I think we'll have him start with 3 days a week to see how he likes it. We were told to bring slippers, crayons, 3 boxes of tissue, 3 packs of baby wipes, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a bathroom cup. The school gave us a back pack, a lunch tray and a uniform for field trips and special event days. 

He'll bring the lunch tray home for me to wash each day

My little schoolboy

He LOVES dressing up

Of course Jonah had to try it on in his own way.

We showed up on Tuesday for his first day. We toured around again to let him see the whole place. We met a little American boy in his class. He clung to me like a baby koala! He was not having any of it. Hmm. I don't want him to have a bad school experience so I wasn't go to make him stay. Even the yogurt, his favorite food, wasn't enough to convince him. He said he would want to come back tomorrow. So we went home.
That night we got several inches of snow. There is a slight incline to get out of the neighborhood, but I figured Linda, being an SUV, would have no problem. But as soon as I hit the incline her wheels were spinning. I've driven in snow maybe once so I was a little freaked out. An American neighbor saw me and gave me a few suggestions, but none of them worked. Finally, he got in the car and tried himself and couldn't get any traction. This wasn't looking good and then I thought about how I would get back home with another incline on the way back. It wasn't worth getting stuck or sliding around so we backed up and parked in front of the house. When I told Toby we weren't going to school he sobbed for about 10 minutes. This was unexpected considering his death-grip on my leg the day before. Anyway, he had a snow-day before he even started school.
Thankfully, we didn't get anymore snow last night, but it is TWELVE degrees outside with wind, so we set off for his real first day today and he seemed very excited.

Shoes come off, slippers go on before entering the school.

Snoopy slippers from Lotte Mart

He walked right in, took his coat off, kissed me goodbye and sat down with his cup of yogurt. Happy as can be! And his teacher was so sweet and welcoming to him.

Here he is not even noticing me.

I felt really happy that he was happy and comfortable so I took off to run errands with Jonah. Our first load of household goods showed up. Yippee! So I started unloading that which will probably take three days, but I'm so glad its here. A few hours later we went back to get Toby and found him smiling and happy and wearing a crown.

A successful first day!

I asked him what he did today and he said he listened to his teacher.
Me: Was she speaking English or Korean?
T: Korean.
Me: Did you understand her?
T: No. 
Well, at least he was listening. I have no doubt he'll learn a lot of Korean from his teacher and classmates which is pretty exciting. Hopefully he'll make some new friends, too!