International Week!

So last week at school was "International Week" at the Hyundai Foreign School. Monday was Korea day (no pictures) and Tuesday they had off from school for a Hyundai Holiday (?). On Wednesday, parents came in and set up tables with activities, crafts, or displays from their home countries. The kids got to go around to all the tables and learn about the different countries. Sasha is in the picture above with Akie (Ryota and Mizuki's mom) doing origami at the Japan table with some of her classmates.

The Denmark table was just all LEGOs. I thought that was cheating. The kids of course loved it!

Teddy's Kindy class came over from their little building and spent the morning at the big school taking part in all the fun. Here they are having their snack.

The New Zealanders taught the older kids a really cool Maori game where you chant something and then bump your sticks on the ground and then have to try to toss one of yours to your partner while they toss you one of theirs and you both have to catch them. It was fun to watch.

I was supposed to run the US table in the morning but I ended up being there all day. Zoe took this picture of me explaining the same thing for the millionth time that day. We had an American Girl timeline activity and a map of the US with famous landmarks (Disney world, Golden Gate Bridge, ect) and you had to try to put all 10 in the right places on the map.

Teddy and Ryota scored big time because Akie and I both had to run our tables in the afternoon, and Japan and the US were right next to each other so the boys just got to hang out.

Thursday (no pictures), some of the moms went into school to help make flag banners. The kids had colored in tons of flags and we strung them all together. Then the kids put together tables from items they had been making or collecting at school. We came in and helped our kids make their table since we had no one older than 2nd grade on team USA.

Friday was the big day. Everyone had to wear their national dress. This is where it's tough to be from the US. We don't have "traditional food" "traditional clothing" or "traditional crafts" ect. We can't even channel our personal heritage. I mean Sasha and Teddy are English, Scottish, Swedish, French, Polish, and Italian - what a pair of Mutts! So we decided to rock the Red, White and Blue!

Now I didn't bring any USA paraphernalia to Korea, not even flag T-Shirts because I figured no one over here wants to see a bunch of Americans sporting their flag all around so international day kind of caught me unawares. This ended up being our table. PS: I did NOT contribute the Magic Johnson poster OR the Hannah Montana sheet. It was a group effort and my policy is to try not to make young kids cry whenever possible so I just went with it:

There was no way I was going to make chocolate chip cookies for 300 people with no cookie sheets and no vanilla either so we ended up having Oreo's, Jello, Goldfish, Hershey's Kisses, pasta salad, dried cranberries and Brownies for our "American" foods to try. I know, I know, next year I will do SO much better. It's ON baby! (Anyone know where I can get a "Statue of Liberty" or an "Uncle Sam" costume?)

The French people had like 2 huge tables and all the Mom's baked. Their food was scrumptious!

So we all set up our tables on Thursday, put the food and the final touches together Friday morning. I got to do a walk-thru of the whole upstairs before all the kids hit which was great because there was 300 people at the main event - much too crowded for filming!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6GbMThrikg

We then went out to muster for the International Day Parade. This was the coolest thing ever! The kids had to gather at the cone with their flag on it and then when everyone was ready each country in turn got to parade around and then over a little stage while everyone cheered. So glad there are other Americans here now! My friend Aurora is a Korean American that ended up back in Korea as an expat! Her daughter Maddie is in year 2 at HFS. Here's Sasha and Maddie all ready to march:

 A few other families that could claim multiple nationalities decided to throw in their lot with us (who wouldn't?) Here's our whole USA gang:

Ingrid and Øyvind were the lone representatives from Norway. They looked adorable!

Same thing with Mizuki and Ryota representing Japan!

Crew from India - again I am jealous that we don't dress like them. Comfortable clothes all covered in Bling, FANTASTIC!

The crew from Croatia:

Here is the Aussies. Is it me or do they always look like they're having more fun than anyone else? Funniest thing, on the parade video clip listen closely as the parade begins. You'll hear the principal of the school, Mr. Dyson say "The Australians are going to go first so they're gonna set the standard. All's you have to do is watch them and copy what they do. This is for TODAY ONLY - not for general life things...." Hysterical! And no, it was NOT warm out. They're just hard-core....

Here is the group representing South Korea. The deal with the school is you can go there if you are a foreigner or if you are Korean but speak English. There are many Koreans in the area who traveled and worked in the US and who have children who were either born in the US or who have attended US schools. Some of them have elected to continue to educate their kids in English so that's why there are many Korean families at the school.

I made a video of the parade. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mk5h0FH7A4

After the parade we tried to get a group shot. Easier said than done with a million kids, flags, and parents all trying to get a picture too. I used my mad spidey skills and stood on the school fence to get this one:

Once the parade was finished everyone went to their tables and then we took turns being at the table or walking around to see/taste what everyone else brought in. Here's the US kids in front of their table:

Sasha is getting ready to dish out some goldfish to a friend from Nigeria:

All in all it was truly an amazing day. So many cultures coming together to celebrate the school and the kids and each other! I almost wish my kids were a little older so they could begin to appreciate what an amazing experience days like this are! I know they're absorbing it all though...