On the kids’ two-day Mid-Winter Break, we went for a second trip to Baltimore. This time, Mika brought her Korean flash cards and -homework along, and Halmoni took a look at her writing. The kids were as lively as last time, playing various pillow games and many, many rounds of hide and seek with Harabogi. On the second day, we celebrated Great Uncle’s birthday with a lavish lunch at his house (Halmoni, his sister, did a lot of the cooking). Even at a small family gathering like this one, it is so nice to see Great Grandmother healthy and happy, surrounded by three generations of her children. Mika and Tobin got a bit restless though, and happily went outside to play with the dog.
Tobin’s class went on a field trip to the local post office in Red Hook. They walked all the way, learned a lot, but the most prized possession after the trip was the free “forever” stamp each kid was given. Tobin knew exactly whom to use it for and wrote this card all by himself. HAW R U, BRUNO? Hope the two cheetahs and the race car made it over safely and we can have a play date soon!
Yesterday, the kids played with a few leftover snow bricks. There were not nearly enough bricks to build an igloo, but in their minds, everything is possible. Today, nothing in the world could have motivate them to go sledding – they were determined to “finish the igloo”. So we went back to Pier 5 again, prepared with instant brick making tools: four large food containers, one for each family member. Unfortunately, somebody had already destroyed yesterday’s structure, so we had to start from scratch. To make a brick, one has to fill the container with a huge surplus of snow, then push the lid down to compact the mound into the shape of the actual container. Pop it out and repeat. It took us well under an hour to build our snow fort, but the bricks were a bit too dry and crumbly to attempt a closed igloo shape. The kids had a blast nonetheless, playing “Eskimo House” and fighting us in an epic snowball battle. They were no match for Sung though, who took out Mika with a ball precisely thrown into the little gap she was peeking out of. Tough love.
While other areas in the North East got pummeled with up to 40+ inches (1 Meter+) of snow last night, New York City measured only about 10 inches (25 cm). It was just the right amount for Winter fun, but not enough to put a wrench into the city’s infrastructure. Happy New Year of the Snake, everybody!
As snowstorm (blizzard?) Nemo approaches, everybody is getting cozy over here. Especially these two. The first picture was taken early in the morning, before school. The last pictures were taken at bedtime. This cat certainly gets more hugs than she ever asked for…
In our circle of public school friends are quite a few mixed Korean families. Almost all of the kids are not too familiar with the language though – especially those, whose mothers are non-Korean or second generation Korean-American. A few weeks ago at pickup, i noticed that two of Mika’s best friends are attending a casual Korean after school group that is run by a native Korean mother of another class mate. At the spur of the moment, i decided that it would be a great thing to try and now both Mika and Tobin are going to Korean class every Thursday. Mika’s big kid group is mostly about reading and writing, and building up basic vocabulary. She has a lot of catching up to do as her vocabulary is almost non-existent (hence the flash cards). Once a month, they do a cooking or craft activity instead, which is a lot of fun. In Tobin’s group, all the little brothers of the big girls come together with a few more 4 to 5-year olds. They sing, do crafts and games, but have a few small writing exercises as well. As you can see, Tobin can now write his own name in Korean, and the word for “hat”, which illustrates his origami figure. He even brought home a CD with children’s songs … * here is the first track:
[audio:http://www.minitosu.com/audio/BrooklynKoreanPlaygroup_01.mp3] 안녕 (Hello) Song
Dear Halmoni,
Happy Birthday and warmest wishes from all of us in Brooklyn! We hope you have a great day, and wish you all the best for the next year. Talk to you in the morning!
xoxo Tobin, Mika, Sung, and Ninja
Friday’s “snow storm” left a mere dusting on our block, but the kids were just as excited as if we had been hit by a blizzard. They insisted on going “sledding” after dinner. I am glad we did, because there was not much left the next morning…
Friday’s play date turned into a science session: Mika and Zoe had persuaded their science teacher to let them take owl pellets home for further examination. Our living room table got turned into their makeshift lab, and Tobin was graciously invited to participate. The three of them patiently dissected all the little bones from their compacted fur/feather surroundings. Quietest play date in a very long time!
Tobin and our super sitter Björn took playing with blocks to new heights – they kept Mika company during her afternoon homework and used up every single wooden block available. Happy (and tired) builders all around.
I have been delinquent in updating this blog, but at least our guys’ passport pictures are ready to go. (Yes, one of them refused to shave and the other one needs a hair cut)
We spent the days between X-mas and New Years in Baltimore with Sung’s family. The kids had a great time and ramped up the crazy a few notches. Their new, favorite games involved two couches in the living room: either they were rolling/sliding down the back, slamming onto each other, or they were playing “who could steal the most pillows from each other”. Both games had to be played at high speed, while constantly screaming at the top of their lungs. Harabogi, with nerves of steel and impressive reflexes, made sure nobody cracked their skull open on the glass coffee table. A few, quieter moments were spent taking inventory of Uncle Joe’s model cars, and chasing the last remains of snow outside the house. And yes, we built a German style gingerbread house, which the kids proudly showed off to their great- grandmother.