As many of you can well imagine, a certain sense of apprehension accompanies any instance of trips involving small children. Saturday’s field trip was no exception. We were lucky to only be in charge of 25 kids. There were three foreign teachers (Ed, Kurt, and myself), and three Korean teachers (Mina, Danny, and Judy), along with one of the head honchos, Mr. Kim. The bus ride to the Ganghwa Museum was a noisy one. I think they were playing car games similar to American ones. I say “think” because every word was in Korean. As for myself, I sat blissfully unaware in the back of the bus.

I love museums. I always have. I like learning new things and having the visuals there. I like seeing the dioramas and imagining myself at that time in history. None of that happened that day. I was too busy being paranoid about losing a child, so I counted like I had OCD. I didn’t learn anything, but I also didn’t lose any children. I’m trying to look at it as some sort of trade-off.

After the museum, we had a picnic of gimbap and fruit. As far as I know, no one spilled anything, which is a feat in and of itself. One of my kids did eat a bug though. Andy. The same one who kisses my hand and calls me Mama. He tried to give me a booger once too. Such a thoughtful child.

After lunch, we checked out the dolmen. Having not learned anything at the museum, I had to do a little research upon my return. Thanks Wikipedia!

The Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites are the location of hundreds of stone dolmen which were used as grave markers and for ritual purposes during the first millennium BCE when the Megalithic Culture was prominent on the Korean Peninsula. The sites were designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. Korea is said to contain more than 40% of the worlds dolmen, which are mostly concentrated in these three sites. [1].

The megalithic stones are invaluable because they mark the graves of the ruling elite. Pottery, comma-shaped jewels, bronzes, and other funerary artifacts have been excavated from these dolmen. The culture of the people during this time can be gleaned from the evidence left by the dolmen. Additionally, the stones show how stone was quarried, transported, and used to build dolmen.

Dolmen in Korea have been dated to the seventh century BCE in locations such as Gochang and the practice ended around the third century BCE. The dolmen culture is linked with the Neolithic and bronze cultures of Korea.

Excavation at the sites did not begin until 1965. Since, then multiple digs have been sponsored and an extensive program of inventory and preservation has been initiated by the Korean government.

Once we were done viewing the dolmen and having our photos taken, we headed off to a grassy area for the kids to sit and draw pictures of the dolmen. Once the kids finished their drawings, we got to play around. I actually raced two of the girls and came in second place. I felt so proud. As did my quads. They felt the pride the next day. I need to get in shape.

All in all, it was a good day. It’s nice to spend some time with the kids without yelling at them to finish their work. Even with the ones that eat bugs.

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I’m always either delighted or disappointed in the similarities I find within Korean and American culture. I’m specifically talking about the behavior of children. More specifically, the children’s eating habits.

If you should be feeling so generous as to provide snacks for your kids, do so with caution. It should be noted that your kids are in school ALL day, and they’re usually hungry. Many feel that telling you that they’re hungry will cause you to pull lots of snacks out of your pants. I don’t know about you, but I usually don’t keep snacks in my pants. I do however feel a surge of sympathy at those times, and I will feel compelled to spend some of my hard-earned cash on the little miscreants and purchase some candy or chips. This generally leads to regret, muttered curse words, and thoughts of flights back home.

In the aftermath of deliciousness, I usually find a collection of wrappers littering the floor. Usually, the sight would appear to tell a story of children who, in a fit of joy, threw their wrappers precisely in a spot inaccessible to the inflexible, such as myself. If the teacher is especially lucky, he or she will have the chance to touch something moist. As I’ve gotten to know my kids better, I know that there are some classes that just won’t get treats. Period. My youngest group is no longer allowed to have food, whether they brought it or not. One of them ruined it for everyone else by spilling a bottle of something that he wasn’t even consuming. And the lid was on it. No more food for those guys.

I can’t help but be reminded of days of my own childhood, when my teachers would provide snacks. My first thought is, “Surely, we never made messes like these!” Upon further introspection, I’m forced to confess that I often heard phrases like, “Clean up your trash!” and “If you don’t clean up, we can’t have treats like this.” While I may not remember making wrapper confetti messes in the classroom, nothing else would incite such desperate directives.

While part of me delights in finding that some things are universal, it also pains me to have to deal with it. These kids work hard all day, and you may feel compelled to reward them occasionally. If you should do so, be prepared to play custodian. Otherwise, do not feed the children.