Salsa Party!

Thank you everyone for making the Salsa party a night to remember!!! It was an absolute pleasure for me to MC the party and see firsthand the energy & fun spirited nature of the students as they danced the night away.

The students were initially a little shy, but once the music and teacher’s warmed them up the party took a life of its own. We had Salsa & Merengue music to which the students practiced the steps they learned, and the games competition which consisted of students in teams competing against each other for the most points to win prizes for that team.

Complimenting the party was a professional guest dancer & former Korea Salsa champion, Basara, who helped liven up the party with her improvised lessons and our impromptu performance so the students could see how salsa is danced at many of the salsa clubs in Seoul.

The student’s energy carried the night forward as they competed in a series of fun games to see which team could score the most points to win prizes. Games ranging from smashing Pinatas, a food relay race, and dance offs (among others), made for quite a showcase as the teams competed for the top spot. The dance offs were a pleasure to judge as some of the students went wild with their dancing prowess; it was full of laughs to say the least!

The night ended with some intense dancing to see who the best social dancers were, and I have to commend all that participated as there was some fantastic energy on display. It was really hard to choose the winners, so thanks for all that participated!

The party couldn’t have been a success without the preparation and assistance of all the teachers involved in helping setup the gym, assist in judging the competitions, dancing with the students, and livening up the party with their presence. A big thank you to all of you!! It was very much appreciated!

And of course, a party isn’t a party without party people, and the students definitely had this area covered! Thank you so much for bringing all that energy to the party and making it so memorable! You made the party what it was!

I’m looking forward to seeing you guys on campus. Don’t forget what you learned and keep on practicing that basic step…. 123, 567! ^.~



-Salsa Sam

President Song's Visit

Arts and Crafts.

Students engaged in separate three arts and craft sessions in the afternoon. Specifically, using balloons and papier-mâché (strips of wet newspaper), they first created shapes over the balloons. When these were dry later, they then painted and decorated them, using a variety of bright and colorful materials provided. There was no set decorative theme for these shapes, so students were free to express their individuality and creativity. Shapes included hearts and regular balloon shapes, the latter which were then decorated as a variety of faces, fruits, animals and festive shapes. The hearts were used to decorate the stage for Salsa Night. These were all empty, so the regular shapes were then filled with small candies and finally, on Salsa Night, students could use these as piñatas (a particularly South American type of celebration). As one of the fun activities, the piñatas were hung from above, selected students were blindfolded and then tried to strike and open these piñatas using a long stick. The candies then fell out and were shared by all students. Students designed and made the costumes for the Final Performance, from raw materials provided by camp staff. This also demonstrated their originality and great creativity. In these art and craft sessions, some students also made personal face masks, which were later decorated and then used at the Salsa party. It was an interesting and memorable event that also showed students an exotic cultural event, related to salsa, which they had themselves created.

Sunday Conversation.

Every Sunday after returning to camp, students and teacher gather together to chat about the weekend for one hour before lights out. This open conversation time is a great way to jump start our English for the week.

Happy Birthday!

A very happy birthday to; Sol, Joonkyu, Minhee, Taewoong, Gaeun, Sungho, Minkyung, Mirim, and Soonji!!!!

They all had birthdays in January and spent their most important day of the year with us!

*^^*