Our field trip was a short 15-minute drive from the school at the Catholic Education Centre in Busan, named "Aloysius" after a founding priest, as far as I could tell from the old photos and information at the site. The Sisters of Mary operate a daycare and other child education facilities as well as public gardens and a small cafe. There were other rooms at the center for hosting events such as musical concerts and other functions. All in all, it was an impressive facility perched high up on one of Busan's many steep hills, which we had to climb by foot from the parking lot below.
The teachers were divided into two groups, those who signed up for the "pizza-making" session and those who chose the "gardening" session. Can you guess which of the two I chose? Well, that doesn't matter because I wasn't given a choice at all. My co-teacher signed me up for the gardening class.
When we first arrived, we were given a very brief tour of the indoor greenhouse and then we were guided past the pizza-making group who were standing around a large brick oven. We enjoyed a view from the outdoor gardens that are used by local families and groups for growing vegetables. Then we landed in a workshop where we were to assemble a small potted plant which we got to take home. The pizza-making group's departing gift was a personal pizza for each person.
Our potted plant assembly lesson was taught by a man and an old but bubbly nun who were very excited about plants. I couldn't understand the presentation or instructions, but the nun took an interest in me and did her best to explain everything in her broken English.
The process was fairly simple. Fill our pot with dirt, choose a couple of plants, arrange them stylistically, decorate the surrounding dirt with little trinkets and volcanic rocks from Jeju island, and use the glue gun to stick some cutesy character ornaments on the rocks. We then covered the remaining dirt with pleasing white stones. We inserted a small wooden sign in the dirt to mark the date of our botanical creation. I received a small plastic bag to carry the plant home, where I put it next to my TV. Who needs pizza anyway?
The teachers gathered in the coffee shop for a beverage that we had pre-ordered at the school. My co-teacher and I both had iced coffee. Trying to be nice, I got up from the table and grabbed two straws from the counter, and brought them back for the teacher and I. Instead, my teacher didn't drink her coffee. She carried it out with her and returned the straw to the counter, which I'm still puzzled by.
On the ride home, I learned that the nuns used to operate a middle school, high school, and dormitory at that site for orphans. However, due to financial limitations, they had to close the school. The orphans were sent throughout the city to regular public schools where they often were subjected to discrimination from the other children. I learned of this on the same day I heard that Elon Musk had made $36 billion dollars in a single day.
It was a fun day even though pretty much none of the teachers spoke to me. I got a kick out of the nun, especially when she insisted on tying my apron for the gardening class and then whispered, "Fit? Yes!"
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