Once Upon a Tiger

First Draft Script

2010-01-06T17:33:00.000Z

First full script: So here it is...the whole play for the first time. It is obviously quite a long thing to read on a blog, so if anyone needs a copy to print off, email Peter WW and I will send you the document.

Characters

Charlotte, an old lady. [previously a young girl] Grumpy and angry, and everyone thinks she is a witch. She lives in a little house outside the village. She is very nervous about the outside world, and especially children. She reads the newspapers all the time and is frightened by them. She has forgotten everything about when she was young.

Young Hee, a young girl, brave and fearless. She is very musical, and loves to sing and dance. Scientific – she has a smartphone which does everything – and she is always taking photos and calculating. She is very committed to saving the planet. She doesn’t speak much, but when she does she speaks korean.

Andy Sherbert. A young boy. Very cautious. A lover of nature, and of pizza. He wears pink ear-muffs. He loves stories, and has a vivid imagination, which sometimes makes him frightened.

The Bad-singing Squirrel. Lives in the hollow of the old old tree. Sings badly. Has lived for ever in the same tree without getting older.

The Tiger Rug, previously the tiger. Was friendly with Charlotte when he was a cub, and she was a little girl, and saved all of the people of the village during the war. He was then saved in turn by Charlotte, although in the end she failed to prevent his death. Now that he is a tiger rug, he is still watching out for her, although she has forgotten all of this.

Mr Figglehorn the hunter. He is a self-made man who is very ambitious. He wants to rule everything and everywhere. He wants fame fast, and believes he will get it by killing the tiger.

The soldier, from the next village. He is a soldier from the next village.

Scene One

[Countryside in a country which could be England, could be Korea. There is a little house in the background. A very old tree further forward. There is a pretty kite stuck in the tree.]

[It is cold. Winter. A little dark.]

[Voices off]

Andy Sherbet: Where did it go?

Young Hee: [All her lines are in Korean] This way.

Andy: We can’t go that way. Young Hee. The witch’s house!

[Young Hee and Andy arrive in the auditorium. He is scared of going towards the stage. They are looking for something. They talk with members of the audience, introducing themselves to audience as they go.]

Andy: Excuse me. Did you see a kite coming this way? The string broke. It’s a beautiful kite. Red and Yellow and Blue. Have you seen it? Sorry. Sorry about this. Just looking for our kite.

[Eventually the kite is spotted, in the tree on stage]

Oh no. Not up there.

Young Hee: Andy. Throw the stick. Knock it down.

Andy: What?

[Young Hee calculates some angles]

Young Hee: The stick. Andy. [She demonstrates her plan] If you throw it right, and hit at an angle of maybe 60 degrees, then you will knock the kite in such a way, it will fly in this direction.

[He throws his stick towards the kite, but misses by miles]

Andy: Missed!

Young Hee: Idiot! We will have to go and get it.

Andy: We can’t go in there.

Young Hee: Andy!

Andy: I am not going in there, Young Hee. The witch.

Young Hee: Coward.

[Eventually they arrive on stage. The atmosphere is magical in some way, although they respond differently to the magic. Young Hee is exploring. Andy is very scared, and she keeps having to drag him. She clearly loves the place. She dances around in it. He is less sure]

Andy: Stop doing that will you! Get the kite, and let’s go.

[Young Hee tries to reach the kite, but cannot. Then she gets interested in the tree.]

Young Hee: It is so old. Gomoknamu.

Andy: I don’t care that it is old, Young Hee. Just get my kite. Have you forgotten, this is the witch’s house. She will get us. She is lurking somewhere, with her spells…

Young Hee: Look, Andy. Look at this.

Andy: What is it?

Young Hee: It’s an old stone. With writing.

Andy: An old stone, with writing? What does it say?

[Young Hee gets paper and wax from her bag, and starts to make a copy ‘brass-rubbing’ - style, of the stone. Andy is frustrated by her getting ‘distracted’]

Young Hee? What are you doing? I am sure she is here. She will point her horrible crooked finger at me, and turn me into a frog. I hate frogs…..

Young Hee, please. The kite, remember?

What is it? Well, what does it say?

[She hands over the paper]

[reading] ‘Once upon a tiger, when the old people were still young…’

What is that supposed to mean? And what’s this? I can’t read that. What does it say?

Young Hee: ‘Horang, horang, horang’

Andy: What does that mean?

[She doesn’t say. There is a low growling noise. They are unnerved]

Forget about it, Young Hee. Quick. The kite.

[They try again to reach the kite, but just as Young Hee is getting close, the squirrel makes a noise and she jumps back and hides. Andy is already hiding]

Young Hee: Aaah! Andy? Where are you? Andy? Perhaps there is a witch. [in English] Witch? Witch?

[She goes, the squirrel appears.]

Squirrel: What? A witch? I am not a witch. What? Very strange……I could have sworn I heard children…hmmm. What is that noise? Over there? No, over there? Must be imagining it. Hmm.

What’s this? What a beautiful kite. I wonder if it works.

[She flies the kite down towards the audience]

Oh my goodness what am I doing? Is that the time? 7.00am already. It is time for my morning song. Here we go…..

[The squirrel sets up and plays some beautiful music, then starts to sing along, very badly.]

Charlotte: [off] Children? Can I hear children? Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!

[The squirrel sings on. Charlotte arrives]

Where are they? Oi. It’s you. Shutupshutupshutup!

[The squirrel stops singing]

I know you are out there somewhere, children. Which of you is it? I have the pictures from the papers. Every one. [She has lots of newspaper cuttings] I know you all want to mug me, or tie me up and steal everything, so don’t think I am not prepared. You know how much I hate children.

It is just you, is it, squirrel? You and your terrible singing. Well, keep it quiet. I am trying to get a lie-in in there. What have you got there? That’s very pretty.

[She reaches up and takes the kite.]

Have you been stealing, squirrel? Tut tut. I think I had better take that. If there were any children, you would tell me, wouldn’t you?

[The squirrel nods. Charlotte goes back into the house. The squirrel watches her and then goes back into the hole in the tree]

Squirrel: [To audience, as she goes] My singing isn’t terrible, is it?

Scene Two

[It is Charlotte’s room, a strange attic room with shelves and a fireplace, and an assortment of odds and ends. There are many newspapers. Security is high.]

[Charlotte comes in with the kite. She puts it down, sorts some things out. Checking her security measures, cameras and locks etc, muttering about children. She goes back to sleep in her chair (offstage?)]

[The children come in.]

Andy: I don’t like it. It is horrible.

Young Hee: [Indicating her phone] It is OK. I have jammed the alarm.

Andy: Yes I know you fixed the burglar alarm, but look at this place. It is weird. She must be here somewhere.

[The children explore the room. It is full of strange things.

[There is a tiger rug. Andy jumps back]

Andy: Look it’s a tiger.

Young Hee: Don’t be stupid…it is not real.

Andy: It is real. It’s just dead. That’s all. Don’t step on it!

Young Hee: It is just the skin from a dead tiger. So bad, to kill an endangered species. Poor tiger.

Andy: What are you saying? Horang? You said that before or something… What’s she got a dead tiger in here for, Young Hee? It must be for spells. She uses it to do spells in here.

Young Hee: She isn’t a witch. She is just an old lady.

Andy: She is definitely a witch. I am hungry, Young Hee. Have you got any pizza?

Young Hee: Idiot.

[They continue looking around, finding things. Young Hee discovers some musical instruments, which she takes and places on the rug. They collect a number of things they turn out to need later]

Andy: [Pretending to cast spells on Young Hee.] Eye of a dog. Squashed dead frog. The head of a tiger. Turn Young Hee into a spider!

Young Hee: Stop it. I am investigating.

Andy: I need a wand. This will do.

A good magic word. What was that again, that it said on the stone?

Give me the parchment. This is what you were saying before, Young Hee. ‘Horang’. Horang horang horang.

[There is a crash, and a flash, and the growling noise…then they hear a voice]

Tiger Rug: Horang horang horang…

Andy: Where is that coming from?

It’s the tiger…the tiger. I told you he was -

Tiger Rug: Horang horang horang…at last after so many years, someone has spoken the special words, and I am woken…

[The tiger rug roars again, and then speaks, and the children are transfixed]

So many years of silence, of lying here on Charlotte’s floor. Oh my goodness I am stiff.

Andy: [Tentatively] Tiger….

Tiger: Grrr… You have a question for me?

Andy: Who is Charlotte?

Tiger Rug: You are in her house.

Andy: Oh, the witch!

Tiger: She is an old lady now, but she was not always like that. No no no. I knew her when she was the same age as you. Charlotte was a sweet sweet girl. Oh yes. That is so many many years ago.

[He starts to get all nostalgic, and loses the track of the story]

Young Hee: Excuse me..

[Young Hee looks at Andy, and nudges him]

Andy: Er, Tiger, your Clawness, …Mr Rug… How did you come to be here?

Tiger: Ah, well, that is quite a long story. A story which has not yet got an ending. It has been waiting…waiting. And now it must be told. I ended up as a rug here, because I was killed by a hunter, and it is that ending which we have to change.

Andy: OK, well, if you are going to tell a long story, we had better be going home..

Tiger: Oh no. You are part of this story, Andy, and your friend too, Miss Young Hee.

Andy: How do you know our –

Tiger: You are part of the story. You said the magic words for a reason. You have to find out the way the story begins, and take it through to its proper ending. You have been chosen. My job is to take you to that beginning. Oh yes…

Once upon a tiger, when the old people were still young…not so far away from this very place. Before she forgot everything and it all went wrong…Oh no!

[He stops suddenly and goes back to being a rug]

What? What, tiger?

[Young Hee has heard the same noise that disturbed the tiger. It is Charlotte. She arrives now]

[Charlotte comes in. She catches them.]

Charlotte: Don’t move. I knew it. Children. How did you get in here? Never mind that.. What are you doing here?

Andy: We came to ….find our…kite..

Charlotte: You think I am an idiot? You came to steal everything. You came to kill me. I know what you are like.

Andy: You have never met us.

Charlotte: I know what all of you are like. Stay there.

Andy: What are you going to do to us? Will you turn us into frogs? Please don’t. I don’t want to be a frog. Turn Young Hee into a frog. She likes hopping. Make me a…

Charlotte: Shut up! I have not decided what I will do with you. But you cannot go anywhere. So I have time to think. Stay there.

[She leaves the room]

Young Hee: Quick! On the tiger!

Andy: What?

[She bundles him onto the rug.]

Young Hee: Horang horang horang.

[It lifts up into the air.]

Scene Three

[Somehow, magically they are flying through the air, riding on the tiger rug. Andy doesn’t immediately realise that this is quite scary]

Andy: How did that happen? We got away! I was just getting ready to be changed, and I open my eyes, and we have escaped….

Young Hee: Look out, Andy. We are very high in the air.

Andy: What did the tiger rug mean? When the old people were still young? It’s the same as it said on the stone.

Young Hee: Don’t look down. I think you will be scared.

[He is still wondering what the tiger meant. Young Hee is looking down and getting scared. Eventually she gets him to realise what is happening.]

Andy: What does he mean, she forgot? Maybe there was a time when everybody was – what… I am just saying when everybody was aaagh! Look, we are right up in the air!

Young Hee: Yes. That is what I was saying…..

[They hold onto each other]

[Voyage sequence to be worked on when we know how we are doing it! The tiger rug flies past a number of places…a volcano, a treasure Island, a desert, a ninja penguin. There are pockets in the tiger rug, for food – pizza.]

Andy: I’m hot. It is very warm for the winter up here.

Young Hee: Yes. Not winter [she is calculating again, and muttering]

Winter, autumn, summer, spring…

Andy: Winter, then autumn, then summer, then spring. It is cold again now.

Young Hee: Time. It is going backwards.

Andy: Time is going backwards, what do you mean?

Tiger: She is quite right. I am taking you back in time, to the beginning of the story.

Andy: Back in time?

Tiger: Here we are.. You may recognise the place.

Young Hee: The old tree.

Tiger: The old tree. This was where I first met Charlotte.

Young Hee: Is that her? It’s a young girl.

Tiger: Like I said, we have gone back to the very beginning.

Young Hee: Ah yes, of course. Temporal displacement narration.

Tiger: This is where I drop you off. I can’t tell you any more than this. Watch and learn. The whole village is depending on you.

Andy: What is going to happen to us?

Tiger: I can’t tell you that. I will drop you here. Just watch and you should find out everything you need to know. But you know, if you need me, you know the words now…. Off you get.

[The children are dropped off the rug, and they go off. ]

Scene Four

[By the old old tree. Charlotte is playing there, but she is a young girl now. She is putting down food for the tiger.]

Charlotte: Squirrel? Are you there? It is me, Lotty. I have come to visit the most important tree in the village. Are you there?

[The squirrel pops up]

Squirrel: Lotty. Lotty. Lotty.

Charlotte: I brought you something. To help you looking after your most important tree.

[They play together. Then Charlotte calls out ‘horang, horang, horang’]

[The tiger arrives. The squirrel starts to shake]

You shouldn’t be scared of him Squirrel. He is not much more than a cub. Tiger. Come here. Come on.

[She tempts the tiger close, with food]

This is squirrel. My friend. She is fine, you don’t need to be scared of each other. She guards this tree, which is the most important and oldest tree in the village. We have played here for years. It is the tree of dreams. If anything happened to the tree, they say the village would be destroyed. She is an important squirrel, and she is my friend too. She sings very badly though. Squirrel?

[But she has gone]

[Charlotte keeps her distance, but drops food which the tiger grabs. They play with each other. Then there is music, and it builds into a playful dance.]

[When the tiger finally goes, the two children show themselves. Charlotte jumps back.]

Young Hee: Wow, that was fantastic.

[She is taking photos on her phone]

Charlotte: Who…who are you?

Andy: Don’t be frightened. We are friends. We are from another…another…

Young Hee: Village!

Andy: Village. We are from another village. I am Andy. Andy Sherbet

Young Hee: And I am Young Hee.

Charlotte: How do you do? I am Charlotte. People call me Lotty.

Andy: Do your parents let you just come here on your own?

Charlotte: Parents?

Andy: What? I mean, parents. Mum and dad. Grown ups.

Charlotte: What are grown-ups?

[Andy and Young Hee look at each other]

Andy: Once upon a tiger, when the old people were still young. Maybe there are no grown ups. No old people. NO OLD PEOPLE.

Charlotte: What are old people? You are funny.

Andy: No grown-ups. All children. Imagine that Young Hee. What do you do all the time, Charlotte?

Charlotte: We play. We explore. We dance.

Young Hee: I love dancing.

Andy: Isn’t it dangerous? I mean no grown-ups to tell you what you shouldn’t do. To keep you safe.

Young Hee: Listen

[She starts to play some music. Charlotte likes it. She dances. Young Hee joins her. They sing and dance together. Andy joins in eventually]

Charlotte: It is good to meet you. I have to go.

Andy: Why? No parents to tell you to get home.

Charlotte: I have to get back to my house, before it gets dark. I know that all on my own. Don’t you need to get back to your village?

Andy: Oh yes, of course we do.

[Charlotte laughs, and goes off]

Wow. It is hard to believe that is the same person who grew up to be a witch.

Young Hee: Not a witch. [She is making notes, and calculating things] Horang horang horang.

Andy: I wonder what happened.

[They get back on the tiger and take off again]

Scene Five

Andy: Thank you tiger, that was great. It must have been amazing, a world full of children and animals only. Are you taking us home now?

Tiger: Oh no. That is just the start. The happy time before any of this started, when I was just a cub. We are going to go on a few years now. Hold on tight.

Young Hee: That must have been, I estimate, 70 years ago.

Andy: That was a strange time.

Tiger: [As they fly] You were right about grown-ups. That’s what happened. Where it all started to go wrong. I will drop you again, only this time you must really watch out, because there is danger.

Andy: Danger?

Tiger: It is complicated to explain. When the children began to grow up they started to have the problems of the grown-up world. Hold on, I said!

[They go off to land]

[Back at the tree. Charlotte has come to talk to the squirrel]

Charlotte: Squirrel! Are you there?

Squirrel: Yes?

Charlotte: Thank goodness. You will have to go.

Squirrel: What are you talking about?

Charlotte: Escape. Run away. The soldiers are coming.

Squirrel: Soldiers?

Charlotte: They are going to chop down the tree. The tree of dreams.

Squirrel: They can’t. Why?

Charlotte: I don’t really even know, Squirrel, but they are coming soon. The soldiers from the other village. Figglehorn was talking all about them. They are evil. They eat squirrels there I heard. And they hate us. They have heard that if the Tree of Dreams is cut down, the village will be destroyed, and that is what they are going to do. Everyone has run away. It is the end of our village, squirrel.

Squirrel: I don’t understand. Why?

Charlotte: There isn’t time for this. Anyway, I don’t know, really. There was an argument last week.

Squirrel: What about?

Charlotte: No idea, I think someone was saying something bad about someone else, and then it got bigger and bigger, and they started to fight. Now they say they are going to kill us all. You have to run away.

Squirrel: It sounds like a very silly thing to argue about –

Charlotte: Squirrel! You have to escape.

Squirrel: Can’t I just go to sleep for a few months?

Charlotte: Quickly. They will chop down the tree.

[The squirrel reluctantly goes. Charlotte waits nervously. After a few false alarms she hears someone coming and she hides]

[A soldier arrives with an axe.]

Soldier: I have found it. Here, this is the tree that they use for their ceremonies. This must be where they hang babies up on the branches. I am going to chop the tree down, and their village will be destroyed!

[He is preparing to chop the tree down. Charlotte jumps out. ]

Charlotte: Stop!

Soldier: Out of the way. I know what you people are like. I am going to stop you once and for all.

[He pushes Charlotte out of the way, and gets ready again to attack the tree. There is a loud growling sound and then suddenly the tiger arrives. There is a big fight, and the soldier runs away.]

[The squirrel comes back, and then Charlotte]

Charlotte: Tiger, tiger. Thank you. You saved my life.

Squirrel: More than that, he saved the Tree of Dreams.

Charlotte: He saved the whole village. I must stop everyone from leaving, and ` tell them the good news.

[She goes]

Scene Six

[Tiger is talking to the children, although we don’t necessarily see them!]

Tiger: They were so happy. That is when they made the stone that you found. There were stories told about me. The brave and fearless tiger. The kind tiger. I was a legend.

But even then. After I saved the village, there was a bigger problem, from inside the village. One of the children who grew up, had become a hunter. He was called Mr Figglehorn.

[Mr Figglehorn appears]

He was big and strong, he had a gun, but he was not happy. He believed that he should be rich and famous. He wasn’t happy just to hunt to get food for his family. He wanted to be rich and famous, and he thought the way to be rich and famous was to kill the tiger. Figglehorn.

Figglehorn: Mr Figglehorn to you. I am going to be the greatest hunter that ever lived. When I kill the tiger that lives in these parts, I will be the richest and most famous tiger that ever lived. Fame and fortune for Figglehorn. Probably they won’t even call me Figglehorn, I will just be ‘Figs’ and they will worship me.

[He conceals himself until the tiger comes, then he leaps out]

Aha. Tiger! You think you are strong? You think you are brave? How about this!

[He is trying to kill the tiger. The tiger manages to avoid being hit. Charlotte and Young Hee make a noise]

What was that?

[He spins around, and hits out at Charlotte. The tiger goes for him again, and he turns once more. He aims at her, and she comes out. He is very angry. He turns his attention to chasing Charlotte, and he is about to attack them when the tiger comes out again to protect them. But this time he is hit. Wounded]

Young Hee: The tiger! He has hit him!

[Young Hee has found a weapon of some kind, and they manage to corner Mr Figglehorn between them.]

Mr Figglehorn: Not the cliff, no not the cliff….aaaagh

[He falls to his death]

[Young Hee and Charlotte return to the tiger, but it is too late. He is dead]

[Charlotte is crying. Young Hee conforts her. Andy comes out from hiding]

Andy: Is he…?

[Young Hee nods]

Charlotte: Poor brave tiger. I will never forget you.

[Young Hee and Andy exchange a look.]

Andy: No, we must not forget him. We have to remember all of this. How the tiger saved the village. How the children saved the tiger.

Young Hee: [English] I have something for you, Lotty.

[She gives her the phone, showing her how to look at all of the pictures]

Andy: Look at it often. If you remember what happened here, then you can keep telling the story. That way, no more tigers will die.

Young Hee: …and the trees, the trees.

Andy: Yes, and the trees will be safe too. And perhaps you can remember how once upon a tiger, when the old people were still young…this place was happy, because of the children.

Charlotte: As if I would ever forget that! Thank you.

[She skips off]

[Andy and Young Hee look at each other, pleased. Job well done, time to go home. Then they realise that they have a problem. No Tiger]

[They go back to the dead tiger, and look closely]

Andy: What do we do now?

Young Hee: Tiger.

Andy: We are stuck here. Once upon a tiger. For ever. No family. No friends.

Young Hee: [Whispering] Horang horang horang

Andy: No TV. No Pizza.

Young Hee: Andy. Help me.

Together: Horang horang horang.

[The tiger ‘wakes up’]

Tiger: Oooh, that stings. Aaah that’s better.

Andy: We thought you were dead. Charlotte still thinks you are dead. Let’s try and catch her –

Tiger: No no no. This is just what is supposed to happen . The plan has worked, thanks to you two. Well mostly you [to Young Hee]

Andy: What?

Tiger: Well, before, when I died, Charlotte kept hold of me, and made me into the rug on her floor. Then as you know she grew old, and bitter and angry, and forgot all about the way things were. Now, she will come back here, our friend the squirrel will tell her that he saw me coming round, and running off into the wild. For a few weeks she will come here hoping to see me, but then she will realise that I have gone back out into the wild with all of the other tigers. She will grow up happy that she has played her part with the other children, in saving me, the tree and the village. You understand?

Young Hee: I understand

Andy: I think so. So now you will run off?

Tiger: Well, first of all, I thought you might want a lift.

[They climb on the tiger and fly off]

Scene Seven

[The tiger rug drops them back at Charlotte’s house, and then disappears]

Andy: It looks different. I guess it is like he said - we have changed the way things happened. She won’t be horrible any more, because we –

[Charlotte comes in, angrily]

Charlotte: What are you doing in my house? How dare you –

Andy: Then again, perhaps nothing has changed….

Charlotte: Wait a minute. I remember…it can’t be. But you are no older than you were…. Andy. Young Hee.

Don’t look so surprised. Of course. It’s me, Charlotte. Remember?

Young Hee: Charlotte, of course…..

[They smile at each other, remembering. Then slowly, Young Hee begins the dance they did. Charlotte, gradually joins in. They dance]

[After the dance, they are all laughing together. ]

Charlotte: I have some photos somewhere, I look at them every now and then. That was how I recognised you…oh my word…

[She finds the phone that Young Hee gave her]

Andy: Where is the …rug?

Charlotte: Oh I am sorry, yes. I keep meaning to get a rug for there. Oh it is good to see you. Let me get you something .. Oh I must tell Squirrel about this. He will be so excited.. Pizza, you like, don’t you, I remember….

[They dance]

End

Some of the script...

2009-12-31T16:24:00.000Z

I have been trying to write the script in between Christmas things and holiday things...so it is slow slow slow still.

Anyway, just to show that it is arriving, and also so that you can see some emerging ideas and comment on them..here is the current state of the first scene or so. ANY THOUGHTS???

Once Upon a Tiger

Characters

Charlotte, an old lady. [previously a young girl] Grumpy and angry, and everyone thinks she is a witch. She lives in a little house outside the village. She is very nervous about the outside world, and especially children. She reads the newspapers all the time and is frightened by them. She has forgotten everything about when she was young.

Young Hee, a young girl, brave and fearless. Musical. Scientific – she has a gismo or gismos for everything, and will calculate everything. She is very committed to saving the planet and sustainable living. She doesn’t speak much, but when she does she speaks korean.

Andy Sherbert. A young boy. Very cautious. A lover of nature, and of pizza. He wears pink ear-muffs.

The Bad-singing Squirrel. Lives in the hollow of the old old tree.

The Tiger Rug, previously the tiger. Was friendly with Charlotte when he was a cub, and she was a little girl, and saved all of the people of the village during the war. He was then saved in turn by Charlotte, although in the end she failed to prevent his death. Now that he is a tiger rug, he is still watching out for her, although she has forgotten all of this.

Mr Finglehorn the hunter. He is a self-made man who is very ambitious. He wants to rule everything and everywhere. He wants fame fast, and believes he will get it by killing the tiger.

The people of the village.

The soldiers.

Scene One

[There is a little house in the background. A very old tree further forward. There is a pretty kite stuck in the tree.]

[It is cold. Winter. A little dark.]

[Voices off]

Andy Sherbet: Where did it go?

Young Hee: [All her lines are in Korean] This way.

Andy: We can’t go that way. Young Hee. The witch’s house!

[Young Hee and Andy arrive in the auditorium. He is scared of going towards the stage. They are looking for something. They talk with members of the audience.]

Andy: Excuse me. Did you see a kite coming this way? The string broke. It’s a beautiful kite. Red and Yellow and Blue. Have you seen it. Sorry. Sorry about this. Just looking for our kite.

[Eventually the kite is spotted, in the tree on stage]

Oh no. Not up there.

Young Hee: Andy. Throw the stick. Knock it down.

Andy: What?

[Young Hee calculates some angles]

Young Hee: The stick. Andy. [She demonstrates her plan] If you throw it right, and hit at an angle of maybe 60 degrees, then you will knock the kite in such a way, it will fly in this direction.

[He throws his stick towards the kite, but misses by miles]

Andy: Missed!

Young Hee: Idiot! We will have to go and get it.

Andy: We can’t go in there.

Young Hee: Andy!

Andy: I am not going in there, Young Hee. The witch.

Young Hee: Coward.

[Eventually they arrive on stage. Young Hee is exploring. Andy is very scared, and she keeps having to drag him. She clearly loves the place. She dances around in it. He is less sure]

Andy: Stop doing that will you! Get the kite, and let’s go.

[Young Hee tries to reach the kite, but cannot. Then she gets interested in the tree.]

Young Hee: It is so old. Gomoknamu.

Andy: I don’t care that it is old, Young Hee. Just get my kite. Have you forgotten, this is the witch’s house. She will get us.

Young Hee: Look, Andy. Look at this.

Andy: What is it?

Young Hee: It’s an old stone. With writing.

Andy: An old stone, with writing? What does it say?

[Young Hee gets paper and wax from her bag, and starts to make a copy ‘brass-rubbing’ - style, of the stone. Andy is frustrated by her getting ‘distracted’]

Young Hee? What are you doing? The kite, remember? What is it? Well, what does it say?

[She hands over the paper]

[reading] ‘Once upon a tiger, when the old people were still young…’

What is that supposed to mean? And what’s this? I can’t read that. What does it say?

Young Hee: ‘Horang, horang, horang’

Andy: What does that mean?

[There is a low growling noise. They are unnerved]

Forget about it, Young Hee. Come on. The kite.

[They try again to reach the kite, but just as Young Hee is getting close, the squirrel makes a noise and she jumps back and hides. Andy is already hiding]

Young Hee: Aaah! Andy? Where are you? Andy?

[She goes, the squirrel appears.]

Squirrel: What? What? Very strange……I could have sworn I heard children…hmmm. What is that noise? Over there? No, over there? Must be imagining it. Hmm.

What’s this? What a beautiful kite. I wonder if it works.

[She flies the kite down towards the audience]

Oh my goodness what am I doing? Is that the time? 7.00am already. It is time for my morning song. Here we go…..

[The squirrel sets up and plays some beautiful music, then starts to sing along, very badly.]

Charlotte: [off] Children? Can I hear children? Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!

[The squirrel sings on. Charlotte arrives]

Where are they? Oi. It’s you. Shutupshutupshutup!

[The squirrel stops singing]

I know you are out there somewhere, children. Which of you is it? I have the pictures from the papers. Every one. [She has lots of newspaper cuttings] I know you all want to mug me, or tie me up and steal everything, so don’t think I am not prepared. You know how much I hate children.

It is just you, is it, squirrel? Well, keep it quiet. I am trying to get a lie-in in there. What have you got there? That’s very pretty.

[She reaches up and takes the kite.]

Have you been stealing, squirrel? Tut tut. I think I had better take that. If there were any children, you would tell me, wouldn’t you?

[The squirrel nods. Charlotte goes back into the house. The squirrel watches her and then goes back into the hole in the tree]

Peter is finally writing his script!!!

2009-12-20T08:27:00.000Z

So, with all these ideas in place, and with only five days to go until Christmas, I am sitting down with all my notes and writing the first draft of the play.

I know I am behind, but we have been able to do everything like casting the play, and discussing the design, even though there is no finished script. I will be working very fast now. That is the way I tend to work...a long time thinking, and in this case talking with all of you, and then whoosh, bang click click..a script. At least I hope so.

We now have our third performer. It is going to be Dan, who was the turtle in Two Bum Bun - the Moby Duck version of Sugungga, in 2007. Ali [from I'm Still Hungry] will be the old lady, and Ji Hye arrives in the UK in January, and she will be Young Hee.

I think I need an english name for the boy. Maybe something close to Yong Gi, but not quite so simliar to Young Hee, the girl. I will look through your other ideas.

Progress this week

2009-12-16T12:42:00.001Z

Two main things to report....

Firstly, a meeting with Olly, and some preliminary ideas about the set. I don't think I will put anything about them yet on the blog, becasue there is too much still to be decided, but Olly is really pleased with the images from Leighswood and the Dream Tree, and talking with him helped me narrow down on some of the choices I have to make. We think that the squirrel will be a glove puppet, which will mean more or less 'to scale' - thats to say a realistic squirrel size. For this play there may not be that much more puppetry.

We do have to solve the problem of how to fly on the rug, though. hmmmmmm

The other thing was the final session of the term at Leighswood. This was great, because we talked about what our play actually means. not, what happens in it, but the themes, the messages and the meanings behind it. I knew the Leighswood group would have some good ideas, and they didn't let me down. I feel as if I know what the story is now, and also 'why.'

There were a few main themes we found:

Some are environmental - about the tree, and the endangered tiger [I notice more in the paper today about that, only 3200 tigers left in the world!]

Others are about being brave, about co-operating across cultures.

But the key one is about old people and young people. The children think that the old lady is a witch, she has forgotten the time when she was a child. By the end of the story they understand each other.... this thought is going to be very helpful when I write the script - in the next week or so.

watch this space, and it should be coming soon.

I wish I did not have so much admin work to do, with applying for funding and other projects...grrrr

I also discoverd that next Lunar Year is 'The Year of the Tiger' fantastic!!!!!

December Ideas

2009-12-05T20:27:00.001Z

The group worked without me this week, and here are the ideas that came out.....

Hi Peter,

Sophie and I think that the boy and girl should be called Hisen (boy) and Iesha (girl) Margret (Granny) and Isan ( bad singing squirell. )

The stone outside the tree should say: 'Bewithered tree old and hard standing tall forever more'.

We think that in the war the tiger should have got squished by a stampede of soldiers Then became the tiger rug.

In the squirell and tiger funny scene they should have a singing contest. Then the tiger could win then they have a fight with the squirel winning because he is very irritating like a flea ( his tactic was biting him)

We think that in the last scene Mr. Figglehorn should just disappear and it's the tiger's magic that does it. Then just at the end when their on the rug going home they see Mr.Figglehorn being good in another country. (helping a lady across the road.)

We think that Mr. Figglehorn should not die in the last scene.

Ideas from Sophie and Stephanie

pet!,

The girl should be called Toodle and the boy should be called Pip, short for Phillip and Matilda! The Squirrel should be called Sir Sing a Lot.

In the war the Tiger gets shot by a cannon by Mr Figgle-Horn trying to save the tree.

From

William S & Christopher L

Hi Pet!

Here we have some ideas for the boy and girl's names. Theams f e boy's name is Izaac and the girl's name is Camilla. The squirrel's name is Kai. He is a really bad singer and dreams of being on the red carpet when the presenter says 'and now for the brilliant Kai!'

On the stone it says 'this tree is 4000000 years old and is dedicated to Mr Peterson which is why the tree is called 'the peterson tree''.

What happened in the war was that the enemies try to chop down the tree and the squirrel sings really badly and the people are really scared and run away leaving their guns behind them. The korean people see the leftover war equipment and they get to keep them in case of future wars.

What happens when the squirrel meets the tiger is that the tiger sees the squirrel and asks him to sing. he says that he will eat him if he doesn't. the squirrel sings and the tiger eats him and then sicks him back up because his insides are horrible because of the terrible singing. also the tiger spits him back out because he is singing inside the tiger's belly.

What happens to mr figglehorn is that he eats the squirrel because he thinks that he might taste nice. he eats him right there and the squirrel tickles his insides. the hunter is driven mad and eventually goes to hospital in a tragic state. the hospital nurses cut his stomach open and the squirrel jumps out and starts to sing, even more badly than usual. the nurses are so flabbergasted that they fainted and the doctors have to carry them out. the hunter is eft alone with the squirrel and finally begins to like him. he cradles him on top of his bleeding stomach and suddenly the doctors come in because the nurses have died from the shock of the faint and they say 'what are you gonna call him, cause its a boy!' and mr figglehorn says ' i'm gonna call it kai!'

from abi, izzy and livster

To Peter

The boys name could be Sherbert. The girls name ould be Dip. Dip is short for Philipa. The squirl could be called Sir Badnote! Sir Badnote is the worst singing squirl in the world! Mr Figglehorn could play a horn to let people know when he is coming! The volcano can be called Leprococo Volcano! The desert can be called The desert of dessert! The island can be called Rockapocka ( a place where everyone pokes you!) The treasure could be a tigers tooth. They could buy Granny a new chair she's pleased.

Hope Paris is good

Daisy (Fred) and Daniel

Hi Pet, (gets into your mind once youve said it)

The squirrel could be called a 'SQWIGEL' A RARE SPEICES OF BAD SINGING ANIMALS. The boy can be called 'LING' and the girl can be called 'LILY MAY LING'. The stone can say 'BEWARE THIS TREE IT CAN CURSE YOU DON'T GO INSIDE THE HOLLOW HOLE AS YOUR LIFE MIGHT BE LOST!' This is what me and Ellen think what happened in the war' In the war the tree was blown up but the tiger was protecting it and when the bomb reached the tree it struck he tiger to make him a rug and now if anyboy goes inside the tree they too will get cursed.' When the squirrel meets the tiger he jumps down from the tree and starts bouncing on his head telling him his life story, the tiger tried to eat the squirrel and the squirrel starts to do that evry ay. (he tal like a western cowboy) Mr. Figglehorn realises that hunting animals and he turns good!!

Thanks !

From Cerys and Ellen!

Dear Peter,

We have thought about a name for the singing squrril, it is Opra Oliver. Also we have thought of a name for the granny, which is Charlotte the creep ,granny. what happens to mr figglehorn At the end we are thinking what could happen to mr figglehorn he could go back in time to when everyone was young and when Opra Oliver the squrril how then could sing well un like in the normall time were he could not or baddly so it makes him think 2 times before he kills the squrril . see you soon from James and Bailey

# 05 December 2009, 17:41 by Abigail Scott

hi Pet!

I've been thinking about what could happen to Mr.Figgleohrn in the end.So I thought that he could turn into another BAD SINGING squirrel.Then a person hates his singing and tries to kill him but he's protecting his nuts and then he realizes what he had done wrong by killing the tiger and he see's what it feels like when you are trying to protect something special to you.So then he stays as a squirrel forever.But he turns good.........but still sings bad and he got married to a girl squirrel who sung badly and they had lots of children and know there is a overpopulated race of BAD SINGING SQUIRRELS.

For the funny scene were the squirrel meets the tiger. The tiger sees him up a tree and ignores the squirrel but the squirrel wants to be noticed so he throws a nut at him but he just gets angry but still ignores him.Then he throws 2 and he gets even more ANGRY but still ignores him.And so on until he's throwing 100 at him at once then the tiger turns around and looks at the squirrel and gives him an evil look.Suddenly the tiger gives out a MASSIVE LOUD ROAR then the whole city gets an earthquake and the tree shakes so loud the squirrel falls off. Then the vibrations from the earthquake makes all the nuts fall off the tree and fall on the squirrels head. That makes the tiger laugh out loud.

Well thats all the ideas I have for now so SEE YOU SOON PET!

From

Abigail Scott

HI again Pet!

Linking back to my idea of being an OVERPOPULATED RACE OF BAD SINGING SQUIRRELS i thought at the end when the credits come up if it comes out on CD there could be the squirrels singing badly and hopefully it will make people laugh.

By abigail

An idea from Abigail

2009-12-02T14:41:00.001Z

27 November 2009

Hii Pet!

I've been thinking about some of the scenes to fit in the play like we were doing today maybe when they are on the tiger rug and are going back in seasons they could go from like the deserts to the pyramid where its really hot and when they have gone through the hot places they could go to somewhere like the antartic were its FREEZING.

Also if that idea wasnt that good ive got another one for the scenes.If you go back in seasons it would start with winter so put the weather as it is in winter and they could all be wearing PINK EARMUFFS and when it gets all the was to Spring they could all be wearing jumpers.

I've got another idea for the play too well when the children are in the house when they hide they could fall through a trapdoor which sends them into a portal which seems like hours in the portal world but in the real world they only take about 3 minites.Thats when they all go back in time and go through the seasons.

Also I've been searching the internet for korean names which could possibly star in the play I'll put the 2 best ones in a list.

1.'Gi' which means 'the brave one' for a boy.

2.'Hee Young' for a girl which means 'eternal' and 'pleasure'.

Well thats all i have to say for now but i have really enjoyed sharing idead with the once upon a tiger group and i cant wait until we meet up again to discuss more things about the play.Anyway bye for now.

From

Abigail

Note from Peter

Thanks very much for these ideas, Abigail. Really good ideas for names I think as well - what do you think, Won Hye? Can you tell us if Hee Young and Gi are good names in Korea?

Design Ideas from the Dream Tree Children

2009-11-30T19:44:00.000Z

Here are some wonderful designs from the Korean group

Still More Design Ideas

2009-11-30T19:35:00.002Z

More Design Ideas

2009-11-27T21:00:00.000Z

Design Ideas

2009-11-27T20:56:00.000Z

Today with Olly we talked about some ideas for the way the story may look, and did some sketches. Here they are....

More to follow.....

Peter's First Outline

2009-11-25T08:38:00.000Z

The Story – a very first outline. [This is an idea for the overall structure of the story. Probably extra scenes will be added to this as we go along from here. Also the names are not fixed.]

Two children, Lilia and Jumblia, are playing by the old hollow tree, at the edge of the village. There is a stone, which says how old the tree is. This tree is 700 years old. It is the tiger’s tree.

The bad-singing squirrel that lives in the tree is singing… badly. They follow him. They are at the old house. The children in the village have always called it The Witch’s House. It is scary. They go inside, and up to the attic room at the top of the house.

Granny is asleep in her rocking chair. She wakes up. They hide.

She is sad, and slightly strange. She feeds imaginary animals, and begins to tell a story. ‘Once upon a tiger, when the old people were still young….’ She goes back to sleep.

The children explore the room.

The room is full of strange things. There is a tiger rug. Also an old parchment, which they read.

It says ‘Horang Horang Horang’. This is a spell.

They break the chair, and Granny wakes up.

They sit on the tiger rug. When they say ‘horang horang horang’ it lifts up into the air.

The tiger rug flies past a number of places…a volcano, a treasure Island, a desert. [maybe they visit some of these] There are pockets in the tiger rug, for food.

It lands by the old tree. ‘Granny’ is playing there, but she is a young girl now. She is putting down food for the tiger.

They meet and talk to her. They find out about the war, the tiger, the hunter. The tiger saved the village during the war. They say that he ate ten soldiers, and the village was saved. Every day, granny comes to give him food. The tiger is coming, so they have to hide.

The tiger comes, and takes the food.

The bad-singing squirrel arrives and plays with the tiger.

Mr Figglehorn the hunter comes. He is trying to kill the tiger. The children make a noise and save the tiger. He aims at them, and they come out. He is very angry.

He chases the children. The tiger gets killed, protecting them. They are upset, and they somehow get rid of Mr Figglehorn for ever…

They climb on the tiger, say goodbye to young Granny, and return to the old house….

Granny is asleep in the chair.

Latest Story Ideas and Characters

2009-11-16T09:13:00.002Z

Here are all the ideas that came from last Friday. Thanks to all of you and to Mrs Pearson for doing so much when I was not there!!

13 November 2009, 08:52 by Stephanie

hi Peter,

we've come up with a few characters and some scenes.

Character 1- Jumbia. Boy,tall,cheeky,naughty,11 years old. He follows the children to the tree and gets cursed just like the chosen ones./ 2 kids.

Character 2 Lulia. Girl,small,polite, well behaved, 10 years old. Sister of Jumbia and daughter of the twahiki tribe.( tribe discovered by Francis Bacon.) Her brother (with the curse) was sent out to the mountains to become a slave. It was her job to save him from the curse (he would never return to the twahiki tribe the only way he could see his tribe is if he escaped

ideas by Stephanie and Cerys

13 November 2009, 08:53 by Christopher

Hi Peter,

This is our description of our character we chose. The character is the old Granpa.

The old Granpa never goes anywhere he just stays in his house. In the house he has a rocking chair which he barely moves from! Granpa has a white beard and half moon glasses. He is bald exept for a patch of hair at the back. He is quite small and he has a hunchback. He lives on his own with only a black cat to keep him company. Rumours have gone that he is a wizard!

In his house there is hardly anything but a rocking chair and bed. When people visit he warns them not to go in his attic. (this could link to the tiger rug being found!)

From Christopher

Hi peter

Here is what we think the scenes should be.

Scene one should be about the Granpa's house and end the scene when the friends go into the house and the granpa warns them not to go in the attic but when the Granpa falls asleep they sneak in there and find a tiger rug!

Chris and Daniel

13 November 2009, 09:03 by Olivia

Hi pet!

Here is a description of the tiger rug.

The tiger rug has deep orange and black stripes and a menacing growl with emerald eyes still with a gleam in them, even after death. He is always under the grandfathers feet.

Here are some scenes.

SCENE 1

THE GRANDFATHER'S HOUSE

CHARACTERS : GRANDFATHER, TIGER RUG, CHILDREN THAT EVENTUALLY GO ON TIGER RUG.

granfather: Go away!

children: We were just trying to say hello. (they shrink back in fear as the tiger rug lifts his head. no-one notices.)

grandfather: (now a bit embarrased) Well, c-c-c-come on i-i-i-n.

children: All right!(they do a high five routine.)

grandfather:(standing up) I just want to let you know that you CANNOT step on or touch my tiger rug. It is DANGEROUS!

Bye for now

From

Abigail and Olivia

# 13 November 2009, 09:04 by Stephanie

Hi Peter,

We have had a brainstorm and come up with these ideas we have come up with 2 scenes on our first blog but these are continued.

Scene 3- Jumbia was working in the mountains when he saw his sister climbing up the side of the mountain (he was 13) and his sister was 12 she looked older.

Scene 4 - Lulia told her brother the news about the village and that it had been attacked and in DANGER!!!! He grew the courage to escape from the evil master (the one who cursed him) He escaped with Lulia and they found a tiger rug in the village it started talking to them and unravelled to take them across the stars!!!

Hope this gives you inspiration

from Stephanie and Cerys

# 13 November 2009, 09:04 by Daisy

Dear Pet,

My character is Mr. Figgle-Horn,

He is the man trying to chop down the tree, he can be very rude and has a HUGE belly. He always wears a suit, which is green felty stuff, with a checkered shirt . He is freds dad. Walks with belly wobbling and holds his trousers up.

Scene 1

~ Fred goes to house

~ Finds rug sit down on it song cumz on so he obeys the rules

~ Goes 2 tell Grandapa Will but he is asleep.

~ Fred overhears Mr. Figglehorn, about chopping down the tree.

Scene 2

~ Tiger rug flies Fred falls off bangs head

~ Fred runs off screaming like Peter Wynne willson.

~ Covered in bubblewrap fred climbs on rug

Scene 3

~ Tiger flies at Mr. Figglehorn

~ Freds friend Bertha holds Figgle horn down.

Scene 4

~ Figglehorns really ugly wife who looks like Peter (she looks like a guy)

gets scared and shows bloomers!

~ Mr Figgle Horn gets so scared him so he holds his hands up! therefore his trousers fall down! Hes wearing care bear panties. Then he thinks hez kwl so putz on his shadez.

Scene 5

~ tiger turns into rug again

~ Fred startz cryin

~ But whenz he hearz Mr + Mrs figglehorn are movin to Alaska

Signed

Jed and fred (will and Daisy)

# 13 November 2009, 09:04 by Bailey

Characters

Singing squirrel:

He is fat, cheeky, annoying and terrible at singing, lives in a tree outside a haunted mansion. He is brown and red, he has a bushy tail to.

Scene 1

It was morning and the singing squirrel had just woke up. Some children heard the squirrel singing and ran to there granddad who lives in a old hauted mansion. There granddad was asleep. They franticly try to wake him up, but it was no use.

Scene 2

As the granddad awoke he told them a story about that squirrel. They listened very carefully and wondered how the granddad knew because he was asleep. While the squirrel carried on singing dreadfully the children got out of the house.

Scene 3

The chidren saw a tiger rug and wondered what it does so they sat on it...... They were traveling back in time to when the old people were young and the squirrel was good at singing.

Scene 4

The children were amazased what a rug could do and what they saw, they saw there granddad young, enjoying him self, he was fit and active not like now he's old and wrinkely.

Scene 5

The children thought there granddad saw them and they got caught and went back to there normal life and told there granddad that story that happened to them on the rug.

The end

Best wishes Bailey and James

13 November 2009, 09:06 by Christopher

hi Pet

scene two

the granpa wakes up to find the friends with the rug and the children suddenly dissapear into thin air! before they dissapear he musters all his strentgh and jumps onto the rug with them!

Chris and Dan #

13 November 2009, 09:07 by Ellen

hi Pet!!

There is treasure under a tree and a tiger is guarding it. He is strong, and magical. There is also an evil squirrel, who is a power maniac. He dreams of taking over the world.

SCENE 1

the evil squirrel meets the tiger and gets into a magical fight.

SCENE 2

Colours spash across the stage.

SCENE 3

The evil squirrel defeats the tiger and runs to the tree.

SCENE 4

The squirrel cuts down the tree and squishes the tiger.

SCENE 5

The tiger turns into a magic dream rug and gives dreams so mysterious and happpy to children.

Its an end to a new begining!!

Bye Peter!!

From Ellen

13 November 2009, 09:08 by Olivia

Hi Pet nice to see again.

This is another discription of a character. Lilia she is Korean and she is 12 years old and has 2 brothers, 3 sisters and long silky black hair down to her waist.She is always very bouncy and bright and nothing ever stops her spirits rising, and nothing stops her being her self. She hardly ever gets into trouble even though she is a very dreamy girl.

Cya later

From Abigail and Olivia

Technical Problems

2009-11-10T20:54:00.001Z

Sorry that we failed to talk through Skype on Monday. We solved the problem with the computer, but only after the session.

It was good at least that we all got to shout hello to each other down the phone.

We had another interesting session for the rest of the time, and we talked about all the great ideas that came from Korea during our half-term break. I am seeing the group again on Friday, and we should have a story idea beginning to be decided by the end of that session. It will all be reported on the blog.

The Magic Tiger Rug Story

2009-11-03T07:32:00.001Z

Hi!

Long time no see.

We decided to prepare our own show for the Christmas party with this magic tiger rug story.

And this is the story line that we made up.

If you read it you can catch that it is based on much of your idea, flying tiger rug, old man on a rocking chair and tiger rug’s spell.

And some of ideas are from us, for example, old tree, big battle in a village 50 years ago, etc.

1. There lived an old man who had a big zoo. He was usually sitting a rocking chair and reading a book.

2. One day, his grand children visited his’ and played very running in a house. Then they fell down and made his favorite chair broken down.

3. When they hold it up to fix it, they found very weird rug which looked like tiger’s skin. (it is striped orange and black line as you described it in a role of old man. You really know what it looks like. )

4. Also they found a parchment written very old characters. They managed to read that word.

5. The content written on that old paper is like below.

..........I am a tiger who can move anywhere. But I was killed by hunting man…. That’s why I became a rug as you were looking…

So now I am falling sleep deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeply..

&^%&^................%$$&$%%#@Spell : HORANG HORANG HORANG I!

6. They recited that spell

“HORANG HORANG HORANG I!”

7. Suddenly the rug stared to talk to them with very low voice.

“You missed where you want to go!”

8. They started to say where to go.

“Bank! British Lloyds TSB!!”

“a rich man’s warehouse”

“a repositorium”

“a treasure island”

“a Buffet!”

“a Neverland where we can meet Peter Pan”

“a desert where a camel lived”

“a zoo park”

9. So the rug was detatched from a floor and flew to the air. They rode on it and an unimaginable adventure started with tiger rug.

(we will decide where they reached and what sort of things they met and what they experienced.)

10. As time went by, they wanted to go back home. So they shouted “horang horang horang I, Go back to the grandfather’s!!”

11. What a shame!! It is the grand father’s very old house 50 years ago where they get reached.

12. “Look! That rocking chair is grandfather’s”

13. Oh my god, a baby with his grand mother’s arm is their grandfather!! Grandfather was so baby.. ;;; (we were inspired by Daniel’s idea, “once upon a tiger, as old as the old man was a child and played on a tree….)

14. But there had been a battle since long ago. That’s why the house is so old and there were big bombing sound. (we didn’t make the specific story about a battle, but we think the story is related with an old tree, tiger and treasure of this village.)

15. When they were about to go back, the rug was out of order.

16. when they were really disappointed with that situation, the grandfather’s grandmother sewed up a rip with her niddle and thread so that they could go back to their’s.

THE END.

Stories from the Dream Tree Team...

2009-11-03T07:24:00.000Z

19 Oct. 2009

Look!! JinWoo in animal.

Can you guess what the animal is?

The answer is skunk!

Yes! That is exactly what you think! How smelly animal it is!!

But we think it can be used as a character, for example, lonely skunk playing the guitar.

Or how about the idea that the old tree and tiger died because a smell of the skunk.^^

Anyway,

We had much time to share your so much ideas and stories in this session.

(Wonhye : I read your stories mostly trying to imitate your voices. But I don’t know your voices so if you had been with us, you could have heard of your voice from me and you would have laughed so much. ^^)

We really liked the idea that tiger’s rug has magic power, so the children can move anywhere on it. (Is it Cerys idea,? right?)

We imagined what sort of things the children and tiger met during the journey.

Alien, really strange animal like skunk..etc.

[Wonhye : Um… I forgot, sorry. ]

Also we imagined about size of the rug. Because it need to be big for children to ride on. we think, it is not big too much, but it can be possible to control as their wishes. So after the children cast a spell, “horang horang horang 000!”, it can be enlarged so they could ride on and move anywhere.

Also, there could be a tiny door in the rug, if you open the door, you can find a cockpit and a microwave oven in the kitchen, so you can get a pizza as much as you want from it.

---------------------------------------

After that, we made some tableau [still images/statues] which is related the idea of the magic rug and journey to the past in the village.

tableau 1.

As soon as they reached there, they all died.

Tableau 2.

The ghosts of children met the old woman who is witch and 1000 years old and asked why they went died. She answered, “it is so dangerous here. Because the big war happened in this village now.” And she gave them a bottle of medicine that is for the dead to rebirth.

Tableau 3.

And then the rug flew in front of them from somewhere, the children raising from the dead ride on the rug and steer it to come back home. [but it looked not easy to come back. Because the children are not good at steering the rug.]

--------------------------

After that we discussed what the reason why the war happened in the village is, and guessed the reason could be the treasure in the tree, like a sort of map.

We will interview the old woman who is the witch the children met in the past about why the war happened, what the treasure which made the people fought each other is in next session and what the secret in this village is. just like your way of interviewing. (I saw your film on youtube. I saw you interview the old man rocking chair. Very interesting. )

The story is Not completed yet, but I feel we can make best story for the show!

See you.

Form Kumnamu

A good idea from Daniel

2009-10-23T05:47:00.000+01:00

21 October 2009, 12:53 by Daniel

To Petre

The man in the rocking chair could be as old as the tiger. So he was born ONCE UPON A TIGER!! The squirrel that sings badly could deafen the vilage!! The tiger is affected to!! So he climbs up the tree and stops the squirrel but he falls off the tree and becomes a tiger rug!! Once upon a tiger when the old people were young the man in the rocking chair played in the tree!!

From

Daniel

# 23 October 2009, 05:44 by Peter W W

Nice, Daniel, yes.

By the way, I think you may have written the opening line of the play;

'Once upon a tiger, when the old people were young....'

I really like it, because it could mean just 50 years ago when the old man was a child, or it could mean long long ago in a different time before anyone had grown up or grown old, which sounds like a really magic kind of time...

thank you

Peter

Some Ideas from the Story Rug

2009-10-16T11:30:00.001+01:00

This morning we filmed some of the ideas at Leighswood. I will post the links here, although I expect you will not be able to access these from the school. So that is a good reason for logging on at home if you get the chance....

Interview with an old man

It may take a while to load some of these, if your connection is not very fast.

Some extra ideas..... a volcano and a favour repaid.

2009-10-16T07:13:00.002+01:00

15 October 2009, 08:23 by Daniel

To Peter and our group

I have a great idea to add on to my last!! The boy could lead the tiger to a volcano and say that there was endless food in there but there was actually a dragon in there!

From

Daniel

# 15 October 2009, 18:21 by Daisy

Dear Pet, [Oh dear, look what you have started Won Hye Pete]

Perhaps the tiger could have slept under the tree, and protected it, when the tiger died, beacause it also helped the public the village promiced to look after the tree.

from

FRED (daisy)

[PS I added the pictures this time...I really like this painting of the tiger under the tree..... Pete]

A new message from the Dream Tree

2009-10-15T08:51:00.001+01:00

12th, Oct, 2009

Hello.

Your trip in Wales was good? Also we enjoyed the chusok, the Korean version of thanksgiving day. We missed class for three day because of the chusok holiday.

We discussed that idea which is - Why the Village people saved this tree and how it can be done.

And we shared our favorite things which we want to keep.

We drew our favorite things.

내가 아끼는 것들, my favorite list~~from KumNaMu

For Myung Jin

Nintendo...

For MinSeo

Money ^^

For MinJi

her cell phone

For MinHye

Her Story Box (much stories in it!!)

For SeungHwan

His Green Bicycle

For UiiJin,

Also, Nintendo like Myung Jin,

For YeJin, Lee

Story Box

For JinWoo

His house!

For HyeWon

Home and her family

For YeSeo

her cell phone

For Ji Hye

Her family

For YeJin, Hong

her bones which can make her move~!

(it can be seen for only nice people!!??? )

What sort of thing is your favorite?

Also we shared your ideas that is how the tree can be survived.

Specially, we liked some ideas, treasure in it and tree house, and flood..but What is the tree house? We wonder how it looks like. That is for the squirrel or man? As big as people live in it? You have many tree house? We haven’t seen it.

We thought of some tree’s story .. one of them is about the tiger in the korean war.

One tiger and her baby hid behind the tree so they could survived from army with arm when the Korean war happened.

Soldier1(searching the people..) : hmm.. no people, go to the next tree…

Tiger : baby! come here.. hide here!!

soldier 1: (to another solder) can’t you hear anything? soldier 2 : Hm…no I can’t.

…

Sadly tiger and her baby were killed by that soldier. Finally, the soldier made Tiger Mom to carpet with her skin, baby tiger to their muffler. That’s why the carpet have cried in that solder’s house.

We can not make full story because of not enough time. We always need more time,,

We look forward your good story.

See you.

Lots more Leighswood ideas

2009-10-15T06:20:00.004+01:00

The school blog has been BUZZING.....

Here are some more story ideas..

# 13 October 2009, 08:06 by Daniel

Hi Peter

I hope you liked my ideas. But I have yet another ideaThis time it is about a very hungry tiger and a very inteligent boy. One day a poor innocent boy met a very hungry tiger!!!TO BE CONTINUED...

I hope this idea is as good as the last one!!

Ideas by

DANIEL

# 14 October 2009, 12:43 by Stephanie

Hi peter,

I'm having a really good time being part of once upon a tiger. I am glad I have the opportunity to do it too. I'm really enjoying our meetings and have a few ideas about it.

The children could be telling their stories to the tiger and he could tell them stories smiler that have happened in real life. sort of their own private story book.

From Stephanie

# 14 October 2009, 12:48 by Bailey

Hi Peter,

hope you liked my ideas from last week, I have another idea its to do with a squirrel I call this character Humungorsquirrel , he is a fast squirrel, sharp teeth and loves CHEESE! But one day tiger comes along and eats the squirrel whole, the reason why the tiger did that was because the squirrel didn't stop singing. Every morning at 7.00 oclock he used to start singing...... badly. He woke every animal up and they didn't like it. So the tiger eat him, the animals were happy and the tiger had a very nice dinner.

Bye for now Bailey

# 14 October 2009, 12:50 by Cerys

Hi peter,

I was thinking about our next meeting and i thought about the ideas i have this idea to make their stoy more interesting.

The second story about the tiger rug it could connect with the dream tree(the tree outside the centre) where this rug takes the 2 children to the tree where inside they have a special place where they get away from all the danger in china and in this tree they have unlimited wishes to anything they want or wanted and they can only go there with the rug because the tree was spellbound = the children could not go to the tree without the tiger rug. And then one day they track themselves back to the tree when they were older children and they remembered what the tiger said to get into the tree and they did but the rug found out and came to the children to spellbind them and that when they passed away they too would turn into their soul animal and that animal would be the shape of the children in the rug. To be continued It would be a great favor if you could tell the children about this thank you i hope you enjoyed listening to my blog i found a picture of this tree hope you like it

From Cerys

# 14 October 2009, 12:53 by James

Hi Peter

How are you today ,I have thought about the Once Upon a Tiger .It could tell the story of his life, where he could go on an adventure around the world in 100 days with a tiger and his life rests on the adventure - if he surfaces he gets to stay alive if not he becames a tiger rug .He could return but the man forgets the deal and makes him a rug and then tells the story of his life.

bybe from James

# 14 October 2009, 12:54 by Isobelle

Hi Peter

How are You ?

I saw a squirrel on the tree ,it was red.Cool!

I have been thinking about tigers and rugs. You can get bear rugs.

The people protecting the tree could need it for food. Thats big.

Isobelle

# 14 October 2009, 12:57 by Abigail

Hi again

Thanks for replying to our comments I hope we share more and more ideas about the play. And I hope we find out more about the old tree.

this is an old tree found in England.Hopefully we will find out more about these trees were looking at. Maybe in the play there could be a very old tree and when the children go to it it might show them what happened.

Bye for now!

From

Abigail

# 14 October 2009, 12:58 by Olivia

Hi Peter

I liked the comment that you made on the 7th of October. It made me laugh when I saw it,especially the part where you put MORE MORE MORE!

Maybe the tiger had got stuck in the tree somehow and the people rescued it so he might always be up the tree to stop the other people from cutting it down. Sorry, that's all I've got time for now because the bell will go in a minute so

BYE

From Olivia

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR IDEAS....i love them, and I think Won Hye and Ji Hye and the Dream Tree children will like them too...

A singing red squirrel...[Do you have squirrels in Korea?] yes that would be a good character for the play, and a hungry tiger stuck in a tree, and a bear rug that takes you places, and travelling through time, and spells and soul animals and...more and more and more and more.......

Peter

Some research by Daisy

2009-10-12T14:54:00.003+01:00

One of the Leighswood children sent me this today. I wonder what the oldest tree in Korea or UK are?

: From Daisy

Hi Peter!

A Great Basin Bristlecone Pine tree called "Methuselah" is believed to be about 4,841 years old; it is located in the White Mountains of California, United States. It is believed to be the oldest living thing in the world. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMQDF_Methuselah_The_Worlds_Oldest_Tree This is another very old tree but its the ROOTS that are old not the actual tree. I did write a message before but my computer must of been playing up!

Bye!

Note from Peter

WOW!! 4, 841 years...that makes it definitely old enough to remember when tigers smoked!!

Messages from some of the Leighswood Group

2009-10-07T23:40:00.000+01:00

Here are some messages with ideas from some of the Leighswood Group....they are brilliant ideas....

Hello Peter,

The ten year old children could whisper there story in to the tigers mouth and then it closes and the tiger tells the children the story they just told it, a bit like a computer.

I have an idea for the objects like a cigar and that sort of things. What they might of had in the old Korea times. Hula hoops, kites, marbles.

I have a story that I have thought of its about squirrel lives in a tree but he or she picks up a nut and becomes half squirrel and half tiger. I also have another story about a tiger is born but scratched by a werewolf so when the tiger grows up he or she acts like a werewolf.

They could of eaten rhubarb, heat up custed by using a fire, potatoes, carrots and crops.

Bye for now from Bailey

Hi Peter

I am having a great time discussing ideas for the Once Upon A Tiger. I think that it's a really fun thing to do and I am really glad that I can do it, even if it means getting up at quarter past seven instead of quarter to eight as normal!

I know that our ideas will be featured in the play and it will probably feel good if we know that we actually played a part in thinking of the ideas to make the play build up.

Here is a few of my ideas for when and how the tree is to be featured .

Talking of at the last get - together in the Y6 area when we talked about the tree being in danger of getting cut down, maybe the tiger that was made into the rug had been killed near to the tree, and maybe the tree is famous because of that, so they might be very protective and supportive to the tree because of its past.

Maybe the tree had always been played in, as in children's great - great - great - great - grandmothers had played in a hollow part of the tree that they called the treehouse, so they could be very indignant about the tree being cut down. The children could never be bored of playing there and they didn't want it to go.

Bye Peter

See you next Friday

From

Olivia

Hello Peter,

I had a great time sharing ideas for the Once Upon a tiger

I'm looking forward to coming to the rest of the sessions on friday I hope all of our ideas feature in the play.And hopefully our play will become famous worldwide

I think the old tree that the children found would be great to star in the play.The tree could hold memories from how the tiger was killed or one of his relatives was killed.And that could be why the tiger was crying.

Or maybe that tree could be special to the tiger like if he was being attacked by another tiger then when he climbed up the tree and the other tiger couldn't get up so it saved his/her life.

I hope you will take an interest in my ideas and maybe feature them in the play. I think the project is very good and the play will be very interesting.

Bye for now

See you a week on friday from,

Abigail

Hi Peter

I found a tree with about 250 branches

I think it was a oak tree or mabe a horsechest nut tree so they must be the bigest trees in the world. I did find 2 really big trees on the internet , twise the sise of a fully grown humen and it shows you that because there is a person on the picture. Most the trees i've seen are realy old.

By

see you soon

Isobelle

Hello Peter,

We were talking about trees my favorite tree is the Horesechest nut tree or the conker tree.About the tiger rug I taught that the tiger could get hunted and then it could tell the story of the tiger live where he got shipped and were he adventure in the other contany like fun times like jumping out of trees .

bye from James

Hi peter,

Last session was really good and I wonder what i missed!? The koreans ideas sound really good and I have an idea for the tree!!! I think that the tree could have been there for many, many years and tourist come from all over the world to see it so they dont want it cut down. That is the idea that i thought of while we have not been in a session. I hope you think this is a good idea.

Bye now!

from

Christopher

year six

6P

Hi Petre

I have got an idea fore the story!!!!!! The tree might have been alive and saved the vilage! But they are pleading for him to be woken The main city is going to distroy the vilage

I hope that my ideas have come in handy !!!!!!!!

From

DANIEL

The Dream Tree team like our ideas...

2009-10-07T09:59:00.000+01:00

I really thank you, Pet, and the children in Leighswood.

Nice timing, good ideas and lovely picture and photoes, intelligence children.

Your mail and so many ideas inspired us making story and made a whole session with full of spirit.

But I agree what you think, which is that we have to write new play soon.

We started our session from last week of August, so now we've met 6 times.

we can meet 4times more.

I already explained about this process that we have a plan to make some stories for the new show and Jihye will be actress for that show, which is based on our stories. So we can start making stories for the show not just stories.

My plan is that collecting village's stories and photos etc... and dividing children with 3group to make their own story and present it.

I expcet that we will get many ideas from them.

I think that the question that the children asked about old things and trees has important things that can be our play's theme.

It is what is precious for me and us and how we can save it.

I will discuss about my ideas with our children in a session.

If you have any good ideas of how to collect ideas from chilren, let me know it.

how long have you met your children and how many sessions's left?

our session is Monday, you meet them on friday,

how can we meet on skype...?

hmmmm...

p.s I opened my blog for this projct. because I need a space to share our letters and your letters translated by me(oh poor!!!;;;) for children in KUMNAMU CENTRE.

address is below.

http://www.cyworld.com/dnjsgPanwlro

Old Tree ideas

2009-10-02T11:18:00.001+01:00

We had another great session this morning, and got so much done......

First of all we looked at Won Hye's latest message, which is under this in the blog. We really enjoyed reading about the old old tree, and it triggered off a lot of ideas.

We talked about ideas from the week, and we talked about some history too, the story of the Korean War, which most of us did not know, and about trees and tigers.

We thought that exactly what happened to the Dream Tree group could happen here, if we tried to find a tree nearby not everyone would know, because very often we do not notice trees.

We had some ideas about stories about an old tree.

Why may a tree be so important to the people of a twon or vllage?

Maybe because it holds happy memories for them, of when they played on the tree as children, swinging, or climbing or hiding.

Maybe there is a hollow part of the tree and there are secrets hidden inside it?

Maybe the fruit on the tree is good every year, and when the village has been hungry it has been the only thing they can eat.

Maybe there was a flood, and all the people of the village climbed the tree to be safe, and that it saved them.

Maybe there is an ancient tree-house at the top, and it has some treasure in it.

Maybe there is a myth, an old story, that if ever the tree falls down it will be the end of the village...it is like a curse.

Maybe the tree was planted when they were born, and is growing with them.

The tree gives oxygen, and wood and fruit and shelter...

So there are many reasons to love the tree.

We also talked about everything that could be threatening the tree...

Perhaps it is that they want to knock the tree down to make room for a new building.

Or someone hates the village, and they know that the tree is important, so they want to destroy it.

Or they want the wood for paper.

Maybe there is treasure buried under the tree.

We also talked about some other stories. We think that a tiger rug is a cruel thing, because the tiger is an endangered species. In our story we want to show that killing tigers for skin is wrong. Maybe if it can speak, the tiger rug is very angry about what happened to him.

We have seen tiger rugs in old mansions and houses in England. Perhaps someone rich from England went to India, or China or Korea, and they went hunting for tigers. Perhaps they bought the rug as a souvenir from a market.

We also wanted to tell you that in England it is often cold and raining, but many things are the same as in Korea. Also one of our favourite trees is the conker tree, which is really called the horsechestnut tree. This has conkers [seeds] in green spiky cases. In the autumn they fall down and sometimes you can get hit on the head by them falling.

And we wanted to say in England there have never been tigers. But in the old days [once upon a tiger] we did have wolves. that is why english stories have wolves in them.

And we said that if a tree is 700 years old it would have been planted in the Fourteenth Century, which is a long long long time ago, when England was very different...like Korea was too.

Finally I have to tell you about some things we did last week, but I left my notes so they were not on the blog.

Remember the list of things that we have now, but not in the olden days?

Here is the whole list from Leighswood:

TV
Nachos
Roller-coasters
Nintendo

Popcorn

Lights

Watches

Projectors

Films
Chairs
Cadbury World [this is a theme park near us]
Pizza
James Bond
Cartoons.....

Also we talked about what they did have instead, Once Upon a Tiger.....

Tents [like teepees - native american tents]
An old fire put out by the rain
A big pile of fire wood
Pelicans
Things made of wood
A big river
Nice people.....

[we didn't have much time for this list so it is only short]

Some of our group are going for a trip to the countryside this week, and they will collect some stories from there, and maybe some pictures for you. We will not meet again for two weeks now, but the children are going to be putting ideas on their blog.....

Have fun.

Peter

Second Letter from The Dream Tree Team

2009-10-01T21:07:00.000+01:00

Hi Pet & his children.

I was really happy to hear of your workshop starting.

I really expect to share your some idea and thoughts(Lidgewood list...) with my children.

but Kang Hyun's favorite is not 'grand theft auto' but 'grand chase'.

It's a little bit similar, that's why you've mistaken, I wonder what sort of game 'grand theft auto' that is not possible for children is.

In a last lesson, we've found a very old tree in our town.

when a lesson is about to finish, Wonhey and Jihye sent a mobile message to our phone with photo.

this is the photo from them.

Wonhye said, "this photo is taken by Ji hey in your town when she coming here today. Can you find where it is?"

so we discussed where it is and determine to go out to find it.

we asked some adult who we met. some adult knew, some adult didn't know.

One of adult who we met let us know that the tree was so old aged, about 700-800 yearsand they call it GoMokNamu which means an old[aged] tree or a dead[withered] tree.

At last we managed to get to the vanue where the tree stand thanks to some adult.

we took photos under the tree and got back to the KUM NA MU Centre.

now, I'll show our photos. please don't laugh!

Because wonhye and jihye's phone cameras are so wiredo, it's difficult to know who is.

(Pet!, sorry for different size of photos.

that's why Jihye's phone camera is good, but wonhye's is not good. )

(민서, 예진, 민혜, 민지)

->3People of NEW FACE and badminton -

(민혁, 예서, 예진, 승환) >

I don't know, hamster, swimming just like 혜원, NEW FACE

한빛, 혜원, 명진, 강현, 진우)

->just playing, swimming, craze arcade, grand chase, basketball

It was a really really exciting experience for us.

we wonder how the tree has survived still now even though big battle 50years ago.

(Have you heard of Korean War happend 50 years ago? I've heard of the battle from my grand mother.)

we guessed that our town people saved that tree from being cut down with arms, because that tree is so old and special for them.

also guessed what our town was like 700-800 years ago.

We will discuss all about our guessing next time.

we want to make some story related this tree within a scene.

wish me luck and good luck to you.

bye

At Last...The Leighswood Team get going

2009-09-26T23:56:00.002+01:00

Very exciting morning, because with the new term begun, we started working on the project at Leighswood.

We will be meeting early [very early] on Friday mornings, and today was the first one.

Today we looked at Peter's pictures from the visit to the Dream Tree, and the film we made of the Korean children introducing themselves. It was surprising how much we could understand, because there were some english words..[badmington, Grand Theft Auto - by the way in england you have to be 18 to play that game!] We all have a list of all the Korean names. We really liked 'meeting' the children in Korea, and looking at the Dream Tree Centre too.

Then we looked at the stories and ideas that the children had sent us.

First of all - the list of all the things that may not have existed 'once upon a tiger'. The Leighswood children liked the dream tree list, but we thought that some things would still have existed many years ago, but maybe just more natural versions. What do you think they would put on an itch, many years ago? Maybe not modern medicine, like the Malpas that they use in Korea. Maybe some herbs or something? Also we think there would have been shoes, but they would have been different.

We made our own list, Peter but left it at the school, he thinks. "I can remember a few things, so maybe some of the children when they read this will add others." This was our list of things that we have in England now, but didn't have, 'Once Upon a Tiger', in the old days. How many of these do you have in Korea too?

McDonalds
Nintendo Wii
KFC
Printers
Computers

[grr I wish I could remember all of the other things, there were lots and lots...help me please, everyone....Peter]

We really liked the little stories you sent. Especially the second one about the Tiger smoking, because we thought it was about something. It was saying that smoking was bad for you. Some of us remember some old people smoking a pipe, but it is not very common now.

By the way, you write the name of our school LEIGHSWOOD. There is a wood at the back of the playground. There is a picture on the school website. Also we have put a special blog on that site, but you have to have a password, so Peter will send it to Won Hye.

Leighswood is in a small town called Aldridge. It is not exactly a village, but in the old days there were villages here. Next week some of us are going to a little village in Wales, which is next to England.

We were wondering what would be in a korean village, once upon a tiger...?

Peter left some books about Korea and Korean stories to look at. We also looked at some pictures from old korea. One was a tiger the other a dragon.

We have made a display from these pictures and some of the ideas.

Our next session is on Friday at 8.30am. That will be 4.30pm in Korea. Maybe after a while we can speak with the Dream Tree children live.

.

Story Number Two

2009-09-15T15:41:00.003+01:00

...and this one....

호랑 카펫의 비밀 A secret of tiger's skin carpet (a little interesting but a much more horrible story)

One day a boy and girl aged 10 and 12 olds moved a new house. there was a carpet looked like a tiger's skin. Then they listened a wiredo sound every night. That sounds like a tiger's crying from that carpet. they managed to go near to that carpet and asked "why you crying?". He answered "Because I am stepped on your feet!!". they said "sorry." and got a little way off.

Carpet kept going to saing "Now is 11 O'clock. Can you go to the forest a little far from this house at 12 O'clock? And you could know why I have cried." They determined to go there at 12 O'clock. .....

to be continued....

Story Number One

2009-09-15T15:40:00.001+01:00

The Dream Tree children made up this first little story....

호랑이 담배 피던 시절에..Once upon a time When A tiger was smoking..(a little sad and much of interesting story)

One tiger bought a tobocco in a market. ⇒ He or she expected it tasted like a strawberry. ⇒But it tasted horrible. ⇒ Even though it's horrble taste, he or she kept going to smoking.⇒ Then, his or her lungs got worse and worse. so he or she went to hospital for the surgery.⇒After cured, he or she came back to his or her forest and met one rabbit who was smoking with tobocco.⇒Tiger thought Rabbit's tobocco tasted like a carrot.⇒Disappointedly it tasted like a bruised carrot. ㅠㅠ ⇒So that tiger was so upset and hit and hit and hit a rabbit..⇒a rabbit also was upset so that a rabbit made a tiger's mouth full of a 300 bundle of tobocco.⇒Sadly tiger could not help going to the hospital back. What is more he or she was not insured.

First Letter from the Dream Tree Children

2009-09-15T15:33:00.002+01:00

I had this message today from Won Hye in Korea she sent two story ideas too...so I will put them in different posts.

14. September. 2009

Dear. Pet and his chidren in Ridgewood Public school.

Hello!

How's your storymaking which is for the perfomance "ONCE UPON A TIGER" going well? How long time ago do you think, ONCE UPON A TIGER?

We did brain-storming about the things that we can find easily at this times but can't long time ago, ONCE UPON A TIGER(?).

Let me introduce the things that we found;

a slang, a motorcycle, an insecticidal, a table,

a hand sanitizer ⇒

an air conditioner, a laptop, a fan, an apartment, a robot, shoes, a camera,

Mulpas(a medicine which is for itchy place) ⇒

a medical appliance for a plastic surgery,

MinHye(a name of one girl who is one of our group),

a cell phone, money, a curtain,

Red Devils ⇒ ,

Tabacco etc.

If you have any Question about the things above, ask Pet who knows well about Korea.

What do you think about that subject? we wonder what sorts of things you guess.

Do you know a Korean idiomatic word "Once upon a time when a tiger was smoking" which means "Once upon a time". We usually start an old story with this word. We did make two kinds of stories. One is about tiger with tabacco. The other one is some boy and girls in a house with carpet made of Tiger's skin.

(Enjoy some images about tiger with tabacco below.)

A mysterious list for you

2009-07-15T13:28:00.000+01:00

Maybe you can guess some of these... although they might not show right on your computer, because the korean fonts sometimes dont work

Names of Group at Dreamtree
Born 1999/2000
이명진 He likes…크레이지 아케이드
황진우. He likes야구
정민혁 He likes, well….몰라요
이강현 He likes …게임
정예서 She has a 햄스터
김민지 She plays배드민턴
이한빛 She likes 친구들이랑 노는 것
박혜원 She likes수영
홍예진 She likes수영 too.
Not there this week:
한민혜
And 오승환

The Story Begins.....in wet wet Korea

2009-07-14T13:51:00.000+01:00

Hello to the special Once Upon a Tiger group at Leighswood [One thing we need to do very soon, is think of a good name for the group!]

I am in Seoul, in South Korea, and it is hot, just as I expected, but also very very wet. In the last days there have been 350mm of rain – that is what we used to call 14 inches, which is a lot of rain. They are used to it here, and the water just flows down the streets into big drains. Also it is very warm so it doesn’t really feel that bad, as long as you just imagine being in a warm shower all day with all your clothes on. Well, obviously you don’t stay out in it all day!

Anyway I have met the group you will be working with in Korea. They are the same age as you, and slightly younger [born in 1999 and2000] They go to a kind of after-school club called KoomNamu, which means ‘The Dream Tree’. It is a little house high on a hill in the outskirts of the city of Seoul.

Seoul is very big and very crowded, with 14 million people living here I think. All of them wet!

When you go to the Dream Tree, you take your shoes off at the door, and wear socks, or slippers. There are a few rooms a little like classrooms, but much smaller, and there are a few computers, TV etc. Every week, Won Hye and Ji Hye will be working with them on our project. I have put some pictures so you can see.

I showed them your video message, and they thought you looked very nice. Of course I told them they were wrong about that! They have recorded some messages for you, which I can show you when we get back together in September. They will be starting to work on making up our story at the same time, and I think you will all work very well together. So many things seem to be just the same with them, although other things are very different. At least one of them really likes SpongeBob, for example, so that should please Bailey!!

I will not write much more, because it is late at night, but I will meet them one more time while I am here, so if you have any questions or any more you would like to tell them, send a message to me as quickly as you can.

all the best

Pete