Dinner With My Students

Did I mention how much I adore my Level 2 students at LG Learning Center? They are so fun to teach and my time with them goes by so quickly! They even help me with everyday things I need to know to make my transition to living in Korea easier.

For instance, then I first arrived in Korea I had trouble using the metal chopsticks that were provided at the cafeteria of LG Learning Center. I'm a pro at using wooden chopsticks but the metal ones I found slippery so I was always spilling food all over myself and the table. It was embarrassing but I didn't want to resort to bringing and using a fork from home as I thought it might be considered disrespectful. My students noticed and one day one of my students brought me some wooden chopsticks. I was so pleased and I used them so skillfully that my students could see that I did indeed know how to use chopsticks. I left the meal that day feeling quite proud and maybe even a little full of myself until I heard the student who had brought them to me telling another student that his 4 year old son had "graduated" from using the wooden "training" chopsticks to using metal ones. In other words I had less skill using metal chopsticks than a four year old Korean child. Needless to say, my ego deflated very quickly. But I was still deeply moved by the gesture of kindness to me and I soon regained my composure and there after used those wooden chopsticks proudly and skillfully everyday at lunch.

My students were thoughtful in many other ways both large and small. One day they heard me asking another teacher how to make a collect call to Canada from a pay phone. That teacher didn't know and neither did my students. I thought I was out of luck. However, the next day during the small talk I use to start every class - my student, Francisco, proceeded to tell me he had done some research and he could now tell me how to make a collect call to Canada. He then gave me a sheet of paper with detailed instructions on it. In case you ever need to know here's how to do it:

1. Hit the red emergency button on the phone.
2. Dial 1541 [no idea what this does maybe it is to get an operator (?) I'm not sure.]
3. Dial 001 [This gets is an International Phone Carrier Company number - also you can try 002, or 008. Personally I haven't had much luck using 001 so I use either 002 or 008.]
4. Dial the country code - for North America it is 1.
5. Dial the area code.
6. Dial the phone number.

For more information on how to make phone calls in Korea here is a helpful website from Tour2Korea. Here's the link How to call Overseas from Korea.

I guess my Level 2 students like me, too. They invite me to go to dinner with them. I wasn't sure if it was considered appropriate so I checked it out with my superviser, "Julie", and she said it was fine. So, I happily told them I could go and we pick a date and time to go to dinner.

This is my favorite picture of me and Jin Teacher with my Level 2 LG Learning Center Students. From left to right in back: Peter, Bill, Kenny, Terry, Francisco, and Mr. Shin [he didn't want an English nickname] and in front is me and Jin Teacher.

Here's a photo of Terry pouring Baek-sae-ju at the restaurant. It is a type of Korean alcohol that tastes like white wine. I love it! I had never tried it before but my students ordered it for me to try [since they know I am half-French they always tease me about liking wine, etc.]. Here Terry is teasing a fellow classmate by pouring from two bottles at once into his shot glass.

Our dinner was wonderful. We had So-goki. This is strips of beef that have been marinated in a sauce and we cook them ourselves over the burner in the middle of the table. The beef is so tender that it just seems to melt in your mouth. Yum! To eat it you take the cooked beef and place it in a lettuce or sesame leaf and then put some salad on top of it and roll it up. Then if you want to you can dip it into a sauce or if not just eat it plain.

After dinner we go to a singing room to sing Karoke. In Korea you don't sing karoke in a bar in front of strangers instead you get a private room. I much prefer this method as you don't have to either:

• wait a long time for the song you want to come on
• embarrass yourself in front of complete strangers

Here's a photo of me singing Karoke. Lucky for me at least half the songs are popular English songs [like top 40 songs from back home] so I don't have to try and sing in Korean.

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I have to say it was a very enjoyable occasion. I am tired but very happy and in high spirits at the end of the night. I wish all my classes could be as special as my Level 2 class is. I miss them. When they "graduated" from the Learning Center they all gave me their business cards. I think about someday e-mailing some of them just to say "Hi" and that I still remember and appreciate their kindness to me. Maybe someday I will.