jjong party pics

Some pictures from Wednesday and today (Friday). Not pictured, alas: the four intrepid students of my CNN English class, and the two students in my French class (one of whom is visible later on; her name is Hans0l).

The first pic was taken after I realized that we had completely forgotten to get shots of the chefs who delivered the food (Jean-Pierre and Laurent) and the food itself: salmon, hard-boiled eggs with salmon caviar, ham, salami, asparagus salad, and other goodies. Along with this, we had a whole baguette, butter, and a lovely dessert whose name escapes me.

Below, my ever-faithful 7:40AM class, the Magnificent Eight. They really were amazing, and quite a contrast to the attendance patterns of most top-of-the-morning classes.



I asked the students for one "normal" shot and one "crazy" shot. Below is my students' rather tame notion of "crazy." I couldn't help noticing that only Hans0l put any real effort into making the moment dramatic.



Below, a shot of the food, which was wildly successful in all classes, except for one student who, it turns out, hates mushrooms.



Hans0l again-- this time, helping me by scooping the pasta out of the boiling water.

[I should note that the cost of prepping food for six classes was over W150,000, and the office surprised me today by electing to reimburse all my expenses. I knew there was a reason I liked working here.]



The 7:40 class went dead quiet when I started prepping the food. I laughed and called them on their behavior; that broke the trance and they laughed, too. Below, you see the students chowing down on some deliciousness. The boeuf bourguignon was a real risk: I'd never made it before. As it turns out, the prep is ridiculously easy, but the cooking time is extremely long, bordering on two hours just for the simmering that leads to sauce reduction.



Next, you see Nari and Y3on-hui from my 8:50AM class. We were having so much fun talking and eating (I got blamed for ruining one girl's diet) that I inadvertently took us into overtime. Our class finishes at 9:50AM, but we were still jabbering when 10AM rolled around and the next class' students were staring forlornly into the classroom. I apologized profusely to the Korean teacher (her charges are primarily Chinese), but I think some students were miffed.



The 8:50AM class actually has three students: Nari, Y3on-hui, and Y3ong-ji. Below, you see all three:



My Fridays-only pronunciation class boasted only three people today. Below you see S0yi, the student whose pronunciation showed the most improvement.



Ji-s3on, pictured below, is also a very good student. She's in my 7:40AM class. Scroll back up and you'll see her there.



Below is Mr. Kim, who attended three of my classes and two or three of Tom's classes as well. The man's a nice guy, but he's insane: there's no way in hell I'd spend my free time sitting in on language class after language class.



Mr Kim was in my 1:10PM Level 2 class along with the following two students, Ky3ong-3un (KE) and Ja3-hwa (JH), visible in the following picture. KE was right for Level 2; her attendance was a bit shaky, though. JH was initially very quiet and her English skills were far more suited to Level 1, but she stuck with the course and attended almost every single class (except for the day she moved).



Here, too, I asked for a "crazy" pic, but all I got was giggling, as you see.



The following picture pretty much says it all.



Finally, you see how the students attempted to compensate for the unhealthiness of my food by bringing veggies and such to class.



In all, a very good, but very tiring, day. I've been running on a single hour of sleep and am about to go home (yes, it's 11:45PM and I'm still settling affairs in the office) and hit the hay. Much to do before I depart for Europe on Tuesday.



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