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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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 Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 4:11 am Post subject: I thought I knew how to make a PB & banana sandwich |
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Evidently, I was incredibly mistaken. Dollars to donuts, so are you.
For my boys middle school's "Summer English Camp," every Friday is "cooking day." That means on Thursday, I have to show them a video of some typical American dish, something easy to make, and then explain it in detail. This week, being the first week of the camp, instruction from the director of all the camp classes was that the typical dish would be peanut butter and banana sandwich. That actually went very well. The kids are low-level in English but highly motivated and in 7th grade. They enjoyed the silly song that accompanied the step-by-step video recipe (I'm not ashamed to say I enjoyed it also, although I've never heard it before--some British song). And they all were able to explain to me in English at the end of class yesterday how to make the sandwich.
Now imagine my surprise when it comes to the "practical exercise" portion of this little endeavor. You probably think, just as I used to until today, that the recipe merely calls for the following:
- Bread
- Peanut butter
- Banana
Oh, no! You are forgetting that we are in Korea and, apparently, not only do we Native English Speakers not really understand our own language, we do not even understand our own culture, specifically its cuisine. I say this because the items missing from that list but definitely present in the practical exercise portion were:
- Cheese
- Canned tuna salad
- Mayonnaise
- Stringed and pressed crab meat (sorry, I don't know the real term for it)
- Strawberry jam
In case you were wondering, yes, more than a couple of the students did put all of those items on their "peanut butter and banana" sandwich.
My proudest moment from today? I did not puke. Actually, just typing this anecdote is making me a bit queasy. And my mother wonders why I'm staying vegetarian while I'm in Korea. |
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Malislamusrex
Joined: 01 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 4:49 am Post subject: |
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1 piece of advice.....
If you let them tell you how to make a sandwich completely wrong..... they will think, "ah I've got this punk where I want him"
office politics old boy.... you tell him how to make the sandwich and don't take no for an answer.
I'm generalizing here but a lot of people come to Korea all wide eyed and think everyone wants to be their friend.
wise up there is a pecking order and your co-teacher wants to put you under her,mif you let her then you are the school's 'bitch' for the year. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:25 am Post subject: |
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| Malislamusrex wrote: |
1 piece of advice.....
If you let them tell you how to make a sandwich completely wrong..... they will think, "ah I've got this punk where I want him"
office politics old boy.... you tell him how to make the sandwich and don't take no for an answer.
I'm generalizing here but a lot of people come to Korea all wide eyed and think everyone wants to be their friend.
wise up there is a pecking order and your co-teacher wants to put you under her,mif you let her then you are the school's 'bitch' for the year. |
I'm pretty sure CentralCali's been around the block more than most of us. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:52 am Post subject: |
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Thanks, northway. After seeing what's done to Italian food, Japanese food, and Chinese food here, I should not have been surprised at all with what's done to some simple American dish. The Geography lesson scene in the original The King and I was just a cover. It was really about Korea. I kid, but it's not that far off the mark.
And I've been involved with Korea longer than a number of posters here have been alive.
{Edited to remove a stray (yet humorous) comma after Japanese.}
Last edited by CentralCali on Fri Jul 22, 2011 4:24 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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happiness
Joined: 04 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 4:00 pm Post subject: |
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i guess its that some people think sandwich includes tuna and mayo and all of that.
im happy i learned Korean right from the getgo to tell the subway people EXACTLY what I want. last week, they tried to put this nasty cheap cheese on my sandwich. ewww.. |
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jlb
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 3:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Well....last night I went to Han's Deli and was disgusted when I tasted my *sweet* spaghetti carbonara. How bizarre. |
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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| Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 3:51 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I know what I'm having for dinner when I get home.
*stifles vomit attack* |
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Kaypea
Joined: 09 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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| The other morning, I was presented with a tuna and strawberry jam sandwich, and it was... okay. That pb and banana thing sounds like a hot mess, though. |
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mj roach
Joined: 16 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 8:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Cent. Cali. - Never been served a hamburger with a swirl of whipped cream and a marachino cherry on top of the bun? Now, that's how you make a real burger. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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| And the saga continues! Today's "American cuisine" is--and I kid you not--kimbap! I bet at least 95% of the posters on this forum can write the conversation the co-teacher and I had about that and those posters weren't even in the room. Go ahead. Post what you think the conversation was and when I get home after 4:30 (thanks to yet another moronic stunt by a new NET), I'll tell you how far off the mark you guys are. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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| mj roach wrote: |
| Cent. Cali. - Never been served a hamburger with a swirl of whipped cream and a marachino cherry on top of the bun? Now, that's how you make a real burger. |
Nope. I've been vegetarian for ten years now so that wouldn't come up. It does sound nasty, though. |
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Kaypea
Joined: 09 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
| And the saga continues! Today's "American cuisine" is--and I kid you not--kimbap! I bet at least 95% of the posters on this forum can write the conversation the co-teacher and I had about that and those posters weren't even in the room. Go ahead. Post what you think the conversation was and when I get home after 4:30 (thanks to yet another moronic stunt by a new NET), I'll tell you how far off the mark you guys are. |
CC: Kimbap is the American cuisine? Haha, that must be a mistake. Isn't this funny?
Coteacher: What is funny?
CC: The book says we're going to do some American food today, and the example is kimbap. Haha!
Coteacher: But I saw on the news. Americans eating kimbap. Also, French teenagers love Korean pop.
***Was it something like this? |
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cert43
Joined: 17 Jun 2010
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| Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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| OMG..stop for real |
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Modernist
Joined: 23 Mar 2011
Location: The 90s
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| Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Kaypea's scenario has to be pretty close. I especially second the part where the Korean co-teacher says, 'what is funny?' |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:08 am Post subject: |
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Here's the actual conversation from Wednesday (CC=CentralCali; CT=Co-teacher).
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CT: For this Friday's cooking class, the students will make kimbap.
CC: Excuse me?
CT: I said it's kimbap for the cooking class on Friday.
CC: We're supposed to have them making something American, aren't we?
CT: Yes.
CC: You don't see a problem?
CT: How can kimbap be a problem? The kids will love it.
CC: Well, I like it, too; however, it's not American cuisine.
CT: I've seen Americans eat kimbap.
CC: Right--in Korea. Why not make a sandwich instead?
CT: We did that last week.
CC: No, we made one kind of sandwich. How about a BLT or grilled-cheese sandwich this time?
CT: What are those?
CC: BLT is a Bacon-Lettuce-Tomato sandwich. You said we don't have much money for this and that's about the cheapest sandwich there is.
CT: They won't like that.
CC: How do you know?
CT: They've never had it.
CC: Okay. Then, we can show them how to make a good grilled-cheese sandwich. You just need bread, butter, cheese, and maybe a couple of other things but not much.
CT: Oh, you mean to-stuh.
CC: No, I mean grilled-cheese sandwich.
CT: That's no good. Koreans don't like that. Anyway, we've already bought everything for the kimbap. Be sure to have a good video and the script for it ready by tomorrow.
CC: {Stares at her and wonders how someone as smart as she usually is just shuts down the brain like that. I didn't even ask her who she thinks is supporting the bazillion "to-stuh" franchises in Korea.} |
I did find a good video from youtube with English instructions that are incredibly easy to follow for the low-level 7th graders we have. All next week is my vacation and a week off for the summer camp. I'm wondering what the odds are of the following Friday's "American cuisine" being samgyeopsal.
C'mon! Let's have some fun with this. Go ahead and put down how the conversation above would probably have gone with you and your co-teacher. Also, how the conversation might go for the same characters if the next "American cuisine class" is, in fact, samgyeopsal. Remember that for both conversations, the co-teacher's choice is the choice that prevails.
Last edited by CentralCali on Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:14 am; edited 1 time in total |
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