Bobby - CP 5

I was so excited to meet Sangwook at Wells Brothers Grill (or as everyone townie knows it: Monk's!) for lunch - not only because it's one of my favorite joints in town, but because I was excited for Sangwook to experience a real American burger. He informed me that Korea has all the fast food chains one might expect, but I told him that those aren't real burgers. :) Coincidentally, our waitress was a past conversation partner! I think she noticed my particularly articulated speech with Sangwook, and asked us if we were part of the conversation partner program. When we said yes, she mentioned that she had done it and had great experiences. How cool! She was very kind to Sangwook as she explained things on the menu slowly and carefully. I thought this was very sweet.

After we ordered two monster burgers, we got to talking about our weeks and goings-on. Sangwook had more questions for me today than in our past meetings. We discussed several aspects of American culture and/or conversational speech. Something he wanted to know about was adequately responding when someone is telling a story. At first, I didn't really know what he meant (and I'm still not quite sure?), but it basically was like this: he is confused about what to say when someone is telling a story or facts. For example (this is the example I asked him to give me):

Speaker A: In Korea, there used to be four seasons. Now, Fall and Spring are very similar.
Speaker B: [must say something to indicate they are interested or are paying attention] Oh wow! Please go on.

I think this is what he meant. Or even just saying things like "Awesome!", "Oh, ok.", or "I see." I'm not sure I explained it well, but I made it clear that much of conversational speech among friends is about context, like we talked about in class yesterday.

We ended by discussing tipping and how servers in America are paid. As a server myself, I am well qualified to speak on behalf of this subject and how ludicrous it is at times. In a nutshell, I told him that 15% should be the minimum for adequate service, and 20-25% for exceptional service. I explained the complicated system by which servers are paid, and I think he understood very well. Such a smart guy. I really do enjoy spending time with Sangwook, and I'm grateful for the opportunities to get to know him!