Here are some of the mock venues that the students visit. They are pretty relistic, and the students are usually in awe of them. This is the hotel, with for some reason, a Tower of London Beefeater standing outside.
The Airport: Pretty realistic too. Airport-type sounds play over the speakers and students must show their fake passports to the fake passport control person. Amazingly, all are allowed to board the plane. Some even have liquids...in bottles! Fortunatley so far, none of the students have turned out to be terrorists.
Inside the plane: These are actual seats from a Korean Airlines plane. The crazy Korean/USA girl takes this lesson and the students, having initially been excited, are left wishing they were in a real plane flying to somewhere far away (I mean, once the crazy girl goes away, leaving them to listen to the safety video...which they find about as interesting as something that is really dull). I was also excited when I first saw this...and I couldn't resist taking a look behind the curtain to see if there was a real cock-pit. But there isn't - it's just a wall, which I found a bit disappointing.
The Fast Food Drive Through...although there are no cars to drive through it. Inside is the fast food restaurant, where students are taught about how to get fat by eating a variety of junk food, which they then can practise ordering.
A sample of the fast-food delights...all made of rubber. As the students are told endlessly, these cost the school US$150 for each item...which is meant to stop them destroying them. They could have saved money by buying real fries from the Mc.Donalds in town. They last months without going off (so the Supersize Me movie said) and would cost about $1.
Olive Restaurant. The slogan for the restaurant is 'Enjoy Fresh Time'. I guess Pete, from the US, or Crazy Korean/American girl were consulted on the wording.
Inside the restaurant: the students are being given a lesson on how to order by Mr. Yang. His dialogue never changes, and he always tells them the most important words to know are 'I would like...', and he then gives an example...or two, or three. He actually goes through the entire menu demonstrating how to use the phrase 'I would like...' - which the students knew before they came here. I did suggest he gives just one example, as it's pretty basic stuff for them, but he didn't like the idea.
Some of the food on offer at 'Olive Restaurant'. They can't have the lasagna, as it's not on the menu. Niether is the very appealing pasta in gravy with a slab of meat on top (and garnished with what looks like a marijuana leaf on top). Do they really eat this in America, or was the rubber food company having a laugh? Anyway, too much meat in this restaurant for my liking.
Inside the 'Home' venue. Everything is real...and must have cost a bomb. In the kitchen is a real fridge-freezer (empty but turned on), and a sink with running water. In the lounge American Pete sits the kids down and, in his own words, 'really talks to the students one-on-one', looking them in the eye, listening to what they have to say. Some of his great conversation starters include 'So, do you like school?', and 'What's the weather like today?', and 'Would you like to live in a home like this?' (they all live in blocks of flats which vary as much as Pete's questions for each student (I mean...they are all the same)).
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