Friday, September 19, 2008

Dinner at the Olive Garden--YUM!

Tonight the university president invited all of the foreign instructors, and our department chair and another Korean professor, out for dinner. We went to the Olive Garden.

On arriving we were taken to a private room. I have been to this restaurant before and had no clue that there were private party rooms.

The president is the personification of what I would consider a "gentleman." He also reminds me of Chow Yun Phat (the Chinese movie star). There is a calm wisdom and power that both exude that I find fascinating.

Chow Yun-Fat in "Anna and the King."

The salad buffet at the Olive Garden is quite nice. And if you order a dinner entree you get unlimited access to the salad buffet too. After having already gone to VIPS this week with Julianne, I felt like I was in heaven . . .

I ordered "Honey Ribs."

The dinner was fun and the conversation ranged from soccer, basketball, rules for cricket (no one except for Shane had much of an idea about it), university team sports in America, a question about what "goofing off" means, and a very funny but awkward moment when I mentioned that I had been teaching students to be careful when saying the word "Coke" because mispronouncing it in the wrong kind of situation can lead to embarrassment. (I'd explain why it was funny but I think the ice I'd be treading on ice is TOO THIN . . . lol).

We also got into quite an interesting discussion about Obama, McCain, and Palin. Overall, it was a nice evening.

J

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

First time I have seen the words "Yum" and "Olive Garden" in the same sentence. But, better than seeing "Taco Bell" and "Yum" in the same sentence. But, I can understand how one might crave these foods after being away from America for a year or two.

Anonymous said...

Where is the Olive Garden in Chuncheon?

Jason said...

I don't think it's there anymore...under that name, that is. There's still a restaurant there but it's something else.....ask other expats who live in the area and have been around for a while--they can tell you.

I think there's a facebook group for Chuncheon too.