Un-Black Friday

One nice thing about Thanksgiving not being a holiday over here is that "Black Friday" is just like any other day - in other words, it is not a chaotic mess of a day like it is in the States.

We took the kindergartners on a field trip to McDonald's on Friday. Owing to the fact that I utterly despise fast food (I can think of much more exciting ways to kill off my body), it was my first visit to a McDonald's over here. Cate always has the kindies memorize a role play for field trips (using expressions that would be useful in an everyday setting). For the McDonald trip, we got permission from the employees for me to stand behind the counter to do the role play with each child, while Cate videotaped the exchange:

Me: "Hello, how may I help you?"
Child: "I'd like a hamburger, french fries, and a soda please."
Me: "How about a happy meal? It includes everything you want, plus you get a free toy."
Child: "That sounds fantastic. How much is it?"
Me: "It's 3500 won."
Child: "Here you are."
Me: "Here's your change."
Child: "Thank you."
Me: "Please go sit down and your order will be ready in about two minutes."
Child: "Okay."

It was like a trip down memory lane for me, since I worked for McDonald's for three years as a teenager. It was interesting to see how different the McDonald's Restaurants are over here. For one thing, drive-thrus are unheard of. For another, the registers were quite different, and some of the machines were as well. Instead of hamburgers, they have "bulgogi burgers," which taste WAY better. The meat tasted like it had been prepared in a sweet marinade of some sort, and there was lettuce and (I believe) mayonnaise on the sandwich, instead of ketchup, mustard, pickle, and onion.

After lunch, we let the kids play on in the playland for awhile, before walking over to HomePlus with them (it's right next to McDonald's). Each child had brought some money, a small shopping bag, and instructions as to what their mothers wanted them to purchase. We shopped with the kids, asking them to name random items in English. They knew all of the fruits and vegetables, and did surprisingly well with almost everything else. I never cease to be amazed at how smart my littlest students are.