American Standard

• Lectures today were a little overwhelming. There was a lot of information and one of them covered a topic that pertained to teaching that I hadn't even heard mentioned before, which was a little unnerving Basically, I figured our lectures would be information that I knew but could use extra tips on (like curriculum/classroom management/etc.) or information I had heard about vaguely and would be getting more details on. So this particular one was a surprise. But we got a lot of good traveling info and tips from one and I impressed a professor by knowing that the US does not have a nationally standardized curriculum in another.
• During dinner, we were discussing the lectures and, as I was talking about the Korean Education lecture, Jennifer asked me whether I liked the idea of nationally standardized curriculum. I talked about that, standardized testing, GLCEs, certification, teacher evaluation and the MEAP - after which she and Shelby both said they were really impressed with how much I knew. Yay for forming opinions and putting what I learned in college to use!
• In my optional class tonight, I learned to cook bibimbop, with Shelby and Glenn. It was fun but the best part was that I separated an egg (thanks Dad :)) and flipped each part in the pan (without a spatula)! It was so cool.
• After that, we went to norebang with a bunch of people from Group 3. Norebang is Korean karaoke, but you get to be in a room with everyone you go with, instead of singing to a bar/restaurant full of people you don't know. I sang I Want It That Way, My Heart Will Go On, A Whole New World, and Womanizer with various people. It was really fun hanging out with people from a different group (I'm in Group 5), because the people in my group only casually talk to me and I feel like I'm not making close friends with many of them (like a bunch of the lecturers say we should be doing). I also tried various Korean beverages, including black raspberry wine, lemon beer, and soju. Also also, I learned that  Korean boys in clubs = American boys in clubs...fun.