Greater Lafayette Culture and Cuisine

Yeah! From last Friday, the "Greater Lafayette (Lafayette and West Lafayette)Culture and Cuisine" class started☆　This class has been provided by Pudue ESOL. Every other Friday morning, we welcome different teachers. At the first half, we learn vocablary about dining, American etiquette, and upcoming events. At the latter half, we go to a restaurant that a teacher recommend. Oh, you are wondering whether it is "a class" or not? Yeah, it's like...a fun meeting!!

The teacher of the first day was Eileen. She is definitely one of my FAVORITE teachers! When I started to study at Purdue ESOL, I was just impressed by her teaching. She has great leadership, originality, and sense of humor. Also, she is very supportive teacher! She has been France and Morocco. So she understands how serious we are about studying local language.
She gave us TGIF(Thank God It's Friday!) newspaper. Uhm...I wasn't aware that so many concerts and festivals were held in this town! Also, it's a football season now.
She explained some custom and traditonal events which were related to football games.

Then, we went to her favorite restaurant...Maize! Maize is also my favorite restaurant. It is located at the center of downtown Lafayette. I think they provide "fancy American" cuisine. Whenever you go, lunch time or dinner time... Maize is always dim, in a chic mood, I think. Can you feel the mood from this photo? After we were seated, a waiter explained today's specials. I love soup! But, that day's special soup was "Indian rabbit and duck creamy soup." Oooops... INDIAN RABBIT!?
"Actually, there is a wild rabbit (or two rabbits, I'm not sure...) in my yard. "
When I said so, my classmate, Erin, who is from Taiwan, said, "So, Have you noticed he disappeared?" and similed.
NO WAY!!! I am a CHICKEN, so I didn't take it. However, Erin ordered the soup.

While we were waiting food, Eileen asked Erin, "So...what do you do here?"
She smiled, " I am doing a housewife job." However, we knew she was SOMEBODY because she was very, very fluent in English!!! We asked her many questions, and gradually she told us about herself. She went to a University in Chicago to finish a program about being an internatinaol lawyer just for two years!
She moved to Lafayette because of her husband's study. However, she already took the exam of international lawyer. I should say an "American lawyer," because her prospective certification was available in New York. Now, she is waiting for the result. If she pass it, she will be an intern in Indiana, and go to New York to get a job. Her major is "the international banking law."
Wow! She must be amazingly smart!! What made me impressed was not only her intelligence, but also her friendliness and humbleness!!

Sometimes I can meet people like Erin here, someone who is AMAZINGLY smart, and also humble and sociable!!
One of my Korean friends, Jing Kyong, is also such a wonderful person.
She was a physician in Korea, and had been studying for the American medical doctor exam. She got pregnant, and she went back to Korea...anyway, we have been good friends!! I think she is very smart person, but she has never bragged about herself. She is always funny, and delicate. She often cared about how my investigations for a wedding job ( I was looking for a volunteer job or something which was related to wedding at that time) were going because she knew how important that was to me.

I admire people like Erin and Jing Kyong. I can't be amazingly smart like them FOREVER, but I enjoy listening their experience! I always learn many things from friends who have achived great results.
Oh! Now, I noticed. Having these people is also Greater Lafayette's heritage!