I finished the class feeling a mix of slight emptiness and joy. Like the end of any course, we exchanged Facebooks and contact information with the new friends we made. These two weeks were blended with some pain, frustration, and joy, but now that they are over I feel that all those memories have become nourishment for my growth. In any case, I am filled with gratitude and happiness for having had this experience. - The 5 secrets that make them popular in Australia :: Bartending School / 2-week gap year |
- Official language:English
My English level before participating wasBasic everyday conversation
At the time of participation:Some difficulty
- Items that were inconvenient to be without:None
- Items that were convenient to have:Adapter
- What is your personal advice for future participants about what to bring?
Most items are available locally and prices aren''t that different, so rather than getting swept up in rumors and buying too many necessities, I recommend coming lightly and purchasing things after you''ve settled on where you''ll live.
- Among Korea Gapyear''s many programs, why did you decide to spend your gap year through the Bartending School?
I had always been interested in cocktail and coffee culture, and because I could learn them hands-on abroad and receive certification, I chose this program.
- The Bartending School programWhat impact did it have on the dreams you had?
One of my future goals is to open my own shop, and I think being able to learn the local Australian service culture and skills firsthand will be a great help.
- How was the structure and composition of the Bartending School program?
Most of the first week involved learning and testing the bar skills needed, and the second week was structured around learning and testing skills for coffee, restaurants, and other courses.
- As a prior participant, what advice would you give to those who will participate in the gap year program?
Even if other preparations are lacking, be sure to prepare linguistically. Particularly listening...It is quite different from the English listening on the exams you used to take, so prepare carefully.
- Tell us about your own travel route during the gap year.
Because the city itself is a tourist attraction, it''s good to have a guidebook, and even without one I recommend exploring the whole city.I recommend doing that, and personally I suggest the Victoria Market. Not only Australian but goods from all over the world coexist there.
- My gap year story in Melbourne
Monday, April 28. Because I had come the day before and checked the location, I didn’t get lost or arrive late. I arrived about 15 minutes before the 9:00 class start time, and looking around I saw people newly registering, people who had already registered and were waiting calmly, and all sorts of others. What was a bit surprising was that, apart from me, there were almost no Asians — most were locals. Wanting to be sure, I checked whether I was properly registered, and to my dismay my name wasn’t on the list. Whether it was a paperwork issue or an administrative problem, I checked several times but couldn’t find my name. In broken English I showed my passport to the staff and asked them to check, but all I got were negative answers. I hurriedly contacted the person in charge of the gap year program and we barely resolved the situation… It was a dynamic start from the very beginning.
As a result I joined the class about 15 minutes late. Fortunately, Dan, the instructor, had already seen me sitting there, so joining the class didn’t cause any incident. The class content itself wasn’t difficult. Because they had given us the textbook in advance, I could review the material beforehand, and even when I didn’t understand and missed something, Dan would point it out and lead the class. During class there were role-play exercises where we acted as bartenders while others were customers, and since everyone was considerate of my lack of English fluency, I was able to enjoy the lessons.
But you can’t do practical lessons all the time... When they sometimes taught things that weren’t even in the book and presented them solely by talking, no matter how much I concentrated and tried to listen, there were times I couldn’t understand the lesson. Each time, a Chinese friend, Jingjing, kept helping me from beside me... I still haven’t forgotten how grateful I am to that friend.So a week passed and the weekend came, but I couldn’t rest comfortably because I had failed the final test... I had no choice but to study desperately. I later learned that quite a few students had failed the exam besides me.
I had thought everyone had passed because they didn’t seem to care much after the test, but that wasn’t the case. In a way, this seems to show a difference in values between people from this country and Koreans. In Korea, each exam is approached desperately and failing is seen as falling behind, but people here treat it as just a light happening. Maybe it’s a kind of calmness. Dan, the teacher, also seemed not too bothered by failures. I felt foolish — only I was frantically disappointed and frustrated, and thinking about all the effort I had put in left me feeling oddly empty.
Anyway, to cut to the chase, after spending the weekend studying I barely passed the retest the next week. And the next week’s classes covered subjects other than the bar. About coffee — how to operate the machine, the sequence, and so on. The instructor changed, but because these were also practice-focused classes and I had worked in cafés in Korea for a long time, this was easier than any class so far. Even though their system was a bit different, the basic methods were the same. Then came the restaurant lessons: how to set tables, forks and spoons, the order of taking orders, and so on. In fact, in some ways this was probably the most difficult part.
The items on the menu were unfamiliar, and perhaps because the ordering format is something you don’t often see in our country, memorizing what was required and accepting things that locals consider routine was not easy. The fortunate thing was that Philip, the instructor, thought well of my attitude in class and kindly gave me individual guidance, constantly encouraging me that I could do well. After the coffee and restaurant lessons were over, we took a lesson on food hygiene. It included a food safety course, but because this was hard to practice separately it consisted mostly of theory and explanation with light practicals, so it was somewhat harder to understand than other subjects.
And on the last day, the long-awaited comprehensive test! I was doing very well in the practical parts, scoring higher than anyone else in those tests, but for the theory test, despite preparing a lot, I didn’t do well because the questions weren’t simple memorization but were adapted to local life. Feeling somewhat discouraged and anxious, the schedule reached its final stage. I was secretly worried that I wouldn’t pass this time either, but to my surprise they gave everyone a completion certificate. When I was puzzled, Jingjing, who had become my friend, calmly explained: although I hadn’t achieved good results on the written test, that was merely a language issue, and the instructors were saying that based on my performance during the practicals I had sufficiently understood and acted correctly.
I finished the course feeling a mix of emptiness and joy. Like at the end of any class, I exchanged Facebook details and contact information with the new friends I had made.
These two weeks were mixed with some pain, frustration, and joy, but now that they have ended I feel that all those memories have become nourishment for my growth. Above all, I am filled with gratitude and happiness for having had this experience.
