First we met at a meeting hall to do (surprise) icebreakers and to talk a little about the camp in general. We all got name tags in Korean and English and were instructed to mingle for a little but before the camp started. It was a little awkward at first- some people didn't speak a ton if English and my Korean is definitely not conversational, but it was still nice to actually talk to Korean kids the same age as me. Sadly, on the nsliy summer program it's really hard to interact with people your age unless you have host siblings that age or your host parents introduce you to family friends or something. Yes, we live in Korea but sometimes it feels like we don't because we mostly interact with a bunch of Americans. This camp gave us the chance to not only have some cultural exchange and a great day, but also make some real Korean friends!
After the mingling we did some group icebreakers and then separated into small groups named after animals. Our group name was the giraffes, and although we didn't win any of the competitions today, we still got really close (friend-wise, not close to winning lol). But we did short introductions and then some team building activities where we had to work together to build trust, etc. Then we did some more introduction games (one where we had to write our first impressions of the person on a peoce if paper taped into their back. I got "young" "smart" "kind" "cute" times like five haha, and my personal favorite, "blonde"). We also did a newspaper fashion show!
Giraffe team for lyfe
After the introduction games they gave our group an envelope containing pictures that were the hints to the first place where we will do our missions. Then we left as a group to go to lunch and deliberate on what our mission site was. We went out for Japanese food, and all the Korean students were like WE SHOULD EAT KOREAN FOOD WITH THE AMERICANS, but it was pretty good so no one complained that much.
Our pictures for the mission were textbooks, a picture from "Night At The Museum" and a slip of paper that said "Korea Capital". We (aka the Korean students) figured it out and we headed to our destination- the Seoul Education Museum. It was extremely hot and humid and miserable and we had to walk a lot so we were all struggling. We were running really late, but we finally arrived at out first destination. There we found the YES office representative who have us out mission card. We had to solve a puzzle about Korean education, try on old Korean school uniforms and take a picture, and make a video in an old Korean classroom. We also had a question- how did the Korean education system change over time?
We solved the puzzle, took the picture, made the lamest video in the history of ever, and then had trouble answering the question. We finally found it though- the Korean education system modernized as Korea westernized. As the country started to move away from traditional Confucian education ideas/traditional education systems, the school system changed with it. Also, following the cease fire in the Korean War, there was a large education reform in South Korea.
After we cleared this mission we were sent to Ehwa women's university for our second mission! It was so much walking and miserable ugh. The only complaint I had about the whole day was the weather~ it's getting so hot here it's ridiculous. I'm getting major muscle in my hand from using my fan so much haha.
At Ehwa we found the second representative and got our mission- ask two students there about the university's history and international reach, and then take a picture imitating "The Thinker" in from of te accord archives.
Despite everything, Ehwa's campus was absolutely breathtaking. It was probably the prettiest college campus I've ever been to, and it was definitely impressive.
Our mission here was a success though! Too bad we were running really late and got to the center way past the time we were supposed to.
When we got back to the center we had to make a poster to present our findings about the international nature of the Korean education system, as well as the similarities and differences between the US and Korean schools. Then everyone voted but we lost and didn't win free bingsu :(. But it's all good, our group rebelled and went out for bingsu together anyways afterwards because team Giraffe was the best!
We had bingsu and took sticker pictures together, and it was honestly one of the best days I've had in Korea. Everyone there was so nice and we got pretty close (not to mention the bingsu place they picked was the bomb, it took international flavors and made them into bingsu and beverages). Saying goodbye to them was really sad, but we want to meet again before the program ends so hopefully we can all see each other again.
Also, I learned a lot about Korean selfie culture. Korean girls love selfies. Like, love love. It's crazy haha.
Also, we took selfies while waiting in line for sticker pictures!
(The eye in the corner there is terrifying)
But after we said bye to the Korean students we went out to KFC because my host mom had given me like 30$ in KFC (also valid at other stores) coupons. I treated everyone to chicken because in awesome haha. It was alright but we didn't get drinks so I bought a coke at the convenience store next door haha.
Then I came home and went to bed because everything is exhausting :).
No comments:
Post a Comment