With the end of mid- terms and final exams coming up, many Korean universities have festivals at their school where they hold multiple events that students can participate in and have fun. This week was the festival week for Korea University and during the final day for the festival week, a huge concert was held where many famous Korean artists were paid to perform at the school. Tickets were really cheap (around $9) and you were really getting bang for your buck as trying to see some of these artists individually would cost anywhere from $50 to $100. Also, there were about 8 famous artists in the lineup for the concert so it was really an event worth not missing. Although I did not know a lot of the artists since I was not too familiar with K-Pop, there were still a few artists I was able to recognize and be excited for, like Epik High or Akdong Musicians. For the beginning half of the festival, me and my friends tried to get as close as possible to the stage. However, 4 hours into the festival and with 3 hours remaining, I decided to give up in trying to stand for a whole 7 hours in a crowd of people and went to find a seat. It was fun being close to the stage but I could no longer bear the heat coming from the other people and also the constant standing that we would have to do.
There were also a lot of cheering songs that every Korea University knew and it was very interesting and exciting to be able to experience the culture of Korean college students all linking arms or shoulders to sing and dance together in unity. Unfortunately, I did not know most of the lyrics to the different songs so all i could do was try to follow along and dance. Overall, the event was still fun and a great cultural experience being a college student in Korea.
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This week, me and my friends held a Hawaii booth during the International Student Festival. Held every semester at Korea University by KUBA (Korea University Buddy Assistants), exchange students have the opportunity to be able to sign up and display the culture of their country at this festival. Even though Hawaii is not its own country, I was able to persuade the people in charge about how Hawaii has their own unique culture, despite being a state of the US. At the booth, we were not able to introduce any traditional Hawaiian food, but instead offered local favorites like spam musubi, Kona coffee, and other snacks. Our booth grabbed a lot of attention and many people were actually interested in learning about Hawaii. Most of their preconceptions of Hawaii was just beaches and sand and not much else. Thankfully, we were able to break this misconception that they had about Hawaii and were able to introduce the culture of Hawaii to some degree. Also, to our surprise, our booth won best booth of the day and we took home the first place prize of $100! Even though it was hard work serving food and operating the booth, in the end, it was worth it since I was able to spend time with friends and also because we were able to win first place. I also felt that this helped people learn more about Hawaii as there was some people who thought that people living in Hawaii did noting but surf and swim at the beach. A few people even thought that we lived in huts....
This week, I was able to go to an escape room with my friends. Escape rooms are a new trend in Korea which started in 2014. It involves trapping you and your friends in a room and having puzzles and quizzes to find a way out of the room. Rather than trivia questions, the puzzles are more about using complex thinking and so everyone will be able to enjoy the games without any prior knowledge of facts. There is also a time limit to try to escape, and once time runs out, it basically means that you failed to escape from the room. Also, there are different types of escape rooms and you can even choose the difficulty level based on the locations you go to. For our escape room, the difficulty level was 4 out of 5 and it was based inside a history museum.
After having 9 minutes and 56 seconds left on the timer for us to escape, we were able to successfully make it out of the room. It was a lot of fun and me and my friends agreed to try and finish the other escape rooms as well. I really recommend going to an escape room at least once with friends as it was a very new and interesting experience that I never had before. Also, being able to solve all the puzzles and make it out before the timer gave me a feeling of relief and accomplishment since I did make it out and did not waste the money for going to this place. Today, I was able to explore the national museum of Korea because of a small convention that my internship VANK was holding at the museum. Located right by Ichon (이촌) station, it is very easy to get to the museum. In the subway station, the station exit is marked as National Museum of Korea and there is a huge sign which shows that you are heading in the right direction.
At the museum, my internship had me do a presentation in Korean in front of native speakers which was an interesting experience. Being that it was my first time speaking in a big crowd of Korean speakers, I was very nervous and afraid that my Korean might sound awkward or that I would mess up a lot. After the presentation, I had an opportunity to go explore the museum and look at all their different exhibits and artifacts that the museum held. Being that my family was Buddhist, I had a keen interest in the many artifacts and relics that they had that were related to this religion. Also, one of the main displays at the entire museum was the actual crown that one of the kings had worn before. It was made entirely out of gold and looked like a very fragile artifact. This ceremony marked the last day of the semester and also the last day that I would spend with my KUBA group. In the beginning of the semester, being with this group was very awkward at times since there were so many new faces and people I didn't know. However, as time passed and we got to know each other more, there wasn't a single night where I wouldn't have fun when spending time with this group. Thanks to them I was able to have many exciting and unforgettable experiences and they also helped to keep me from feeling alone or homesick.
There are many buddy programs similar to KUBA in other Korean universities. For example, the one at Seoul National University is known as SNU Buddies. If given the opportunity, I would highly recommend joining these buddy groups because of the great networking and the many relationships and bonds you can make with people from all over the world. This week I went to the fish market with my KUBA (Korea University Buddy Assistants) group. It was my first time at a Korean fish market and I did not know what to expect. On arrival, the smell of fish was the first thing that you could notice. Once you get in, there are tons and tons of fish and seafood. Also, because of the fierce competition, sellers usually literally drag you to their booth to sell you some fish or seafood. It was very chaotic but also fun at the same time. Also, I was able to try live octopus at the market. It was an interesting experience to consume octopus that was still moving. After, me and my friends enjoyed sashimi together which was also very delicious. Overall, it was a fun and worthwhile experience that also satisfied my stomach at the same time.
This week, I traveled to the War Memorial of Korea which is located in Yongsan. Because my internship was holding a convention there to promote SDGs (Strategic Development Goals) that the UN recently proposed, I was able to go there and explore the place a bit while working. Even though I had studied about the Korean War before through my Korean classes, the museum had so much other information that I did not know about. One interesting fact was that over 30 nations were actually involved in some way during the Korean War, whether it was giving aid or supplies, or providing troops to the Koreans. I was unable to fully explore the museum and take pictures as I was working, but hopefully I get a second chance to come back and explore.
MT, also known as membership training, is a 2 day 1 night event where a group of people (in a club, same major, etc.) gather and get to know each other better through games and other activities (a.k.a drinking). MTs are usually held at a lodge(숙소) and it is one of the best ways to get to know your classmates or friends even better. This week, I went on an MT with my Flagship program members, which included the staff and the students. We had lots of food, played games and also did some drinking. It was a very fun night and was a good way to relive stress after midterms. This was my first MT and I was able to enjoy it a lot and in the future I hope to have a few more experiences like this before leaving Korea.
My first Korean Internship!
Thanks to the Flagship Program, I was able to get an internship with a Korean NGO known as VANK. This organization specializes in helping to market Korea's image nationally and globally. Their main missions include teaching foreigners about Korean culture and history using promotional materials and through online and offline activities (through websites or big festivals/events) , rectifying errors on Korean history in textbooks, website, etc., and also educating people about unknown history about Korea. One example of this would be the sufferings of comfort women during the Japanese Imperialism from before and during World War II. This issue has recently become a big issue since the Japanese still refuse to give an official apology to these women who suffered during those times. Through this internship, I hope to increase my Korean proficiency through the interactions and activities done while working. I also hope to learn more about the Korean history and also hope to make an impact on this team. Also, I hope that I will be able to learn some of the business culture in Korea as well and see how they manage or operate their business compared to a business in America. This week was the annual Ko-Yeon Games between the rival schools of Korea University and Yonsei University. There are 5 different sports played and they include rugby, soccer, ice hockey, basketball, and baseball. However, rather than spectating the sports, people do all kinds of cheers and chants to help rally and support their team, which made it a very unique experience for me to be a part of. This year also marked the 50th anniversary for Korea University but unfortunately, the games ended in a draw because soccer ended in a 1-1 draw. However, because Korea University scored the last goal in a dramatic fashion, it felt like a win to Korea University.
Back at the university, there was an afterparty where people cheered and danced together and there was also free food from restaurants. In Anam, which is the town where Korea University is located, alumni of the university buy out restaurants for this day and offer free food to the students and also provide drinks and food when students cheer for them. This was a very interesting experience to see and I was able to see the bond and pride that the students have for their school. |
Troy Chong
Freeman Scholar -Spring 2016 Archives
May 2016
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