After a great week in Seoul, the South Korea team headed to the coast! We spent two full days in Busan getting to know local high school students. Local university students helped translate between our groups and we got our first real experience building connections with students of a different language and culture. Highlights of the weekend include painting a giant wall mural in a park together, playing Korean cultural games, exploring a science museum late at night, and visiting the UN Peace Memorial. We finished off the weekend with a barbecue celebration and had a few tearful goodbyes (and lots of new Instagram follows!).
Here are highlights, as told by the South Korea Experimenters!
“My favorite moment that we did together in Busan has to be the dinner we had together on the last night. We all bonded so much and became great friends! I was so happy to get to know them and have a lovely meal with them.”
“I liked meeting with kids my age from a different culture and background and seeing the similarities and differences between us.”
“My highlight of the Busan trip was making friendships with the Korean students that will stay with me even when I go back home. My favorite thing about the Busan trip was eating dinner with everyone because I feel like I was able to bond with the Korean students more.”
“My most favorite part about Busan was definitely bonding with my group [of Korean and Experiment students]. Although the Korean students were really shy the first day, they eventually opened up to [us] even without the [university students] to translate. They will always have a place in my heart.”
“One of my favorite parts about the weekend in Busan was working together with the Korean students to win the games. It gave us a way to communicate without having to struggle through the language barrier.”
“One of my favorite things about Busan was playing the Korean version of capture the flag, as it was a way to break the boundaries between us.”
“My favorite part of the weekend in Busan was getting to interact with students and broaden my vocabulary through these interactions.”
“The weekend started out very quiet and awkward but as the time passed we started talking to them more even though we had a communication barrier. By the end of the trip, we became good friends and they remembered us very well. We even keep in contact with them every now and then.”
