January
9th, 2015
Host Rotary Club: District 3661 – Ballston Spa
Sponsor Rotary Club: District 7190 – Busan
Current Host Family: Kim Hyeon-Oak, Sohng Bong-Su
Counselor Name: Park JinLee
On December
2nd I had a day off from school so my host mom offered me the
opportunity to go to my little host sister's school to “teach” an English
class. What I did was read an alphabet book of fruits and vegetables with them
repeating my noises and then I read “The Giving Tree”. Before that they had
sung along to Frozen's “Let it Go” and after to a Korean history song. I
recorded some of it and you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GcNHabp28M&feature=youtu.be
Their overflowing energy was entertaining, but with this
experience I confirmed that I definitely do not want to teach English when I
get older.
The days
leading up to December 10th consisted of last minute preparation for
a presentation on the occasion of our Swedish friends leaving Korea. I realized
too little too late how influential they were on my exchange during my time
with them. Before coming to Korea I was encouraged to stay away from the other
foreigners so as to integrate myself with the Korean people. I struggled very
hard with this not because I craved the company of other English speakers, but
because Koreans clumped us together all the time. I used to think that escape
was impossible- that my exchange year would be ruined because the people I
spend most time with are not Korean. But as the time for them to leave neared,
I realized that any friend is a valuable friend. Being here was not a trip, but
a part of their lives. The end of their
exchange was only a preview of what mine might be, and it scares me.
We
celebrated together one last time on the 17th of December over
pizza. The final goodbyes occurred in the subway station, and we parted ways.
When we arrived back in the room we shared for three months we felt compelled
to clean it and rearrange the furniture, signifying a new chapter.
Speaking of
changes, on December 12th I
changed host homes. The new apartment is a little bigger and has a piano, which
is very nice. It is also lucky that I am within the same family, different
parents. I had no trouble re-orienting myself and becoming comfortable in the
new environment. I'm also closer to my school now, but January is winter
vacation so that will only become convenient starting next month.
Jumping back
into the future, I battled homesickness by not being able to celebrate my mom's
birthday with her and not crying about it! This was most likely because on the
same day I took a Korean language final, which took my mind off the matter
significantly. I was quite thankful for the test because it gave me a physical
goal to reach and an indicator of how far I've come in learning Korean. At the
beginning of my exchange I knew less Korean than I'd like to admit, but there
is definitely progress here and it won't
stop. Even though I should take advantage immersion and learn as much Korean as
I can now, sometimes I need to take some pressure off myself and remind myself
that I have my whole life to continue to learn Korean because leaving Korea
won't be a deadline for fluency.
The
challenge of homesickness reared its head again for Christmas, but did not
reduce me to a puddle of tears. The Rotary students were able to synthesize a
bit of Christmas spirit through a party in a cabin and giving each other secret
Santa gifts. I was more astonished than anything to think that people in the US
were doing their Christmas things and I was chilling out with my host family.
We had our small share of “Christmas celebration” which consisted of a cake and
seeing the Christmas lights and tree in Nampo-Dong.
On Christmas
day I saw the Hobbit movie and skyped parents for their Christmas morning. I
went to bed and woke up around 11am the next day and skyped my friends during
their Christmas night. It was like having Christmas 3 times in a row! I feel
proud to have made it through the holiday season with little difficulty. Now I
am more confident in acknowledging what I may miss about home, but still
enjoying my time here to the fullest.
The Monday
after Christmas it was back to school for two days. On December 29th
I got to experience my first school festival. I participated by performing
crane dance (which I made a blog post about here: http://bspatobusan.tumblr.com/post/106614363901)
and playing the flute in a small ensemble (we played “The Waltz of Life” from
Howl's Moving Castle). The next day was the last before winter vacation. With
the thrill of the festivities aside I realized that I am at the halfway point
already. I became reflective in the light of this as the new year came. On the
first day of 2015 I saw the first sunrise by the seaside with my host family
and suddenly became 20 years old* at the same time.
Fast forward
through relaxing vacation days and a temple stay, the rotary students were once
again given last minute notice of a Rotary event for January 9th and
10th. We arrived on location and later figured out that we stumbled
upon RYLA, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. It turned out to be both a fun and
particularly memorable experience for me. I never heard of RYLA in the US, so
meeting up with a bunch of Korean university students was a delightful
surprise. We were separated into groups and I was grateful to be surrounded by
kind and inviting Koreans who were all around my age.
First we did
outdoor team building games, which are my specialty. It was so nice to be
integrated into the group right away because of our shared enthusiasm and them
speaking Korean with me. To be honest it was the first time Korean students
didn't speak a word of English to me, I was very happy. I surprised myself
later that day by doing something I never though I would dare to attempt. I
gave a 2 minute, impromptu speech in Korean. Everyone was in a lecture hall
listening to their peers give 2 minute speeches about whatever they wanted to
show themselves that they could. The foreigners weren't asked to participate
beforehand, so when the teacher in charge came to me near the end and asked me
to speak, I don't know why I said yes.
At first I
shook my head and asked to speak for 30 seconds. He replied that I only had to
do a self-introduction and talk about what I think of Korea. I ended up walking
to the podium with nothing in my head, it was thrilling. I sort of sputtered
the essentials: my name, when I came and started learning Korean, what I like
about Korea and Koreans. Then I commented on how terrifying public speaking is,
and congratulated all the people who spoke before me, and meandered on to end
with “Even if you don't have confidence, you have to do it anyway.” (자신이 없지만 그냥 해야돼요.) I don't know how much of
my “speech” was correct or even understandable, but I realized how my Korean
version of Nike's slogan really resonates with my attitude towards my exchange.
I did it, and I was content with myself.
*The Korean age system is different because they say
you're already 1 year old when you're born. Also, everyone turns a year older
with the new year. Upon coming to Korea I had to get used to telling people
that I was 19 instead of 18. Now that I'm 20 here I'll go back to the US and
magically be 19 again!
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