A Hustle but Happiest Week in Korea!

Hello! 안녕하세요 – Annyeonghaseyo

It has already been the third week I stayed in Korea and time is going by so fast. This week was very busy for me because I had to prepare a presentation about international trade for my class and I also participated in a home visiting program, which would give me a chance to learn about Korean family culture and build a new relationship. 

Therefore, it was very important for me to manage my time well in order to complete my presentation, as well as spending time with my host family. I divided my week into two parts: from Monday to Thursday, I would spend time to work on my presentation and on Friday and Saturday I would go shopping and prepare gifts for my host family.

Every day, I came to the coffee studio with my team to work on the presentation. After class, I and my teammates went to the study room to start doing research and creating the slides. We usually spend 5 – 6 hours to work on the powerpoint.

We divided the presentation into three parts and each of us would be responsible for one of them. I was honored to be chosen as the team leader and the main presenter of the group. Besides working on my part, I was in charge of review the whole presentation, the final slides, research and present the statistical information, such as graphs and tables, and help my teammates review their scripts.

Briefly, about my presentation, my team decided to present about Russia and their international trades. Specifically, we were going to talk about Russia’s population, GDP, history, and the current government. This information helped us understand more about the background of this country and partially explain their current economic problems. From there, we would find out why Russia is a protectionist country. Finally, we would give the examples of their trades with the EU and Ukraine to support our explanation about Russia’s protectionist policies.

 

After working on the presentation, I spent my time to go prepare some gifts for my host family. I have bought some postcards from Texas to introduce my state to the host family and help them remember me. I also practiced writing some Korean words to show them my respect for their language and culture. For instance, I learned to write “안녕하세요! 제 이름은 트랭입니다. 만나뵙게 되어 정말 기뻐요,” which means “Hello, my name is Trang. It’s nice to meet you.” Also, I asked my Korean classmate what Korean people usually buy when they come to visit others’ family. So, I went my classmate to the market to buy the juice box, which is the most common and the favorite gift for a Korean family.

 

This weekend is the best memory for me on this trip. I have had a great time with my host family, and I felt like I have found a new family for myself in Korea. Even though we just met each other, we already felt very close and got along well. I have met a great mother and wonderful brothers and sister. We cooked together and had a great conversation to understand more about each other.

After having a meal together, I played a board game with my brothers and sister. We have had so much fun and they felt more comfortable to talk to me. Also, my host family invited me to come back to visit them one more time before I go back to the U.S. I was so happy and honored because I was really considered as a member in the family. Before leaving, my host family also prepared a bag of gifts for me and I really appreciated it.

 

 

This week is not only a hustle week for me but also a week full of happiness. Even though I had to work hard to finish all the tasks, I was glad to receive the trust of my teammates and love from my host family. Next week is my last week in Korea, so I hope that I will have more meaningful time and memories. I will come back and update more stories about my experience in Korea.

 

Thank you! 감사합니다 – Kamsahamnida