South Korea Peace Camp 2010

my roommateee andrewww

animal love

What we do in lecture

Hillary meeting Sunny

He was making sure we didn't run to North Korea

no better experience then eating pizza on the streets of Korea

this was through the glass and the rain

she's happiest with a glass

Team USA + one Korean

she wanted to hold my hand

 

the canadian girls

 

oh shaun =]

her and her alcohol

but she still fun

Anyohaseyo

Now, in all honesty, before we went on the Korea Peace Camp 2010 trip, I wasn’t very excited to go.  I was nonchalantly about the whole trip, due to the fact that I was going to miss summer school and it interrupted my home visit in California.  I knew it was a golden opportunity, but it was also an opportunity that did not excite me.  Even on the flight, I couldn’t wait for the six day-seven night adventure to be over…

This all changed once we stepped foot in South Korea.  We went to places people imagine to visit.  From the Demilitarized Zone and JSA to the bullet train, lectures, shopping culture, beach, and wherever else we went in Seoul, Icheon, and Busan, the trip was an experience of a lifetime.  It is probably rare for anyone, including Americans, to visit such a diverse, cultural, strong, and economic country within a lifetime.  And yet, we students, were given a gifted opportunity and a journey. 

The trip itself was well-planned and organized to the very minute.  Our chauffer’s and guides were at times, fun, subjective, objective, and educated to be around.  They helped us with translation, transportation, guidance, and information that no tourist would know.   They were also lenient, funny, and helpful with whatever task us tourist, were trying to achieve. 

The trip was filled with almost too many things to do.  Our days were filled from 6am to 11p.m, and it almost seemed impossible to do.  It would have been impossible if we were tourists visiting by ourselves.  Thinking about it now, I believe the trip should have been two weeks! 

During the trip, I learned a lot of history between the world and Korea.  From the war that started sixty years ago until today, I believe we learned much more then we would have ever learned by reading a book or newspaper.  As an American, thinking of a country such as Korea, seems not as appealing as if it were in person.  I remember a guide asking, “What did you think of Korea when you first arrived.”  My honest answer was, “I don’t know.. I thought it was more of a third world country or an evolving country, not this advanced.” 

The thing I enjoyed most about the trip were the people on the trip.  No one acted out of control and no one was impossible to talk to.  We met many different students around the world including Korea, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, England, and Australia. 

To thank for this are the Koreans.  The Korean government allowed us to travel with family members, but also didn’t allow us to just hang out with relatives.  Instead, they gave us different buses than our relatives, along with different roommates.  In the beginning, I was a little hasty on this strategy.  But after a couple days of getting used to the people, the entire time was great. The Korean government also had an age range.  We weren’t traveling with our parents, or little kids.  It was just high school students and college students, people we could relate with. 

The friendships formed on this trip to me, will last a lifetime.  We now can say we have been to Korea, and we have been with people we enjoyed.  I asked a couple of people I met on the trip, “Would it have been this fun with different people?”    An although we agree that it might have been, it’s hard to say if we would take that chance to experience other people.  I love people I met, and hope to keep in touch with most of them. 

Looking back on the overall trip, it was a success.  We learned so much from the trip.  The experiences, the privileges, and the overall friendships during the trip will never be forgotten.  And it was all possible by the Korean government and our grandparents.  The government are such grateful, respectful, people for allowing us to take such a journey.  Our grandparents were very unselfish for risking their lives to protect something they might not have completely agreed with or understood.

Even though I was a little down in the beginning of the trip, I look back thinking, I wish it were longer.  If not longer, I wish it were an annual thing.  Hopefully, most of us keep in touch, and maybe create our own annual trip.  I don’t love many things, but I can say that Korea is one thing I did love.  It is also one thing I’ll always remember. Thank you to the people on the trip, and the Korean government for giving such a trip. Kamsamnida