The alarm blared at 7:10 am and it took me a while to get up. After about 20 minutes, I got up and took my COVID test. I tested negative! I felt a little anxious as I knew we were bound to meet both the parents and kids. After having breakfast, I, along with three others, rushed to the W9/ECE building to help prepare for Family Day/Program early. As I was walking toward the building, I noticed how hard our Korean partners were working; I am forever grateful for their hard work! This special day consisted of many activities, such as Jenga, maracas, jump ropes, lanterns, jacks, kendama, dreidel, and statue game. As the nerves were slowly settling down, I noticed that my group’s initial activity, the statue game, had a major change; we were not allowed to play music! My nerves slowly started rising again, but, luckily, my wonderful Korean partners suggested playing Mugunghwa Flower/Red Light, Green Light. However, we did not get to play this as we and the students were more interested in using the badminton and birdies our Korean partners made. I was so amazed at how innovative they are at creating things; they used stockings as the net for the badminton and the top quarter of the bottle as the birdie! The first few students who came to our station were a little shy and wanted to play with their parent(s) first. Joanna and I noticed the student was having a little difficulty comprehending the game, so Joanna and I decided to play badminton to demonstrate it for them. As the sun beamed down on us, more and more children came to our station and enjoyed playing badminton. At one point, I played badminton with one group for 15/20 minutes! They definitely enjoyed it and, who knows, maybe they will become professional badminton players! After the wonderful Family Day Event, SFSU students were able to eat the food that was served. There were a variety of foods: Korean rice cake, kimbap, sandwiches, and fruits. I really enjoyed the kimbap, it was very 맛있는 (delicious)! Overall, Family Day was definitely a success! It was marvelous to see the children try different things and bond with their parents and teachers at the same time!
After the hard work was done, we got to rest for a bit and, then, treated ourselves by … going to a concert! As one would say, work hard, play hard! Gwen, Jonathan, Maxine, Michelle, Nisha, and I went to Seoul to go to a Seventeen concert (my favorite K-pop group!). To do this, we took a taxi to Daejeon Station and, then, took KTX to Seoul Station, which took about 45-50 minutes (and we were in cart #17!). Seoul Station is pretty huge and it was confusing to transfer to the subway and find which way to go. After successfully hopping onto the train, it took us around 20 minutes to get to Guil Station, which was directly in front of Gocheok Sky Dome. The concert started at 7 p.m. and my excitement grew bigger and bigger as the time neared that time. It was amazing to hear their intro (Say the name, Seventeen!) live after two years of being unable to because of the pandemic. Sadly, at the end of the concert, we had to leave early to be able to make it to the last train at 11:30 p.m. However, I still enjoyed the concert so, so, so much and even cried during one of their songs! I could definitely cross this off my bucket list: going to a Seventeen concert in Seoul/Korea! Connecting it back to their concert name, Be The Sun, SFSU and WSU students continuously shine bright and become beacons of light to the Woosong and Gayang children! We are the sun! -Ciara
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AuthorSFSU Psychology Study Abroad Students Archives
August 2022
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