On Saturday, July 23rd, NSLI-Y students and 50 Korean high school students came together for a Youth Culture Exchange Day Camp. The event kicked off with various ice breaker activities so that the students could get to know each other and use their language skills to communicate with one another. Supporters (Korean university student mentors) and program staff were also in attendance and acted as both participants and guides to the students. In groups of five American and five Korean students, the teams ventured out to different famous places in Seoul to complete their main mission of filming a 30-second promotional video of their designated place. By the end of the camp, students were able to watch their original videos together and thoroughly enjoyed spending the day interacting and connecting with one another.
Hailey (NSLI-Y Korea, Summer 2016) says:
"This year's Hanmi* Camp was an amazing experience – one that I will never forget.
Firstly, through the camp I was able to make many new friends and connect with most of the Korean high school students through the fun games and ice breakers we played. In just a short few hours, I made strong friendships with the people in my group (go giraffes!) and with the people outside of my group as well.
Through these new connections we were able to exchange aspects of our different cultures and help each other with our target languages. I am still in contact with several of these people, and I plan to keep in touch with them as long as possible!
I was also able to learn about a part of Seoul that I never knew existed: The Seoul Flea Market. It was a sort of hidden treasure, a place that I never would have known about if not for the Hanmi Camp. While there, I was able to learn more about the daily lives of Korean people and I was able to witness everyday people simply enjoying their day. It was a huge difference from the usual hustle and bustle of the city, and even though it was something very simple, I am glad to have experienced it.
Thanks to the Hanmi Camp, I discovered a new part of Seoul, learned more about Korean culture, and made many new friends and memories. The Camp truly had an impact on my Korean language learning, as I made many Korean friends who were more than happy to help me learn, and I left the Camp feeling more determined than ever to study hard. I believe that this experience really pushed me to a milestone in my Korean language learning."
The Korean term for Korean-American Youth Culture Exchange Day Camp
Here are the 30 second promotional videos created by the student teams: