South Korea: K-Culture & Peacebuilding

This past July I had the opportunity to take part in the 2023 South Korea immersion program by the experiment and it was a blast. We went to a variety of places ranging from Seoul shopping centers to museums and temples and traditional markets in Gwangju. Each day was jam packed with new activities and new international friends. The group dynamic was really comforting and the staff always supported us. This program also focuses on the growth of an individual and for me i’ve grown immensely. This trip really gave its students a sense of independence like going to the laundry mat to do our own laundry or hanging out with friends in an area of the city for a few hours. All of this independence led up to our free day where I met up with international friends I had met throughout the month. I learned about Korea’s dark history, their gorgeous scenery, and immersed myself into the language and trying to speak it. Although this trip was only a month, the memories I made will last a lifetime <3

I was interested in all the activities provided and I genuinely did enjoy my time in Korea. The adults supervising us were extremely respectful and helpful and the children in my group were also likeable and I am glad I got to share this experience with them. If I had to add anything, I would have to say the day we got to truly experience the culture and wear hanboks was my absolute favorite. The food was amazing and the demographic was even better. My entire experience was positive. I would say this changed me in a way where I would actually like to spend my future doing things revolving around peacebuilding internationally.

I spent the entire month of July participating in The Experiment's K-Culture and Peacebuilding program. I hadn't been on a plane since I was a toddler, and I'd never traveled without family before. Despite my tremendous excitement for the opportunity, I was also extremely anxious. It ended up being one of the best experiences of my life. Every participant and group leader was easy to connect with, and I feel I've formed incredible bonds. I was also able to achieve my goal of reconnecting with my language and culture, and I returned home feeling more worldly, knowledgeable, and sociable. With the help of The Experiment, I was able to take a trip I never would have been able to take on my own, experience incredible moments, and learn invaluable lessons. I will treasure the memories from this trip for a lifetime.

The Experiment in international Livings South Korea program was an amazing trip and experience. I was born in South Korea but at a very young age, I move to the United States of America. This trip was a great way to learn about the people and culture of the place I was born. During the trip I visited many incredible places for example we visited the Gyeongbokgung Palace, The Korean War Museum, the Han River, the DMZ, and many more incredible places. My personal favorite places we visited was the Gyeongbokgung Palace, Han River, and Seoul. I learned so much about the old and new traditions and culture of South Korea. It was amazing to see how technologically advanced Korea was. There were robot servers at restaurants and robotic guides in the airport. The food was another highlight of the trip. Korean cuisine was very different compared to America. The seasonings as well as the food ingredients themselves were different. I’ve had a good amount of Korean food growing up but there was a difference between having it in the USA vs having it in Korea. At the end of our trip, we met with a group of Korean high school students and did many activities with them. We visited Cheongju and learned about the Korean presidents, we attended a student lead fair and toured through an art museum. It was a lot of fun to learn about their lives as students in Korea and what their plans for the future were. At the very end of the trip, we were allowed to explore the city of Seoul and I was able to meet with a friend from America that was there as an exchange student. They gave me a tour of the surrounding area and we did some shopping. My biggest takeaway from the trip would have to be the culture of South Korea. Korea is so different than the US in so many ways. There are definitely cultural mannerisms I’ve taken back to the US and that I’ve implemented into my daily life. I would love to go back to visit again.

I will never forget this amazing trip. From wearing traditional clothes to dancing modern K-pop. I loved experiencing a traditional Korean wedding and wearing the fancy gowns. Also making Korean food with chefs was so much fun, and I will continue trying to make different cultural meals. Learning about my host family and their daily life was awesome. The constant opportunity to use Korean with natives was invaluable, and my language skills have improved so much in just one month. I am so glad I was able to participate, and that I was able to better myself through these experiences and the knowledge it brought forth. I recommend this trip for anyone who is brave enough to step out of their comfort zone and immerse themselves and experience another cultural.

The South Korea program was such an exciting trip and experience. The culture in the country is something I have never experienced. To learn about how this small country went from being so poor to now thriving and a technologically advanced was mind blowing. The trip showed me that old traditions and new modern trends can come together beautifully. The Korea trip is in the summer so it gets quiet hot so i recommend packing light clothes and keeping water on you at all times. It was supposed to be their rainy season but it barely rained. Coming home from the trip I hope to tell my experience to whoever will listen in hope to spread the idea that there is a whole world out there beside our country worth learning about.

My experience in Korea over this summer was just a magnificent experience. This program was filled with amazing peers, great leaders, and an incredibly humorous in-country leader. Each stay was so unique in its own way, so that we were able to experience all aspects of Korean culture. From visiting the Blue House Museum, to the Demilitarized Zone, to a Buddhist temple stay, each experience was immersive and spectacular. Although some accommodations required us to sleep on the floors, it was completely bearable, and somewhat easy to get used to. Overall, the accommodations were wonderful, and all of the owners were incredibly kind and welcoming. To top it off, the food was always wonderful. There wasn't a day where our entire group wasn't eager to eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner. My experience in Korea was simply unforgettable, and I'll always be grateful for this opportunity to tour and learn about peace building in Korea.

Overall Experience: Okay. I am half- Korean and expected to experience better food than in the States, learn some Korean, make some Korean friends, and really gain independence and explore South Korea. However, the food was okay (we went to the cheapest places for the budget - disappointing especially if you are paying the full price), we only had one Korean class that basically told us the translations of phrases rather than teaching us how to form and understand basic sentences and tenses, I made about two Korean friends and that was only because I met them by chance and outside of the program, and no one was allowed to walk a block alone despite how safe Korea is (being from NYC). When I was with my mom's family in Korea, the Korean group leader called me every hour because she didn't "find being with my blood-related family" safe enough without checking in. The plus of the program was that I experienced some new things (Buddhist temple, I can only think of about one) and made more friends (but they were all from the group). Do not go on this program if you want to be more independent and explore on your own, meet Korean people and truly experience the culture (not have a tourist experience), and learn the language; Instead, I would suggest doing a university program on the Korean language.
Academics: The Academics were boring and remedial. We had two full days in a classroom while in Seoul; something we could have done online before the program in order to avoid wasting such precious time. We learned about the definition of "peace" and "social justice" for an hour each day. Let this sink in-- a full hour for a simple definition we learn in elementary or middle school. Then the speakers were all one-sided; the program did not provide two perspectives (very anti-America). Furthermore, as previously mentioned, we did the Korean class for half an hour and only learned phrases to memorize. I had thought I would learn Korean from speaking with Koreans and taking actual lessons on grammar and structure and verbs, etc. but all I spoke was English and only know a few new words.
Living Situation: The living situations were not bad; the hostel was modern and clean. The Center for Reunification was nice (dorm-style) and the Buddhist temple as well. The stay in Gwanju was interesting (traditional house). However, the hostel only had 2 bathrooms for around 20 of us, the Center of Reunification was filled with bugs and we were not allowed outside after dark "because of wild animals" although in a lit, building-filled complex (I live in Westchester; we have coyotes here and we still go out after dark), the Buddhist temple monk controlled every aspect of our lives (we had no freedom), and the traditional house in Gwanju had all the girls in one room (about 17 of us) and only one bathroom for the twenty of us. I was sick during the latter half of the trip and couldn't sleep when the rest of the people came back from restaurant and turned the lights on, stepped on me (we were sleeping on mats on the floor), and talked very loudly.
Cultural Immersion: Very little cultural immersion. I guess my anyeong-haseyo skills have been refined and I now know mashi-seyo. However, I didn't learn really any of the language, the food was blah, and I interacted with very few Koreans besides the group leaders.
Health & Safety: Very safe if you want to be prevented from walking to the cafe next door or the laundromat down the street. However, I got food poisoning and suffered for the majority of the trip (not very safe as we should be eating at clean places not just the cheapest ones).
Program Administration: Ok. The American group leaders were very nice but one main Korean group leader was very controlling. She had everything planned out, we could make no choices (restaurants, going out), and had very little freedom (she barely let me visit my blood-related family).
Social Life: Only could go out some nights in groups of 3+ and had very early curfew. Didn't meet any Koreans, only fellow group members.