If you had a choice to visit a country for a month or more on a Rotary International Group Study Abroad program, would you? Before you answer, what if you knew you would be visiting Korea? Some of you may answer no to that. Not I and three other brave souls. We took this opportunity of a lifetime and ventured out into this unknown world. So that you know, this was South Korea. Our destination was Jeollanam-do, Southern Coast of Southern Korea.
We left with our luggage for our month study abroad program. Our travel time took over 21 hours, not to mention; S. Korea is 13 hours a head of us in time. So as you may imagine when we got there, our sense of time and place was well shall I say, out of whack. Our first destination was Yeosu, one of the three candidates to host the 2012 World Expo. At the airport, we were greeted by a group of Rotarians holding a “Welcome to Jeorgia” banner. (And I did not misspell, it. That’s how the banner was spelled). Our warm greetings continued up until lunch, when we were introduced to the Korean traditional food kimchi, seafood soup and side dishes of a variety of different vegetables and fruits, including mouth-watering watermelons and sweet ripe tomatoes. The food kept coming and coming and though we were stuffed, we were told to “eat, eat”. This was our introduction of what is yet to come. The majority of our meals in S. Korea were done, Korean style, which is eaten on a very low table and we all sit on the floor. So during our visits to the different places, we were “introduced” to that style.
During out time in S. Korea, we visited many cities and counties and met with dignitaries, mayors, council men, city government officials, Rotarians, etc. We drank green tea for what seem like 5 times a day. The green tea, I believe, gave us the energy we needed to continue on with our massive daily activities. And activities we had; from morning until night. We went everywhere and did everything. All in all, we were truly celebrities and treated like royalties. We were guided and protected and surrounded everywhere we went. We were guests to concerts held by huge Korean Celebrities and given the grand tour to every Museum, Tea Plantation, Buddhist Temple, Market, Traditional Home, Agricultural Center, Beautiful Mountain, Park, Recreational Forest, Farm House, School, and Library; Historic site, Steel Manufacturing Plant, Rotary Club meeting and everything in between.
Due to the fact that we didn’t speak Korean and the Koreans we were around did not speak English, a translator was assigned to us wherever we would go. We had a few translators that neither English nor Korean was their mother tongue, so you see how communication was very difficult. We did have some good interpreters. Sometimes the communication between the two worlds was wonderful and sometimes the language became a barrier because neither one could understand the other. And so we communicated with our bodies to get our points across. It’s called, Charades. And sometimes, we resulted in drawing, as we did once when we wanted to eat chicken for lunch. Thanks NJ for that. Your art skills came in handy. There really should be an International illustrated non-verbal dictionary out there. For someone looking for a great book idea, this I think will sell millions.
We met many wonderful people that welcomed us into their homes and truly made us feel like part of their family. So as they say, when in Korea, do as the Koreans, and so we lived as the Koreans for a month by visiting Bath Houses. Public Bath Houses are a way for Koreans to release their daily stresses in life while relaxing. It’s said to be therapeutic. We slept on heated floors and ate live octopus (one of us, who shall remain nameless) and drank Soju, the Korean native alcoholic beverage. We talked about our beautiful city, Savannah. After the month-long traditional Korean food and lifestyle, we were ready to come back to good old, U. S. of A. As many Koreans stated that if given a chance to visit America, they would but would not permanently live in the U.S., I feel that it is so with Americans. We would love to visit another country, but when it comes down to it, we still love our own lifestyles and way of living and wouldn’t trade it for another. You don’t believe me? Visit another country and find out for yourself.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Justin Godchaux, (Santa, as the Korean children called him), our Rotary Group Leader and team members Neeraj Jain (NJ) and Chito Lapena. We were the perfect team. And a special thanks Dr. and Mrs. Choi, Dr. Yon Pae Park and Dr. SeongYong Hong. A special thanks to Rotary International for this opportunity and for Rotary Savannah East 6920 for making it all happen. As they say in S. Korea, 'An-nyung Ha-se-yo' meaning 'Good morning (afternoon, evening) and 'Gam-sa-hap-ni-da' means 'Thanks.' We want to also thank our families for their love and support and for allowing us the freedom to travel and experience this new world.
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