Our second week here in Korea has marked an important landmark in terms of acclimating to the local environment. By overcoming issues like not understanding that the laundry machine will not work without power and maintaining a regular sleep schedule, I feel like I’m finally starting to settle in here. A similar phenomenon happened in our teaching at the school. During our first few days at the school it seemed like the kids were acting especially rowdy and excited due to us being there. However, as the novelty of us being there has worn off, they’ve begun to further accept us and recognize us as more permanent fixtures in the school. As a result, it’s been easier to reach them seeing that we are able to have actual conversations with them rather than them saying one english phrase and then going to attack someone with a water gun.
Problems have definitely still persisted though. Being in the most advanced English teaching group for the younger and older students, I have been lucky enough to have kids whom I can communicate with easily and who are generally receptive to what I have to say. However, in other groups where the students are less proficient in English, the language barrier has made itself even more apparent in the middle schoolers than it was with the elementary school students. Even though we have people in the program who speak the languages required to communicate with most of the students at the school, there exists a certain subset of students who we are having a hard time reaching. Specifically, it is the middle school boys. Even the teachers at the school told us they have had a hard time getting them engaged in class, and so the barrier is shown to be not only one of language but also of life stage. Overcoming this barrier will undoubtedly be difficult, but through much discussion and planning ahead of time I am sure we will find a way to reach them eventually.
We had another new development in the program this past weekend as we participated in our first community service event. We had the incredible opportunity to visit a peach farm operated by a North Korean refugee alongside a group of volunteers composed of South Koreans and former North Korean refugees. The accommodations for the trip were incredible, we rode in a luxury bus there and seemingly did not stop eating from the time we got there until the program was over. While the language barrier made it a little difficult to interact fully with the other volunteers, many went out of their way to come up and talk to me in English. One of the most memorable exchanges I had was when the owner of the farm came up to me, shook my hand, and explained how important of a moment it was that we were shaking hands. She told me that while serving in the North Korean army she was brainwashed into believing that all Americans were evil and so being able to stand there and shake hands marked an important turning point in international relations. This was an incredibly eye opening experience for me, and it truly was something I will remember for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, we ended the experience with a very unfortunate case of another volunteer disrespecting and taking advantage of another Duke Engager’s status as a foreigner, but that was simply a bad individual unaffiliated with the program’s leadership. Thus, I am still grateful to have had such a meaningful cultural exchange and I am excited to participate in similar experiences in the future.
– Josh Wagner
