Today we did two main activities - firstly we were volunteering at a centre for the Disabled. On the bus ride over I was thrilled to see the Olympics were on the bus TV (which are huge by the way). I discovered a new appreciation for Canadian High Jump (Hi Derek! - he won gold too) but found the rest of the day we only saw previews because of the timing of our bus trips. Which was super frustrating.
The Centre for the Disabled was an interesting experience. I expected us to be assisting the workers with various tasks (such as moving items, or reading to the patients) but instead we received a tour of the facility. It was interesting to see the ways in which they worked to help fund the facility (making tissues) and how the facility gave them productive tasks. All of the patients were excited to see us walking around. Overall it was a very nice facility. We saw the sleeping facilities, workshop, kitchen and recreation areas. The only problem was the tour and videos were all in Korean, so we only really got "the jist."
Unfortunately we didn't actually DO much there. We were given fifteen minutes of interaction with the patients in which my hand was held constantly and I was fawned over and stared at for being white. They were all lovely, but it was sad we didn't get to do much more with them.
Lunch was another buffet - allegedly American food. I smelt steak the moment I walked in, but that didn't come with the buffet (much to my bitter disappointment) so I had to settle with fish and chips. I really didn't eat all that much because I wasn't hungry (super weird I know).
The rest of the day was spent at the college. We had a lecture from Teknalbder Winesberry, a Native American who had a PHD in classical music. He spoke about how his culture and history has influenced him as a person and intertwined it with performances of music - some original and some from other composers. This was facilitate our thinking of what a Global Leader was supposed to be and how culture influences us as individuals and as a team.
From there, we were put into groups where everyone was from a different background. Our task was to identify the ways in which we might bridge the gaps in a cross-cultural relationship and we had to then present a five minute creative presentation to demonstrate them. For my group, our biggest challenge were two members of our group who were not confident in the English language. I have to admit, I was feeling nervous but they both blew me away by memorising their lines within half an hour (and mind you, they wrote their lines themselves which was awesome!) I'm really glad with challenged them with having actual lines rather than minimising their involvement because they both seemed to get so much out of it.
Dinner was not to my taste so a group of us went out to the Korean BBQ again. Sophie tried to order shrimp but ended up with pork instead - we don't know how, but they later said they didn't have shrimp so who knows. We also had beef so I got my beloved steak after all!
Tomorrow is our last day at the camp - I'm excited. It's a Korean cultural experience day and I can't wait. Then sadly, we depart and then it's only a short two half days until I'm on a plane back home and suddenly I'm back at work and University. The time truly has flown.
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