Gabrielle Walti, '14, Harvard Summer School in Seoul Program & 2 Week Intern at Holt International Adoption Agency-Summer 2012
From my first evening in Seoul I was fascinated and thrilled by the challenge of living in such a foreign place. Seoul is an extremely modern city, with more amenities, technology, and organization than I grew up with in Hillsboro, OR and the “historic” city of Boston/Cambridge, MA. as well. With the surprising amount of English and organization, finding one’s way was no trouble, but really connecting to the city and country of South Korea was much more challenging. I found my courses, classmates who quickly became my friends, and the power of Korean pop culture all helped me acclimate and understand Korea and the people who live there.
I had fortunately already taken a year of Korean language before coming to Seoul. Though I was and still am far from fluent, that small amount really helped with the basics like learning names, getting directions from strangers, and shopping. My intermediate Korean language class this summer helped me with my listening. Our teacher spoke only in Korean, so class really forced me to listen closely, and in turn helped me listen closely out and about in Seoul as well. For the very compact time we had for Korean, I’m surprised and proud to have learned all the material with the help of our engaging and helpful teacher.
The film class provided all of us with a chance to dig into some aspect of Korea’s culture for our documentaries. I had already done quite a bit of film work before the program, so the basic filmmaking “workshops” did become rather tedious, but what we were able to do on the field more than made up for any other drawbacks in my mind. The course brought us on a week excursion to retrace the steps of Korean historic literary figures and connect to the traditional culture at the root of all Korean life. Upon returning to Seoul, we were let loose to research for our final documentary film. My group focused on Korean dance, and so we were able to watch and interview some of the most inspirational performers I’ve ever met.
Through the excursion and filming process, I found that I was also creating some amazing relations with my Ewha University classmates. The friendships that we formed really made the difference for me between being a foreigner or a scholar, and being a person and new friend in Korea. With my Korean friends’ help I tasted amazing Korean dishes every day and was able to relax and have fun like every other young person in Seoul. My interest in Korean dramas and popular music was something that my classmates could instantly relate to, and encouraged me to learn even more like the lyrics to songs when we sang in “norebang” or karaoke rooms. I was very sad to say goodbye to my friends at the end of our summer classes, but we continued to meet each other after they moved out and my internship began.
My two-week internship at Holt International Children’s Services was the final piece in connecting me to life in Korea. I spent every day working in the adoption agency’s nursery, and taking care of the babies there was amazing. I worked with several other Korean volunteers that could not really speak or understand English, so it challenged me to communicate and understand their instructions. I realize that this was not a typical “internship” as it didn’t exactly provide work experience, but what it did offer was much more important life experience. Caring for seven amazing baby boys who would be adopted within a year or so and completely forget we every existed was extremely humbling and made me form a connection not only with the other volunteers but with all Koreans as well. Recognizing how babies in Korea may have different silly nursery songs sung at them, but still need to strengthen the same muscles and learn to interact and behave just like babies in America and around the globe was amazing.
I realize how very over-the-top and cliché this may sound, but there isn’t another way to say it because of how completely true it is: I am now connected to a country on the other side of the globe because of some amazing people and opportunities that enabled me to appreciate all life and embrace every challenge. Thank you. 감사합니다!