Friday June 28

Today was an extremely long day, mainly because I woke up at 3:00 am and couldn't fall back asleep. I think I dozed between 5:00 and 5:45, then was up for the day. After the breakfast buffet at the hotel, we boarded a bus to drive to Korea University, one of the 3 most prestigious universities in Korea. They are called "SKY": Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University.

Seoul is a huge, sprawling city that just goes on forever. It was about a 45 minute bus ride through the city streets to the university, a quiet campus with beautiful stone buildings set on a hill in the city. We were led to an impressive lecture hall: We had leather comfy chairs, a name plate, and microphones; along with a briefcase full of books and note-taking supplies from Korea University.

We had been warned ahead of time to stay attentive and professional during the lectures. This was especially because many of the lecturers may not speak English well, and also the Korean lecture style may seem dry and un-interesting to Americans. I think we were all expecting the worst, and were very pleasantly surprised at how engaging the lecturers were.

We learned about the origins of the Korean language (hangeul), and some basic phrases and language etiquette. Next, an economics professor brought us through the phases of South Korea's economic development, from one of the world's poorest countries after the Korean War, to now the world's 11 th largest economy.

Finally, and education professor led us in a conversation about the pros and cons of Korea's education. There are aspects of Korea's system I wish we could replicate in the United States: the value that Koreans put on education, and the belief that achievement, effort, and hard work are what will get you ahead in life. There are no shortcuts to success.

The drawback, however, is the pressure that is put on students. This was clear in our next stop, the Goyang Foreign Language High School. Students are in school from 7 a.m.-11 p.m., 6 days a week. Many students live at the school and see their families only 1 day a week. I was paired with a teacher from Shawnee, Oklahoma, and 3 senior girls who were our guides for the visit. The students we met were exceptionally polite, composed, mature, and proud of the school and eager to show it off. One of the girls had lived in Connecticut from kindergarten through 4th grade, and spoke exceptional English. Another of the girls was working very hard at her English so that she could go to college in the US. I think meeting with them will be the highlight of our trip.

I spent about 30 minutes in a classroom with my partner from Oklahoma. We were able to teach short lessons about our home states and give gifts of appreciation. I brought some maple syrup, which the students loved (of course). I wish I had brought more! We played a bingo game with pictures of Vermont, and generally had a lot of fun.

We then got back on the bus for our trip back to Seoul in rush hour. We were back at the hotel around 6:00. By then, the jet lag had caught up with me. After showering and having a snack of nuts, some Hershey's candies, and a soda, I fell asleep until 4:00 a.m.