Even though four months have passed since I was back from Korea, I can't seem to forget those happy, relaxing and cold days. So, I'm going to continue to write from where I left of.
17th of Feb
Before the Lunar New Year, we promised to read storybooks with the kids again, which led to the afternoon activity - volunteering. However, not all of us got "kids" this time. A few of us got teenagers, including me. Initially, I rejected it as my English isn't really good and I wasn't confident enough to teach them broken English. I heard Korean kids are good in grammar and vocabulary, the part they are having trouble might only be speaking. However, my friends kept pushing me to read with them adding with the fact that I afraid kids, I had to accept it. This decision I made might probably be the worst decision ever. A nightmare.
After a short self-introduction, we got to pick the "kids" we want or the other way round. I got the only girl among them. We chose a storybook in the library. A classical one - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Unlike the
previous volunteering, we had an additional task, which was to write a short report after the reading session. I explained some vocabularies and summarised the chapters to ensure that she understood the story. To make sure that she really understood it, I asked her to tell me what she had understood. After I confirmed that she understood, we proceeded to the next chapter. As there was not much time (after changing two books), we read only two chapters and proceeded to writing the report. Since there is no specific content to write about the report, we were free to write anything, whether it is a summary of what we have read or her feelings after reading it or what she learnt after reading it. However, no matter how I suggested on writing the report, and even our Korean OCs had helped me with all the suggestion using Korean, she did not want to try to write it. The only thing that moved her was when I was dropping hints here and there. Although she mostly rewrote what I said, but our OCs said that as long as she writes something, then it is not a problem.
I was actually quite guilty of doing it this way as she might not be learning anything and that defeats the purpose of this volunteering. So, I was quite down.
Later, we rushed to Edae to have a conference with AIESECers in Ehwa Womans University after having ISAAC as our quick "lunch" again. ISAAC in different cities have different menus and the ones in Geumcheon-gu Office has saewoo MVP toast - prawn toast.
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| Well, sorry for the not so nice pic but the main point is that there's prawn (meaning it is not a scam)! I'm not sure if you can see it though. |
It was supposed to be an interaction with students in general but it was narrowed down to only AIESECers. So, we was quite disappointed. After a short introduction of both AIESEC SNU and AIESEC Ehwa Woman University, we discussed on Korean culture in general. Since there wasn't a specific topic we could talk and culture is too broad, the conference wasn't a fruitful one.
For dinner, we had jjimdak near Ehwa Womans University with the AIESECers. It is a kind of steamed chicken. We ordered one with spicy and one without spicy, and both are topped with generous amount of cheese!!
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| Look at the cheese... |
The chicken was tender and the cheese... There's nothing to complain. Delicious!
18th of Feb
We visited Samsung D' light, a Samsung exhibition. It is located at the Gangnam Station, Exit 8. As we entered, we saw lots of Samsung-related products. There's also a small area where the workers teach the older generation how to use a smart phone.
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| The entrance |
However, we did not stay long in the ground floor but proceeded to the 1st floor, where the exhibition, digital lounge and the gallery are. We were then given a strap each, with a chip in it. It acts as a translator and a sort of programme activator which registered you as a user. From here on, everything will be interactive, which is definitely a suitable place for kids and teenagers alike.
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| Where the magic begins.... |
So, before everything begins, we were told to register ourselves using this machine. We needed to enter our name and take a picture. Our face will be displayed on the big screen.
Then, our guide guided us to the first theme: Emotion. In here, we were told to choose the pattern we want by scanning the screen using the Samsung smartphone. From the pattern that we chose, the programme will describe our emotion. It described mine as sophisticated.
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| I was told to shake to choose how I wanted the pattern to be, |
Next, is the Sense. We chose the pattern we wanted and while the pattern is displayed on the screen, we need to trace the pattern using body movement. In the end, the programme will trace our motion and evaluate accordingly.
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| Accurate |
The next theme is Intuition where we built our dream planet.
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| My calm planet |
The last theme is Imagination where we chose the pattern of the mirror we wanted and that reflected our personality. Apparently, I'm a unique explorer. Later, we proceeded to the second floor. This is the future. It illustrates our future where everything - the kitchen, the mirror, the bedroom, shopping, exercising machine - turns "smart". How it is shown?
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| Like this. |
Turn the pad around and it will show the daily life of a family in the future. The future is sure amazing but will it really be that convenient?
After the tour, we went to eat the spiciest food ever. It's called Ojju
오쭈 in Gangnam. It specialises in serving baby octopus with cheese fondue. Of course, it does not only have octopus, you can choose to mix with chicken, pork, or/and beef. Since we had quite a large group, we separated ourselves into three groups. My group ordered a set of mix chicken, pork and octopus. The set comes with a cream makgeolli and a steamed egg.
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| Before |
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| After |
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| After adding rice |
I have never eaten such spicy food. It is not that spicy in the beginning. However, as time goes by, the spiciness kicks in and during this time, it is best to bath it in the cheese fondue. The creaminess of the fondue does reduce the spiciness and the taste... ahhhh~~~~ PERFECT!! But, a cheese fondue is definitely not enough. Maybe two fondues for 4 people? The spiciness made most of us "cry" and as a result the table was filled with tissues. Nonetheless, we still couldn't stop eating which made the whole dinner a funny moment. Imagine, eating while crying while blowing the nose while laughing.
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| Cream makgeolli |
The cream makgeolli is definitely one of a kind and is a must try! The difference between the original makgeolli and this one is that the one with cream is like ice blended ice cream makgeolli. Sweet, smooth, thick, but still have the remnants of the fine ice blended texture. Perfect alcoholic drink for a beginner drinker.
Later, we return to the station and shop a little as Gangnam Underground Shopping Centre is said to have fairly cheap clothes.
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