Ryan Tan

Day 1;

Arrival at Incheon Airport. (Different compared to Singapore's, as well as layout). The temperature was not that cold yet... I was about to find out just how cold Korea is

First Korean meal in Incheon. There were radish, beansprouts and other vegetables in a 'hotpot' that tasted super delicious and comparable to Singaporean homecooked meal.

History of the Incheon (It shows how significant the location (Incheon) was to turning the tides in the Korean War. I was amazed at how important Incheon was and what would have happened if Incheon was not the landing point that they had chosen.

Day 2;

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When/where did the experience take place?

Today we were in IASA for the whole day. 

What did I do? What did others do?

We had the amazing welcome ceremony by IASA and a music performance in the morning. Afterwards, we had our English Public Debate Forum with icebreakers and trivia quiz, then then we moved onto to preparing for tomorrow’s reflection. Afterwhich, was a presentation by the students on their own STEAM projects.  Lunch was super tasty - I had bibimbap. Then followed by a Geography lesson about types of forces and the winds they produce. We did building and coding a car and then my group (Christabel, our Korean student helper and I) won second!! We had dinner and then afterwards some of our buddies actually brought a few of us up to their dorms. We went up to the rooftop to learn how to set up a telescope and actually saw the Moon and other planets. It was extremely cold especially when the wind blew.

 

What happened that was significant?

Looking at the moon through the telescope.

Process 

How did this experience make me feel (positively and/or negatively)? How did I handle my emotional reactions?

I felt very surprised and welcomed because the hosts have put in so much effort to make us feel at home. I felt very appreciative of all that they have done to make the whole first day a wonderful one. 

Do I believe I should have felt differently than I did? 

No, as this is something that I had not predicted and I believe that I have responded appropriately.

What assumptions or expectations did I bring to the situation (including my assumptions about other persons involved) and how did they affect my actions?

I did not have much assumption because I have never really experienced Korean culture before and I didn’t really know what to expect. I tried to be open-minded as much as possible since I know that the Koreans have a different way of doing things.

What personal skills did I draw on in handling this situation?

I guess it would be cross-cultural understanding. I’ve tried to adapt as much as possible their culture and learn their ways of doing things. I also did my best to understand what they are trying to say when there are language barriers.

What personal skills would I like to have had I order to have handled it better and how might I develop them?

Creative-thinking. It is because I felt that I should have done more in order to overcome the language barrier between us. I guess maybe thinking of creative ways to overcome the barrier such as using Google Translate.

Generalize 

One of the classes which I have attended with my buddy is Earth Science/Geography. They were talking about how winds are formed via the forces that are involved and what kind of winds are formed as a result. During the lesson, the teacher actually helped translated the lesson as much as possible to help us better understand what he was teaching about. Even though he may have struggled, he asked his students for help and there was some laughter to make the class even more lively. Their hospitality and generosity really helped me better appreciate what is around me.

This challenge/reinforced my prior understanding. It added onto my knowledge of how winds are formed from when I learnt in SST (academically). It strongly reminded me to  be appreciative of what is “given” to me and to know that not everyone is actually as lucky as me to experience this trip.

Apply

I learned that effort really pays off and sets the impression that you give to others. For Koreans, ever since the moment we step foot into the country, they have been extremely kind and generous and welcoming. From the airport to the staff at IASA, they have done their best to ensure that we feel at home and are comfortable. (i.e. food that meets our dietary requirements, tweaking the lessons to allow us to understand what they are teaching, having special programmes just for us). I guess all these really set the impression of the Koreans for me — that they take pride in hospitality of their guests.

This learning matters because when we meet others, we need to be able to set a good impression on them so as to ensure that when working together, things go smoothly and both parties are satisfied. This applies to both social and work life. We need to ensure that when someone is under our “care”, they are well taken care of and that they feel comfortable.

In light of this learning, I hope to be anle to be as hospitable as the Koreans and as caring as them. I hope to be able to apply this to my daily life (be it normal school life, when organising school events or even in my own Leadership Board). I feel that the main challenge for me will actually be maintaining the “stamina” to always be kind and caring to others. I feel like to be as hospitable as the Koreans, I need to ensure that I am able to notice even the smallest of details and as much as possible, not miss anything out which may make my “guests” feel uncomfortable. All in all, I want to be able to set a good first impression as well as be hospitable to others. At the end of the day, I want it so that both sides are satisfied with the outcomes and leave with happy memories while learning something! :)




Day 3:




This is the view from the top of the Incheon Free Economic Zone tower. It was an amazing view as it showed us quite a large portion of the Songdo district of Incheon,















This is taken when we were on a boat on a river (in the previous picture) in the Incheon Free Economic Zone.














This picture was taken when we went out with our buddies to the Songdo Triple Street for dinner. We ate delicious food and explored the streets while having fun.















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When/where did the experience take place?
It took place during the Public Forum Debate.

What did I do? What did others do?
During the PFD, one of our korean buddies and I were the speakers for the quarter-final round.  We were debating for plastic bags to be banned.

What happened that was significant?
For the PFD, speaking and collaborating with our buddies was the most significant moment. This includes the preparation stage as well as when we were doing the actual debate.


Process  

How did this experience make me feel (positively and/or negatively)? How did I handle my emotional reactions
I felt very happy as the preparations that we made the day and night before payed off. Our buddies also did some work prior to our arrival in Incheon. During the debate, I made sure that the buddies feel appreciated by encouraging them to go on during the debate round itself. I saw first hand how much pride they took in their work.

What personal skills did I draw on in handling this situation?
Being appreciative as well as taking the initiative. Taking the initiative was more for the day before where I decided to help out and finish the opening speech before the next day when we had to actually debate. 

What personal skills would I like to have had I order to have handled it better and how might I develop them? 
I guess I hoped to be able to contribute more whenever I take the initiative. I only managed to finish the first part and was not really able to make as big of an impact I would like to have made. I hope that through better time management (one of the key reasons why I did not manage to contribute more) so I am able to dedicate more time to contributing to the document and really read through the document that they have prepared to help us.


Generalize

How does this experience enhance my knowledge of a specific reading, theory, or concept? 
I guess this is experience really shows how much our Korean buddies are willing to prepare the information ahead of us arriving. They took the initiative to help us out and takes pride in their wirm. Even during the debate, one of the buddies took the initiative to discuss with me how we can counter the argument and plan the most appropriate counter-arguments

Does it challenge or reinforce my prior understanding? 
Yes it does. From the first day when we met our Korean buddies, we could see how studious they were and how much pride they take in their work. With the debate, I really saw how much pride they took in their working in making sure that it is as good as possible


Apply
I learned that it is important to take the initiative and take pride in your work. Your work that you do represents you. If you do not take pride in it, it does not reflect well on how you are as a person.  About the point of taking the initiative, I guess it is important as if we can do certain things earlier without being told, it may prove beneficial in the future since there is no harm in completing work earlier.

Like what I have mentioned above, I learned this when I found out that my buddy actually prepared the document before we arrived in Incheon and during out rebate.
This learning matters because...

In light of this learning, I hope that when I return to Singapore, I would be able to step up and take the initiative for things. There will be certain times when I do not actually step up as I have the mindset that someone else will do it. However, if there’s something that my Korean buddy has shown me, it would be to really take the initiative even if no one asked you to. There’s no harm in trying and taking the initiative may prove beneficial in the future.


Day 4:

This is a photo of the stream we had visited. Jasom, our tour guide, explained to us about the history of this stream as well as its significance in Feng Shui to the locals.

This is a display tank with fishes in it. The picture was captured in the Science Museum which we had visited. I saw a lot of different types of fishes such as clownfish.

This is the tower at the top of the Namsang Park which we visited. It was extremely cold at the top of the park but it was all worth it as we saw a beautiful sunset and had a scrumptious dinner.

Publish: 

For me, the most significant thing that happened today would be the titration Chemistry lesson that we had today, as well as during the free time we had with our buddies before the debate. During the Chemistry titration lesson, we were tasked to find out what is the volume of sodium hydroxide to neutralise an antacid tablet as well as aspirin tablets. Teck En and I worked together with the buddies assigned to help us with the experiment.

Process:

For today, I felt more uncomfortable because the environment was completely foreign to me — I found the classroom quite packed, especially when there were so many apparatus on the table and so many students crowding around one small space. To me, it was very chaotic. I was starting to get impatient from time to time but I did not voice them out and just did my best to be more understanding towards the Korean buddies as I knew that they were doing their best to translate what was needed to be done for us. I believe that I actually should have taken more initiative instead, as titration was actually something that I have learnt before and I knew how to perform the experiment after reading the instructions.

Generalise:

I feel that, at that point in time, being understanding of others and patient were important skills. Like above mentioned, the environment was already “chaotic” and I should have taken the initiative to help make it “less chaotic”.  Personally, when things do not go well, my tolerance/patience level decreases and during the lesson I could really feel that level of tolerance was lowering. However, I still firmly believe that despite feeling impatient, I should still be more understanding of others as they are taking the effort to host me and engage me in fun activities. Thus, I should have put my own opinions aside and think about the bigger picture.

Apply: 

I learnt that sometimes although we feel a certain way (i.e. inpatient), we need to be aware of our surroundings and what is happening at that point in time. Our instincts may tell us one thing, however, we still need to be able to look at the bigger picture. 

Basically, we need to ensure that our own opinions of something do not cloud our judgement. This learning matters to me because as an SL, and especially when collaborating with others, I need to learn when to ignore my own selfish opinions in order to reach a common goal while working with others. In light of this learning, I hope that I will be able to continue what I have done and set aside my opinions from time to time in order to accomplish what I am working on.

Day 5:

 

This photo was taken in front of the Science Museum where we explored the different exhibits and different halls, as well as had our lunch.


 This is the stream where we went afterwards to explore. It was quite cold there but the stream was quite popular in the past, being a place of 'fengshui' especially.

 This is the sunset on Namsang Park. It was breathtaking and beautiful, a nice way to end off our second last day in Korea.

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Today, we went to visit the Science Museum, the river stream as well as Namsang Park.

We went around touring the area and sightseeing, well as looking at some of the exhibits in the Museum and ended the day off with dinner as well as photo-taking at the peak of the Namsang Park mountain. The most significant thing that happened was during our tour around Namsang Mountain Park. There was a lot of people and it was very crowded.

Process  

I felt both excited and sad at the same time as when we reached the top of the mountain and looked down the breathtaking view. Although I was enjoying myself, I needed to be situationally aware of my surroundings.

Generalize 

Personally, I do not really take note of my surroundings as much as I should be. This experience really forced me to be situationally aware as there was actually a lot of tourists up on the hill. I needed to be able to navigate through the crowd while still enjoying myself.

Apply

I learned that despite enjoying ourselves, we need to ensure that we are aware of our surroundings, especially since we are in a foreign country. we may not know what could be happening, thus we should be at the very least prepared and aware of our surroundings. This learning matters because in the future, we need to ensure that we have this sense of awareness so that we are able to effectively solve issues or work towards a common goal, achieving success. In light of this learning, I hope that I will be able to develop an even more keen sense of situational awareness and it becomes second-nature by constantly reminding myself to be aware of what is going on around me.

Day 6:

This is the first part of the Samsung Innovation Museum,  here we discovered how electricity was actually discovered and I was amazed.

This is like a simulator of a plasma orb. The handle beside is cranked to start a show on the history of electricity.

Last meal here! It was a warm vegetable porridge that helped me keep warming as it was raining outside. I felt super full afterwards!

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Conclusion:
Throughout the past 5 days, I have experienced a lot in Korea. Never have I expected that I would forge such bonds with my Korean buddy and unforgettable memories which I will cherish a lot when I return to Singapore. I hope that I will be able to bring back what I have learnt in Korea back to Singapore and be able to apply them well. This is definitely a trip that I will not forget.