Sara Woo

Day 1 Reflections

We had mainly seafood for dinner. Also, we had a lot of side dishes to go along with it which was the first time for me. I also realised that Koreans usually have many side dishes to go with their meal which makes me wonder how they manage to finish all of their food.

A brief history of how the area was used significantly during the Korean War. Although it is now a street full of shops, it makes me think of how Korea has advanced for that time of war. It also reminds me a bit of Singapore, although we still keep most of our historical landmarks as it is with all the trees.

View of the street that we had our dinner. Unlike Singapore which usually has tall buildings and narrow paths, the shops are only 2-storeys high and the street is very wide. Personally, I prefer the streets in Korea as there is much less crowd and the entire scenery is a lot more aesthetically pleasing.

Day 2 Reflections

Some of the classrooms, for example, the calculus class which I attended had 3 boards to write on. 

Apparently, it is to allow as many people to write as possible and to give as much space to write on. It shows me how the school wants the students to participate in sharing their answers to the class as much as possible and gives them the opportunity to do so. 

This helps to reinforce to already good impression of the school as it really caters to the students' learning needs depending on the class (as only some classes are in this format). 

This learning matters because we should always take into consideration other people's needs, especially the target group's when planning for events, just like this school.

I helped to modify this car in the 8th period. We were tasked to modify it such that it would be able to move through a maze. Unlike what other groups did (just force-fitting the moving sequence to get out of the maze into the car), my group wanted to customize it such that the car was able to get through any maze. However, due to lack of time, we only managed to modify the car and code it without transferring the code to the car. Despite that, I am still quite amazed by myself and my group as we still managed to do quite a lot while facing several difficulties. I learnt how to modify certain parts of the car (e.g. adding a touch sensor) using only the materials provided without instructions, which kind of makes me apply whatever I know about Lego to come up with suitable modification. This learning matters because I can use this skill of applying what I already know in unfamiliar situations.

This is a picture of the moon which one of the IASA students helped me take as my hands were too shaky. I was very grateful for his help as I only managed to take a blurry photo before it. I was also quite impressed with how he had naturally just offered to help me take a picture. This helped to reinforce my already-positive impression of the school as very warm-hearted and kind students. It also made me learn to always be there to stretch a helping hand any time, even if I might not know the person at all. In light of this learning, I hope to be able to apply in Singapore by being proactive in offering my help to others.

Day 3 Reflections

 

Debate preparation in one of the foreign language classrooms. I tried to prepare for the debate by just trying to add on more content to the planning stage even though we were supposed to write out an entire script of what to say. Instead of forcing me to write a script like everyone else, my teammates decided to accommodate my method of preparation.

This made me feel very grateful for them being so kindhearted. Although I feel that I should have just stuck with their conventional way of preparing for debate as it is usually easier for one person to change rather than a whole group. I think before realising all the other groups prepared a script, I assumed that the usual method of preparing was like mine which is probably why I just stuck with my own way instead of changing it. I should have been more situationally aware by observing my surroundings better.

Other than being situationally aware, I also learnt that I should be able to adapt quickly to new changes just like what my buddy and other teammates did so that I would not have to.

I learnt that I should always be aware of my surroundings even if the people around me are extremely accommodating and be able to adapt to changes quickly. This is so that I can change my actions to become more appropriate if necessary and ensure that people need not go out of their way just to accommodate me. I learnt this when my teammates went of their way to ensure that my learning in Korea is easy to adapt to although it might be have been slightly different from them. This matters because our situational awareness actually impacts how our actions affect others. In light of this learning, I hope to be more situationally aware in the future. 

Day 4 Reflections

The most significant experience I had today was during the class participation where I went for a chemistry lesson. Unlike what I had done earlier (titration experiments and calculations), the class was drawing certain chemicals as cartoons. As my buddy was busy completing her work, another student who had already completed offered to show me how to use the drawing tablet and allowed me to use it to draw random cartoons. Also, as the teacher was playing music, they decided to let me choose whatever song to listen to for the entire lesson which made me feel very welcomed.

This made me feel a little overwhelmed at first as I really do not enjoy drawing (because I just can't draw) and IASA is an arts school so the students were relatively good at drawing already, also the student who offered to show me how to use the drawing tablet was very friendly and went out of her way to get to know me so that I would feel even more welcomed. By the end of the lesson, I felt really comfortable in the classroom and not as awkward so I was really grateful towards the teacher and students.

I learnt about hospitality, how even though the teacher did not need to play the music which I liked and the student did not have to keep entertaining me throughout the lesson, they decided to do so just so that I would feel more welcomed in the school.

Being hospitable is an important skill to have, especially since I do not really enjoy striking up conversations with people I do not really know, as it can impact another person's impression of you and your community. This can be used whenever I am helping the school to host guests during events which I might end up in next year. In light of this learning, I hope to be as welcoming and friendly to new people that I meet.

Day 5 Reflections

The most significant moment was when I got to experience the gyroscope in the Science Museum. Previously I had only tried out riding a gyroscope in Penang, and unlike that one, this was more tailored for kids. It was a lot slower which left me hanging upside down for like one second (it’s seems a lot longer when I’m actually upside down) a few times. This gave me a new experience of zero G.

I always assumed that zero G will cause you to spin really quickly so this experience made me realise that zero G can make you spin at all sorts of speeds - whether fast or slow. Although I am still a bit traumatised by the experience of hanging upside down, this allowed me to understand zero G and not to conclude just based on one “test”.

I learnt that I should always try things out a few times before coming to a conclusion in most of the new things I try out to prevent myself from making abrupt conclusions which may be wrong. 

I can apply this in other experiments or research projects that I may embark on to obtain the most accurate and reliable results. This learning matters because if I still continue to assume, I might end up concluding something wrong and passing on wrong information to other people which can lead to unfortunate circumstances. 

Day 6 Reflections

This was the final place we visited for this trip - Samsung Innovation Museum. Throughout the entire tour, I was very intrigued by how technology has become so advanced from the past and has greatly improved the convenience of people's lives.

Our final meal in Korea was porridge. Unlike the porridge we eat in Singapore where almost all of it is just rice and water, the porridge included several ingredients including beef. It also had a few side dishes to go along with. All in all, I felt that it was much tastier compared to the porridge in Singapore but the bowl was way bigger. 

This photo was taken just before we took off for Singapore. It was raining at that time and made me think about all the times during the trip when it rained. I also remembered the tour guide sharing with us that if only it had rained throughout the night just before the coldest day in Korea (Day 5), we could have encountered snow. The rain made me a little disappointed of how I was so close to seeing snow for the first time but also reminded me of the funny times when we got caught in the rain on Day 1 and went up the wrong bus accidentally.

Final Thoughts

This trip has truly been an eye-opener to me in terms of how one's action can greatly impact another person. Especially how the IASA students and teachers were so incredibly hospitable and kind towards us to go the extra mile in giving us memorable moments and amazing gifts. The way they treat guests so warmly without expecting anything in return really makes me reflect on how I treat others that are even just close to me. I learnt that I should always treat everyone with utmost respect and make them feel as comfortable as possible even if I might not know them quite well or am unable to communicate properly to them.