[한국과 첫 인사] First impressions of South Korea or how it all began

Recently, many people have asked me about South Korea (although not only about South, but also about North too). About how it happened that I was in Korea, about what I was doing there and what it was - Korea ... And so, I decided to share with the Voice my story, or rather the stories about Korea.

And it all began in the summer of 2007, when I was lucky enough and got an offer to take part in a youth camp - to go for a week to South Korea.

Parents, reluctantly, said "ride!" Although knowing my mother, she was worried and worried terribly. But all the same, she said that it is impossible to refuse such an opportunity. And so we quickly began to issue a passport for me, find out how and where to get a Korean visa. In general, the same turmoil began. I was given a passport for a week, I received a visa in Kazakhstan. Arriving in Almaty, immediately went to the Korean Embassy, ​​called in advance and explained the situation. Therefore, in principle, there were no problems with the visa.

By the way, yes, participation in the camp was free. Moreover, the organizers of the camp took on all the expenses for the road, accommodation and food.

I remember that in those days everybody was on ears, there were a lot of cases. But nevertheless, the time flew by unnoticed, and now my plane landed at the Incheon airport. The airport is huge, like one big city, where a crowd of people with suitcases walks there, a huge number of different banners, billboards, shops ... But at the same time everything is very organized and understandable. It is clear even to a newly-made tourist, i.e. to me.

A little bit about the Incheon airport ... The airport is not in Seoul itself, but in the city of Incheon, that's why the Inchon International Airport is called . The airport building consists of 7 floors, 3 and a half of which are parking for cars. Why half? Because the 1st floor (main floor), it is also the ground floor, where limousine and taxi buses come, where planes fly ... Well, passengers leaving Korea need to go up to the 3rd or 4th floor, depending on the flight (domestic or international ). Every day the airport serves more than 200,000 passengers and 1000 flights

It was the height of summer, and in Korea very high humidity, especially in summer. And having lived all my life in a country with a dry climate, I was not quite accustomed to an Asian sauna. Do not have time to go out on the street, as you already dream of quickly getting into a cold shower.

At the airport, the organizers of the camp met us and drove to the hotel. From Incheon airport to Seoul, go for 2 hours by bus . In Korea, there are special limousine buses that will take you to almost any area of ​​Seoul. But I'll tell you about the transfer from the airport or to the airport later.

I will not go into all the details of the program, in truth, I do not remember all the details. But I will say one thing, this week, spent in the camp, was very intense, dynamic, fun, full of events.

In South Korea, as in many other Asian countries, every summer there is a so-called rainy season. Usually it is at the end of July and lasts about a week. Rains are almost without stopping. I would even say, do not rain, but showers. On the street, do not puddle, but the sea. And in some regions of the country there are even floods

We were taken to different cities, to traditional villages, where we lived in real Korean wooden houses. In the mornings they got up with cocks. At night, the children told each other different stories, walked around, talked. Oh, yes, I forgot to say that about 300 schoolchildren and students from all over the world took part in the camp . And so in this short time I had at least 1 friend in every point of our planet.

We had a lot of Ice Breaking activities . One of the most memorable was the fund raising . We were divided into groups of 15 people and we had to sell coffee and sweets on the street. And with the money we earned, we went to a cafe, eat ice cream! By the way, coffee is an integral part of everyday life in Korea. Each street has at least one coffee shop. Although usually, on every street there is neither a building nor a coffee house.

Every day we tried different Korean dishes. Some of them were terribly sharp ... After each spoon you had to drink a liter of water.

On the last day of the camp, the organizers arranged a farewell party with an entertainment program. One of the rooms was artistic. On an empty canvas for a couple of minutes created this picture:

I have no idea how they did it ... Artists did not open their secret to us.

There were also performances of the Taekwondo players, each performed a trick which was steeper than the previous one ... No words, there were some emotions.

And of course, this evening was not without a performance on traditional Korean instruments:

Oh, it was very sad, a sea of ​​tears ... everyone exchanged contacts, wrote letters to each other goodbye, signed each other on T-shirts ...

In truth, there were very few of us who spoke Korean in the camp, and even English was not free for everyone. BUT! Somehow from the first days we all became friends, talked, discussed different topics. They used sign language. I remember, even at the very beginning of the camp, we formed our own small company, and we were all from different countries. Someone was from the states, one boy was from Mexico, the other from France, and I ... All spoke different languages, but nevertheless, we somehow sat for hours in the evenings and chatted. I do not remember the language of our discussions. Probably 90% in sign language🙂

PS: This week I learned a lot about Korea, its history and culture. And I wanted to come here even once. And I succeeded, after 2 years I was back in Seoul. But that is another story.

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@irisworld

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