Tae Hyung, Kim (1993) 2nd year in Hanyoung Foreign Language Highshcool

When I was first recommended hosting german students, I was so surprised and excited. I looked forward to getting together with german friends and hanging around with them. It is such a rare opportunity for us to meet german people of my age in Korea that I became excited and also nervous on the other hand. As I had a experience that I hung out with american boys a few weeks ago, I was curious about how different the Germans would be from the Americans.

Firstly, I met the German guys at the school. They visited our school to see how korean high schools are run and how hard korean students study. When my friends and I saw the German students first, we were very shocked because they were much taller than we had expected and looked like adults. Anyhow, my classmates and I had some time to have a short meeting and an interview. They asked about the separated situation of Korea, korean culture, school system, korean original things and so on. We informed them of total things of Korea. We also talked about economics and politics about Korea and Germany. They seemed very smart in the point that they showed deep interests and knowledge in economic and political matters of other countries that are closely connected with their own country. After that meeting, five members of German and the five of my friends visited the company called Invest Korea. Invest Korea is a firm that makes foreign companies to easily get into korean industry by helping them know about korean economic situation and system quickly. We met the head of the company and attended the presentation he made. The theme was concerned with the characteristics and the history of korean economy's development and the anticipation of korean economy in the future. His presentation was so impressive. He used a greatly unique figure of speech, saying that the vital motivation of development of Korea were the tear, blood, sweat of our ancestors. Without their excruciating effort, Korea would not have been a sort of big economic power like this, ranking high not only in the exporting figure but also in the overall economic scale. After that, we asked some questions such as how to expand the trade between Germany and Korea, how to get into an internship program of Invest Korea. The experience at Invest Korea was very helpful for us to understand the korean economic conditions and the status in the world.

Next day, we went to the grand opening ceremony of MCM, which is one of the most popular brands selling bag and purse among the youths. It was held at the Lotte Hotel located in Jong-ro. We met the chairperson of MCM and also browsed gorgeous bags. Fortunately, we got a small purse in which we can put some cards in. Besides being so glad that I got a MCM purse, I felt awkward because it was my first time I met many socially high-classed people. We tried to behave well in front of those people as the representative of our school. It was wholly a new experience for me.

And then we went to Mrs. Woehler's house. As it poured so much, we could not go out. Eating delicious pizzas, we talked a lot and had fun watching german youtube videos together. After the heavy rain stopped, we decided to go out to play bowling. The german guys and we were all the bowling novices. Even once I did not hit any standing bowls. We got the very low scores but it was a good opportunity for us to get more familiar with the Germans. It was time to go home so we were headed for own houses with partners. We rode subway in order to let the foreign friends experience korean transportation. They looked surprised to see many drunken people not being able to keep themselves steady in the subway. I explained to my partner that many korean businessmen drink after his work so those scenes of drunken people are not unusual.

My partner Laurien and I finally reached our home. My family welcomed him sincerely. As it was a late night, we did not have much time to have fun or do something. I showed him the photos of me that was taken when  my family had a trip to Europe five years ago. Seeing the pictures that were taken in Germany, he was surprised and said that he was from Frankfurt in which the Goethe House is located. We also talked about many other attractions in Germany such as Heidelberg Castle, Berlin Wall. As Laurien had to write long reports about the trip in Korea, I went to sleep earlier.

Next day, we played soccer at our school. Korean boys and German boys had a soccer match. As Thilo, Junku's partner, was a leader of his soccer team, he played soccer very well and also because my partner Laurien was in a soccer club in his school, his dribbling skill was amazing. BUT Korean team won! With the help of speed and pass work we could get that nice result. I felt so happy. Actually Korean soccer team was defeated by German team in the world cup, but through this opportunity I thought I revenged as a representative of Korea even if it was a small game. And then we went to play pocketball.

Like this, we tried to let the German students be able to have the opportunities to experience korean cultures that they did not know. Also I got to know many things about Germany and what different thoughts German students have from us. All in all, I am satisfied with the time with new friends. It was a very interesting time to get together with German guys and do lots of meaningful things. Lastly, I thank all the people who made it possible for us to get this nice experience and also hope that I can go to Germany as an ambassador in near future.