By: Dana D’Amelio, Student Ambassador, USA Pavilion

I can’t believe that almost a month has elapsed since I arrived in South Korea. It feels surreal; time has flown by so quickly. I can hardly pinpoint the moment when everything that was so unfamiliar just a few short weeks ago – my apartment, operating the USA Pavilion and navigating the outlying areas, became second nature.

This trip to South Korea is actually not my first. I have spent the past three summers in Seoul and collectively, I have lived in South Korea for over a year and a half.. However, this experience in Yeosu is the first in which I have lived in a city outside of Seoul for an extended period of time. Although I am studying Korean language and history as a graduate student in the United States, I am woefully ignorant about what daily life looks like outside of Seoul’s bustling metropolis.

Truthfully, considering what I’d learned in the classroom about Chŏlla-do (the province in which Yeosu is in), I was apprehensive about what I’d find here. As the site of much government opposition and protest prior to democratization in the late 1980s, Chŏlla-do did not enjoy the fruits of South Korea’s rapid economic development as much as other regions. I’ve been impressed by what I’ve seen and am optimistic about the great things that the World Expo will do for this city and the surrounding area.

Though South Korea is not necessarily new to me, every day here brings new challenges. It isn’t always easy to communicate in a different language and navigate a culture barrier. However, I am having a great time and really feel as though this experience is making an impact not only on my own life, but on the lives of all those who visit the Expo and the USA Pavilion. I look forward to exploring more of Yeosu in the coming weeks and perhaps taking a trip elsewhere in Chŏlla-do. They say that Chŏlla-do cuisine is some of the finest in all of Korea – I’ll have to taste and see if this is true!