By Madison Lee and Josh Grisé, Student Ambassadors, USA Pavilion

As student ambassadors, it is part of our duty to both maintain and improve relations with staff members at the other pavilions. Today, we took a visit to the Kazakhstan pavilion, where we experienced Kazakh culture, learned about the Aral Sea, and made new friends. Though we had already visited once before, a second visit to the Kazakhstan pavilion gave us better opportunities to interact with the staff members and make new connections.

After we watched the video in the main theatre, enjoyed the traditional performances, and learned about the Kazakhstani efforts to restore the Aral Sea, the two of us took the opportunity to meet some of the pavilion’s staff. We first met a tour guide named Assel. Like us, Assel was another university student. Studying international relations at Kazakhstan University, Assel was thrilled to be working at the Yeosu World’s Expo. She was quite excited to receive a gift from the American pavilion. Though it was a small gift, we could tell she was touched.

As we continued towards the end of the pavilion, we met another woman named Bibigul. Bibigul was quite impressed that we were taking the initiative to improve cross-cultural relations. We even took photos together.

Josh and Bibigul Madison and Bibigul

Before we left, we took a quick stop to the retail section. A kind woman behind the desk greeted us in both Korean and then English after noticing our “American Pavilion” name tags. It turned out her name was Da-eun and though she was ethnically Korean, she had grown up in Kazakhstan as a young girl. After talking for a bit, we became friends and even exchanged numbers in the hopes to practice our Korean and English language skills with each other. When we left, Da-eun would not let us leave empty handed, so she handed both of us pins with the Kazakhstani flag, so we would remember their pavilion.

The experience was quite rewarding for us. Though our visit was short, we were able to gain new friends, learn about Kazakh culture, and further relations among the international pavilion teams.