Hanah Park and Sarah Slagle, Student Ambassadors, USA Pavilion

Today was such a fun day! We got to visit the Local Government Pavilion and make friends with the city representatives who work there. We learned so much about each city we visited. It’s amazing how much diversity there is in Korea, considering it’s about the size of the state of Virginia. We saw many cities and regions, but we spent a little extra time at our favorites: Jeollanamdo (전라남도) , Suncheon (순천), and Busan (부산).

As Yeosu, our host city is in the Jeollanamdo region. we were particularly interested in finding out more about the multicultural families that are common in this farming region. As we were on a mission to make stronger connections with everyday Koreans, it seems like a place where USA Pavilion Student Ambassadors can make a positive impact. We exchanged contact info with their representative and we’re looking forward to hearing from him soon. We would all love to meet students who reflect the diversity and the future of Korea.

As Yeosu, our host city is in the Jeollanamdo region. we were particularly interested in finding out more about the multicultural families that are common in this farming region. As we were on a mission to make stronger connections with everyday Koreans, it seems like a place where USA Pavilion Student Ambassadors can make a positive impact. We exchanged contact info with their representative and we’re looking forward to hearing from him soon. We would all love to meet students who reflect the diversity and the future of Korea.

Suncheon Pavilion is located next to the Yeosu Pavilion. The pavilion is mainly focused on the Garden Expo that they will host in 2013. As 2010-2012 are the Visit Korea Campaign years, it is expected that the campaign will extend to 2013, culminating with the 2013 Suncheon Bay Garden Exposition. This exposition will take place in Suncheon Bay Ecological Park, which is considered to be one of the most picturesque places chosen by many photographers in South Korea. With the theme of ‘The Garden of Earth,’ the expo will last around six months, from April to October. Five million people are expected to visit the expo site. International gardens from 10 countries will also be on exhibit. We hope this will be another international opportunity to raise awareness of green energy and importance to preserve the environment.

When we saw Busan’s Pavilion, we rushed over to talk with them. It seems that over half of the Student Amabassadors have visited Busan since arriving a month ago. It has beaches, vibrant neighborhoods, and is more relaxed than Seoul. Talking with Ina and Junseok in a creative mixture of Korean and English was fun too! They seemed to like that we already knew so much about Busan and are eager to go back. It will be fun to keep in touch with them even after the Expo is over.

Taking lots of pictures and chatting with all the people was so great. Wouldn’t it be nice to do this every day?

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