By: Esther Weon and Joshua Stone, Student Ambassadors, USA Pavilion

Last month we conducted a series of goodwill tours at various other pavilions.

The hospitality of the workers at the Samsung pavilion was truly touching as they allowed us to enter into a show despite being a bit late for the line. When we were waiting, the Samsung pavilion greeters gave us two pins that we showed to the workers at the later time, which allowed us to gain entry to the pavilion. We presented USA Pavilion (USAP) pins to some of the workers and explained that we were USAP student ambassadors who were dropping by to introduce ourselves and welcomed them to visit the USA Pavilion. Overall, I believe that the workers at the Samsung pavilion felt equally welcomed by us to visit the USA Pavilion as we felt welcomed by them.

The Samsung pavilion itself is quite thrilling, as the sheer size and magnitude of the building, combined with the fabulous light show and performance, are an amazing sight to behold. Guests at the pavilion are led into a multi-tiered spiraling room with a seemingly flat surface on the bottom that is later revealed to be a screen for light projections or some screen of sorts. All in all, the light show, in conjunction with the performances of the actors, left us awe struck, as the show itself seemed to convey the beauty of nature and the Earth as a whole, through a myriad portrayal of various landscapes.

(Scenes from the Samsung pavilion light show and performances.)

Hyundai Pavilion

On our Good Will Tour to the Hyundai Pavilion, we were first admitted into an exhibition hall bordered by a wall made up of thousands of LED cubes displaying different images and messages. We were then ushered into the second exhibition area, where visitors learned about the Hyundai Motor Group’s efforts to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving global economy. Lastly, in the main experience hall, visitors got to experience the pavilion’s famous “Hyper Matrix,” a 3,500-component wall with individual units that pulsed in and out to create stunning images and convey its main message: that Hyundai held sustainability close to its core values as it kept developing into the 21^st century.

After the whole experience, we talked to the Pavilion employees at the information desk. We exchanged pins, took a few pictures together, and invited all of the Hyundai Pavilion employees to visit the USA Pavilion after 6PM to access our Blue Lane. In short, the whole experience was a pleasure—for the pavilion experience as well as the new relationships we forged with fellow Expo volunteers.

(Images from Hyundai Pavilion. Esther Weon with a Hyundai staff member.)