By: Sarah Lee, Student Ambassador, USA Pavilion 2012

Usually I would feel a bit narcissistic talking about myself in a USA Pavilion blog, but today is my birthday! So I am going to start this blog post with a little information about myself.

I am currently a student at the University of Pennsylvania. Like any college student, on top of academics, clubs make up a big part of my college life. I’m particularly proud to call myself a member of the premier Korean a cappella group called PennSori. We sing both Korean and American songs, and have a blast while doing it. In our most recent spring concert, our finale song was called “Let’s Go on a Trip (여행을 떠나요)” by SMTOWN. You can look up the video on youtube if you would like to check us out!

Recently Meehyun, a PennSori alumnus who just graduated came to visit me at EXPO. While walking around a looking at pavilions, we noticed that our finale song “Let’s Go on a Trip” really fit well with EXPO. Especially since the minute we entered the International Pavilion we saw a sign that translates to, “Welcome to the International Pavilion: An Trip You Can Take without a Plane!” At the end of the day, Meehyunand I had taken a lot of pictures from our adventures of the day: the Australian Pavilion, the Theme Pavilion, the EDG, the joint Pavilions, the Korea Pavilion, the Big O Show and of course the USA Pavilion. It felt weird to simply upload these photos to facebook, so we decided to compile them into a fun, little music video.

On a more serious note, this music video reminded me of something that PennSori and EXPO have in common for me. For the first time in my life, PennSori allows me to express myself as both a Korean and an American. Up until college, these two worlds I tread felt very separate. In a similar manner, I am exploring these boundaries while working at the USAP. I look Korean, but my citizenship is American. I, however, subscribe to both cultures. I eat both Korean and American food. I like both Korean and American clothes. I sing both Korean and American songs. At times it feels I am not totally welcome into both cultures, but for the most part I feel extremely lucky to be able to explore two totally different worlds that both feel close to home. At Penn, PennSori feels like home, so this video from Expo is like writing to home from my second home. Please enjoy the embarrassing lip syncing and dancing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT1-LeF1Ss