We had the opportunity to host another Korean exchange student for a week this year. Our experience with Songha last year was so good that we were almost nervous to do it again in case it didn’t go as well. We didn’t need to worry! Sojeong was our guest this time and she was wonderful. We anxiously awaited her arrival at the airport with a sign that had blinking lights on it.
We were happy to finally meet her!
We took her home and had a breakfast of cinnamon knots and showed her around the house. She was very friendly and immediately started teaching us about her life in Korea. Gift giving is an important part of Korean culture, so she came bearing lots of gifts. Most of them had cultural significance that she was able to teach us about. Some were just for fun, like Korean candy and a game that is very popular in her school. The game is translated into “air play” and is very similar to jacks, but harder. We totally got a kick out of her showing us how to play. She was really good and fun to watch, the rest of us weren’t so good.
Emma especially liked the game and wanted to play a lot.
Later that afternoon Lee took Emma and Sojeong to see Frozen (Emma’s third time!). Then we went to run some errands so Sojeong could see a typical store. After that we went to Red Robin for dinner and Critter Cabana to see the animals.
At this point Sojeong was exhausted. We had tried to encourage her to take a nap when we got home from the airport but she kept saying she was fine. She totally crashed on the way home, but insisted when we got there that she really wanted to watch a movie. She slept through most of it and was thoroughly confused when we woke her up to go to bed when it was over. The poor thing was suffering from some serious jet lag! The next day she was much more awake after a good nights sleep. We went to church in the morning and she was very positive about it. After church Emma and Sojeong painted their nails.
Lee took her and the kids up to the temple in the afternoon while I made dinner.
My family came for dinner that evening and we made a whole Thanksgiving spread so Sojeong could experience it. It was the yummiest dinner and she was so excited to try everything. She was especially interested in the turkey itself. Just like Songha, she took pictures of everything we ate. For this particular dinner she had me write down everything we ate as well. I think we were all as full as we were on Thanksgiving!
After dinner we taught Sojeong one of our favorite games, Wackee Six. She loved it!
And of course for dessert we had apple pie and vanilla ice cream. You can’t get more American than that!
On Monday Sojeong spent the day at school with Emma. They had a welcome assembly for all the Korean students and their teachers. Emma was asked to give the student welcome speech. She was so nervous to be speaking in front of all 600 of her peers, but she did a great job. Here’s the short video for grandparents who are interested! She is totally embarrassed that she couldn’t find her paper at the beginning. She was also bummed that the cute necklace she was wearing broke during first period!
Emma also introduced Sojeong, as did all the other host students with their guests.
After school we went to Emma’s indoor soccer practice. Sojeong and I sat on these tiny, rickety bleachers. I was amazed that she fell asleep in the funniest position. We were told that since they work so hard in school and have very little time for themselves that they can sleep anywhere and at anytime. We found this to be true with both Songha and Sojeong! That evening we went to a potluck at the school for all the guests and host families. This time Sojeong had to introduce Emma. She said that Emma was very nice and always made her feel comfortable.
Group picture American style:
Group picture Korean style:
The next day Emma went with the guests to several places in the Columbia River Gorge, and then to Mt. Hood to play in the snow. They had a great time.
That evening Emma taught Sojeong how to make chocolate chip cookies.
Sojeong showed us a very popular Korean cartoon. The main character was a penguin named Pororo.
Teenagers will be teenagers no matter where they are from!
Wednesday was just a normal school day for Emma, but Sojeong got to go the coast for the day. She got back just in time for a quick dinner and then the girls went to Young Women’s. They were having a Mia Maid game night so of course they took Wackee Six, and Sojeong taught everybody how to play the “air play” game. Afterwards Lee organized a flashlight tag game. They had a blast playing with a bunch of people and didn’t get home until 10:30. Sojeong loved it! On Thursday all the guests and hosts had a lesson about the Korean War before going to the Korean War Memorial in Wilsonville. Then they went to OMSI. Lee met them there to help chaperone. He said they had a great time, and Sojeong told me that was her favorite stop of the day.
They enjoyed the Great White Shark IMAX movie.
After OMSI they went to a t-shirt printing place and the whole group got to help design a commemorative t-shirt.
After the field trip the girls met up with Emma’s friend Sierra and they went to a little café in town to hang out for awhile. Korean kids don’t get to do that often, so it was fun for Sojeong.
Songha’s (our Korean guest from last year) younger brother came with the group this year. We had a visit from him later that afternoon. Songha had sent a letter with her brother to give to us. We were happy to hear from her and we loved meeting her hilarious younger brother. We obviously shouldn’t have relied on Emma’s iTouch for this picture, it’s terrible!
That evening there was a farewell to the Koreans dance at the middle school. Emma did NOT want to go to the dance, but Sojeong really wanted to. Boys and girls are kept very separate in Korean middle and high schools, so she was curious to see what a school dance is like. Emma knew enough to know she didn’t want to go! They ended up going and had a good time, although that will probably be the only middle school dance in Emma’s career! Sojeong came home and said she was “very surprised at the American culture” at the dance. I’m not so sure it was our finest moment… Sojeong told me many times that she likes ice cream so we stopped by Dairy Queen after I picked the girls up from the dance.
After that we gave Sojeong her gifts and the gifts for her family. She was thrilled with her very own Wacke Six game! Emma and Sojeong also broke the wishbone from the turkey we had earlier in the week. Emma won but quickly gave her half to Sojeong.
Isaac and Grace said goodbye to Sojeong since they would still be asleep when she left the next morning.
Very early the next morning, we had to get her to the school at 4:30, we said goodbye to Sojeong. We so enjoyed her visit.
We learned from her and were grateful for the opportunity to have her in our home.
Hopefully she learned from us as well. We are excited to keep in contact with her.
I was especially impressed with what a good host Emma was. She was kind and gracious to Sojeong and treated her just a like a friend from the very beginning. Now she can say she has TWO friends in Korea.
.JPG)
