Asia-Pacific Youth Caravan in South Korea (1st Day)

First Day: 23rd Sept. 2011

(Warning: Ignore the grammar mistakes...not an English teacher...hahahaa)

Wow, it's almost been a year! Time flies so fast...& I still miss the moments...Before that, I haven't told you about my arrival in Incheon International Airport, right (I wanna brag a lil bit, so let me..purleasee..hehe). So, when we reached there: I use the term 'we' because I was with Heflin: we got into the same flight from LCCT to Incheon. And of course, it was planned. I was quite confused & nervous about going to Korea all alone without knowing how to contact the other Malaysian participants. Fortunately, Heflin was able to contact me. How? He searched for my name on Google (he told me) & yea....Of course he'll find me everywhere around google globe. That's when I realized I was 'globalized' by Google! Privacy, NO MORE. So, I started to check all my 'security settings' in my blogs, FB, twitter, tumblr (No, I lied. I don't have tumblr yet during that time.haha), google account, yahoo, etc etc...But still, if you search for my name, I'm still everywhere so, bear with me. Ops, out of topic. So, we arrived at the airport, claimed our baggage & went to the front gate. There's where we met, Fatihah Khotil or her 'busyuk' name, Teyha...kyopta! :) So, we waited around few minutes, maybe half and hour, for 'them' to get us. 'Them' refers to the facilitators of the caravan since we were promised to be picked up. A bus finally arrived, and a small but super-duper cutey 'girl' came out from the bus & greet us. She was so cute & I was like...grrr...I wanna pinch her cheek..haha, sorry unnie. Her name is Sora Jung & she didn't tell her age. She said, it's a secret..hehe...so, we didn't force..:) We were brought to this place:

Hong-won Training Institute 홍원 연수원

See..

This was where we will be staying for few days of the caravan before moving to DMZ. I think we finally reached that institute at around one in the morning, I'm not very sure & I was freeeeezingggg.....It's damn cold! Just like Kundasang at night. After that, we registered ourselves before being 'ushered' to our room & I got roomies!! They are, the tall & beautiful Lala from Indonesia, Sweety Diana from Korea, but living in NZ & Kathy So Hyeon Park, a gorgeous Korean woman...I miss you guys!!...

Because of the tiring 6 hours direct flight, I slept soundly that night and woke up in the morning with liveliness!
So, here's what we were doing on our first day.

AM	10:00 Opening Ceremony
AM	Orientation
PM	Lecture 1 - UNESCO & Diversity
	Cultural Acitivity 1. Korean traditional martial arts, Taekkyon
	Film

Having a breakfast....

In the morning, we were having an Opening Ceremony at the ‘yard’. Haha..it’s not really a yard, it’s actually an open space just opposite the building where we were staying. But before that, we were having some indoor Ice-Breaking, divided into few groups & I was in M & M group. M & M stands for Mixed & Matched. Courtesy to Cayla (New Zealand) & Hyejong (Korea). I think they were the one who ‘invented’ our group name. Hehe..We were together with few other participants, Adong (Phillipines), Candy (Thailand), Anh Tuan (Vietnam), Antonio (Timor Leste). So, all through the caravan, we will have to stick with them in any group activity that will be held. I am lucky to have them as my group members because they are sporting, energetic, intelligent & supportive. What more could I hope for a group, right?

Proudly Present --> M & M Group

Other group --> Fantastic 6

Our group is presenting our so-called Titanic act.lol

Charlie's Angel!! (^_^)

During the Opening Ceremony, we were entertained by a traditional Korean dance; I forgot the name of the dance. But a woman wearing ‘hanbok’ (Korean traditional clothes for women) holding a kind of a drum & dance to its beat. It was such a pleasure to witness this dance with my own eyes; it reminds me of my own traditional dance, Sumazau. Of course it’s widely different but...You know... We as younger generation should protect / preserve our traditional culture for the next generation to appreciate & experience it.

“I’m proud of my heritage!”

Attentively watching...

The most interesting part of the ceremony is................FOODS............... gaaahhhhhh... Fooooodssss. They were sooooo tempting not only to my eyes, but to my stomach & mouth! Hahaha.. Unfortunately, I can’t eat all types of food that were served because some of it contained foods that I cannot eat like pork & seafood. But there were plenty other food that can make my tummy happy...hahaha.. I just love food & I can’t explain it with words.

Hungry tummy, happy faces

Rice cake!!

I can't eat this. Kimchi wraps with Pork

After that, we went back to our room & had a quick rest because we had more programmes in the afternoon. So, as stated in the table, we were having our first lecture by Prof. Gun-soo Hana. He briefly talked about UNESCO in general & also few topics about DIVERSITY around the globe.

After the lecture, we were brought to the ‘yard’ again & experiencing our first cultural activity which is Korean traditional martial arts called Taekkyon. And all I was attracted to were the members of the group because they are good-looking! Yumm! Keh3...

Watching the martial arts performance

Finally, at night, we gathered in the class & had few activities which I had forgotten. I’m so sorry...It was stated 'film' in the table but I didn't remember watching any film that night...ahaha.. But what I can remember is, we were celebrating two of the participants’ birthday, Hindun & Sarah...So, rice cake time!!like...again..:)