Our Last School Tour!

Today we toured Dongsan Christian High School, the only autonomous high school in their province of Korea. Being autonomous means that they have much more control of their school curriculum than most Korean high schools, who are required to follow a nation-wide school curriculum. We were honored to be greeted with a huge banner welcoming us individually by name to the school. In our orientation meeting, Mr. Oh-a former Auburnite who has returned to his native Korea and now teaches at the high school, arranged one of the high school students to translate the orientation video and then for a group of high school students to direct us in an orientation tour. As we walked around in small groups, we enjoyed being able to ask the students questions about their school and Korean education in general. It was a treat to be able to discover the students' views on education in South Korea. We also enjoyed interacting with students in Mr. Oh's English class as they role-played various situations where they might need to speak in English. We culminated our visit to the school with a delicicous lunch in their teacher lunchroom, complete with soup, fresh fruit, rice, and the ever present kimchi. It was a delightful morning.

After lunch, we toured the Hwaseong Haenggung Palace, located only a few miles from the high school. Our guide was a former Korean Air Force officer and he enjoyed sharing his vast knowledge of Korean history with us. We toured the area between the three gates guarding the palace, part of the king's private chambers, and the archery range, among others. Unfortunately, the martial arts demonstration was cancelled because of the torential downpour that soaked everyone, umbrella or not.

Dinner tonight was a treat provided by Mrs. Park, Dr. Suh's mother. After a rainy day in Suwan, it was really nice to stay at the hotel for dinner. The all-you-can eat buffet provided a choice of foods and everyone came away happy with their meal. A big huge thank you to Mrs. Park for her generosity in sharing dinner with us tonight, and her daughter with us for this trip!