Meeting Teacher Leaders and Parents Briefing Session

Pre-trip session

 8th March, 2017 (Monday) 5:00-7:00 PM

We have more then 70 S3 and S4 students participating in the ELW Korea Trip this year.

Students are divided into 8 groups. There is a teacher leader facilitate the learning of each group. Our assistant principal, Mr. Peter Woodhead is one of our teacher leader. 

Besides listening to essential pre-trip briefing from Wing On Travel,  our service provider,  and the teachers-in-charge, there was a group session in which student participants and teachers got to know each other and some pre-trip tasks were introduced.

Students were asked to :

Brain storm their baggage checklist

Prepare self-introduction speech(1 minute for secondary school exchange; 3 minutes for university exchange)

Online research on general information of Seoul, South Korea.

Prepare 5 gifts/ token of thanks for the volunteering walking tour guides

Prepare for LTPSS tour guide presentation 

(Each group is in charge of the following topics: 

a. Youth Life and Popular Culture; 

b. Education

c. Gyeongbokgung (Gyeongbok Palace)
d. Cheonggyecheon

Day 4: 23rd March, 2017 (Thursday) 

Itinerary

Time	Place	Theme/ Name of the activity
	Yonsei University	On-site exchange with Yonsei students

Our Learning Highlights

Activity 1: School Visit: Yonsei University 

                               

                  

Description of Activity (60 - 80 words):

Yonsei University is a private university in Seoul. It is one of the top three universities in Korea and it is considered as the most prestigious and the oldest university (established in 1884). The university provides a variety of programmes in which the medium of instruction is mainly Korean. Through this activity, some students from the international club gave us a walking tour and introduced the history and the facilities of Yonsei University.

Reflective Learning (60 – 80 words):

Apart from visiting Yonsei campus, we also learnt a lot about the Korean culture through the conversation with the enthusiastic Yonsei's students. At the same time, we were asked about how it felt to be Hong Kong students and we understood our culture better. We compared our education systems, exam cultures, language policies and gender inequality between the two places. Of course, we found out something interesting about Korea.  For example, we understand that plastic surgery is actually very normal from the Korean's perspective and they don't mind talking about that in public. In addition, it is less stressful for Korean students than HK students to strive for university admission as they have a more comprehensive assessment method instead of an once-and-for-all public exam. This visit gave us an invaluable opportunity to talk with young people in Korean which enabled me to understand more about the Korean culture.

Day 3: 22nd March, 2017 (Wednesday) 

Itinerary

Time	Place	Theme/ Name of the activity
10:00-12:00	Cheonggye Plaza	Walking Tour
14:00-16:00	Bukchon Hanok Village	Walking Tour
19:30-21:30	Nanta Thratre	Nanta Show

Our Learning Highlights

Activity 1: Walking Tour: Cheongye Plaza

    

                                                   



              

Description of Activity (60 - 80 words):

Cheonggyecheon Stream is an 8.4 kilometer (5.2 mile) waterway and public space that runs from west to east through the heart of downtown Seoul. The two main attractions of Cheonggye Plaza are the “Spring” Tower and the Candlelight Fountain. This walking tour introduced the urban development and History in Korea. This walking tour took visitors on a stroll down Cheonggyecheon (Cheonggye Stream), an 11 km long modern stream that runs through downtown Seoul. Created as part of an urban renewal project, Cheonggyecheon is a restoration of the stream that was once there before during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). 

Reflective Learning (60 – 80 words):

Through this walking tour, we have learnt a lot of  Cheonggyecheon's history. Before the redevelopment of this place, there were a lot of poor people living here. After the Korean War, more people from North Korea migrated into Seoul to make their living and settled down along the stream in shabby makeshift houses. The accompanying trash, sand, and waste, and deteriorating conditions resulted in an eyesore for the city. The stream was then covered up with concrete starting in 1958. This area have become an example of successful industrialization and modernization of South Korea. The successful redevelopment project here can also be a role model to Hong Kong Urban Renewal Authority. For example, the situations in Shing Mun River and Kai Tak Nullah nowadays are quite similar to the Cheonggyecheon before redevelopment. If Hong Kong Government can make reference to the successful case in Korea, I am sure that it will make a great impact to the Hong Kong's tourism.

Activity 2: Walking Tour: Bukchon Hanok Village

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Description of Activity (60 - 80 words):

Bukchon Hanok Village is home to hundreds of traditional houses, called hanok, that date back to the Joseon Dynasty. The name Bukchon, which literally translates to "northern village," came about as the neighborhood lies north of two significant Seoul landmarks, Cheonggyecheon Stream and Jongno. Today, many of these hanoks operate as cultural centers, guesthouses, restaurants and tea houses, providing visitors with an opportunity to experience, learn and immerse themselves in traditional Korean culture. We walked through the village under the patient and vivid commentary by the voluntary tour guides.  

Reflective Learning (60 – 80 words):

Bukchon Hanok Village is another successful heritage conservation project in Korea. Through this walking tour, we learnt that different hanoks had different features and functions. In addition, we also understand the various life relics which were actually used in the Bukchon area. This experience actually broadened our horizon which enabled us to understand more about the Korea Culture. In Hong Kong, due to a lack of land reserve, there has long been a struggle in striking a balance between economic development and heritage conservation. The Haw Par Mansion (Tiger Balm Garden) is one of the significant examples in Hong Kong. The Bukchon Hanok Village shows us again that how government can bring economic benefit through persevering the cultural heritage. Most of the time, they may not be mutually exclusive.  

Activity 3: Nanta Show

                                        

Description of Activity (60 - 80 words):

Now more than 7,000,000 people around the world have enjoyed Nanta's performance. Nanta is a non-verbal comedy show that incorporates traditional samul nori rhythm. The musical has a simple back story of three cooks attempting to finish preparing a wedding banquet. The show involves acrobatics, magic tricks, comedy, pantomime and audience participation. One of our teachers, Miss Kam, was also invited to participate the performance!

Reflective Learning (60 – 80 words):

NANTA is dubbed as non-verbal performance with the largest audiences in Korean history. Even we do not understand Korean, it did not hinder us from enjoying the show. This is an exciting experience for us since it successfully integrates traditional Korean beat, drama and audience participation which totally changes our original concepts about performing arts.  After watching this show, I finally realize the reasons for Nanta to be the longest-running show in Korean history.

Day 2: 21st March, 2017 (Tuesday) 

Contributed by

Itinerary

Time	Place	Theme/ Name of the activity
9:30-11:30	School Visit	School Visit
2:00-4:00	Traditional Market	Walking Tour
6:30-7:20	NamSan Seoul Tower	Site Visit
8:30-9:30	Korea House	Traditional Art Performance

Our Learning Highlights

Activity 1: School Visit

    

    

             

Description of Activity (60 - 80 words):

Today, we visited an all-boy school in Hunda called Chang-un Middle School. First, there was an introduction session which allowed us to have a better understanding on both of the schools. Chang-un Middle School, with 60 years of history, is one of the best schools in the area . For the junior forms, they have a exam free curriculum and they are encouraged to learn and explore their local area and develop a strong sense of national belonging. Moreover, they have programmes that are very similar to our Experiencial Learning Week. After the hall session, we met the student tour guides and had a very interesting and interactive the English lesson together. In the lesson, we got to know each other's culture and we made friends with them through student-centred activities.

Reflective Learning (60 – 80 words):

We have found that there are similarities and differences between school curricula in Hong Kong and that in South Korea. For example, they have teachers specifically appointed to teach moral education that makes them proud of their Korean national identity and systematically guide them through the road of 'growing up'. It was our first time to be in a secondary school in another country and to be invited into their classroom. We have found that genuine cross-cultural exchange is very exciting and it takes patience to learn about each another. It was a thrilling experience for many of us. Some of us have got the contacts from our partners so that we can keep in touch. However, it would have been much better if were scheduled to stay for the whole day instead of just 2 hours. It was definitely the most fantastic experience in this study trip so far. 

Activity 2: Traditional Market

Description: (teacher)                    Description: (teacher) 

Description of Activity (60 - 80 words):

We were taken to a traditional market in the area. We were greeted by our passionate volunteer tour guide. He took us to the Museum of Agriculture and learnt that they respect food a lot and there are 'Food God' ceremonies every now and then each year. Then, we were led to the Oriental Medicine Museum and there are a lot of displays of different dried herbs and other medicine extracted from the earth and animals. After that, we walked through an oriental medicine market and then the traditional market. The guide told us that a lot of traditional markets had been replaced by super markets. 

Reflective Learning (60 – 80 words):

We have found that Koreans still believe in their traditional medical skills which is also a part of their core values that makes them so proud of being Korean. However, Hong Kong people nowadays seldom consult the Chinese medicine because they think that it is not as scientific as the western medicine.  South Korea's government indeed provides a lot of help and subsidies to improve their competitiveness and professionalism. Maybe our HKSAR can make reference to the example here to promote Chinese medicine. We should advocate the government to build a Chinese Medicine Museum and we can help promote this unique aspect of our culture to the visitors from different countries as well. 

   Activity 3: N-Tower

Description: (teacher)                    Description: (teacher) 

Description of Activity (60 - 80 words):

The location of N Seoul Tower was used for military use in the past. We searched on the Internet and found that the tower was used for TV broadcasting since 1975. The government made it into a tourist spot in 2005 by putting many innovative ideas into the place. Many dramas were filmed there because of the world famous sunset. 

Couples can put pad locks on the fence of the tower to make romantic promises. We and our friends put a pad lock of love (friendship) there too. There are many restaurants and coffee shops. The souvenir shops there sell creative, interesting and high quality products that are likely to attract young costumers.

Reflective Learning (60 – 80 words):

We went to N Seoul Tower today. It was cold up there. After climbing there a steep slope.  we enjoyed our time there looking around and enjoying the beautiful sunset. Different from my expectation, there were many people at the tower. There were tourists from different countries, and local Koreans, especially couples. Ms. Fung told us that the sunset at N Seoul Tower was said to be the most beautiful one in Korea, and we really loved the view we saw there. It was so beautiful! We took many pictures with our friends and had many great memories. 

Besides, we have observed that other then keeping old constructions, governments can work on revitalization of old building and N Seoul Tower is one of the successful example and the media can also play a part in promotion attractions. There are a lot of revitalization projects in Hong Kong as well such as YHA Mei Ho House Youth Hostel in Shek Kei Mei, PMQ in Central and the 1881 Heritage in Tsim Sha Tsui. These projects do not only attract people with different interests locally and internationally for the present purposes but also highlight the rich and complex history of Hong Kong. 

Activity 4: Traditional Performing arts

Description: (teacher)                    Description: (teacher) 

Description of Activity (60 - 80 words):

The last but not least, the final activity of the day was watching the Korean traditional performing arts show in Korean House. It has been created by fusing Korea's best classical novel 'The Story of Sim Cheong' and media art. The art troupe ad production team of the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, which has devoted itself to the preservation of traditional Korean art performances for the past 36 years. In the middle of the show, our assisting principal was invited to show his talent on the stage by dancing elegantly along with the dancers. It was definitely the highlight of the show despite the high quality performance and arrangement by the exquisite team.  

Reflective Learning (60 – 80 words):

The performance is a blend of modern and traditional culture. It integrates traditional Korean music and modern technology for creating such a masterpiece of work, which harmoniously expresses the stories of the novel.  Moreover, the use of different musical instruments impressed me a lot. It was very interactive in the sense that audience was invited to go onto the stage to be the characters of the story. It successfully maintained our interest. It is  highly applicable to the way of doing presentations at school as well. It also inspires me to be more innovative in creating different works in my  Performing Arts lesson.