Thank You. Gamsahamnida.

Daily life –these two words form an easily comprehensible concept. A concept that seems self-explanatory to most. Yet, in the context of SUSI program attendees, these self-explanatory things fly by like the birds that resemble smudges in a distant horizon – too far away to tell their Latin name or let alone ask how they got there in the first place. Where I am trying to get here is: each day is unique and beautiful – just like a scoop of new ice cream flavor!

It is not every day that one gets to witness South Korean entertainment up and close, while munching lunch that was heavily spinach-based (spinach equals health, nature and everything great on Earth). And by entertainment, I mean students presenting the gems of their culture and several hours of rehearsals. The performances were very impressive indeed: dancing and intensive drum playing.

With filled tummies we rushed to volunteer at the Salvation Army center nearby. Balloons were to be taped in a rigidly color labeled order, name tags to be placed and flowers to be allocated. In other words, we enabled the transformation of a church like space to flourish like a proper butterfly, starring the colors of the American flag.

My favorite occasion (I am definitely not alone with this one) was to get paired up wit

h a veteran guest and get to talk to them. Most Americans do not tend to experience any kinds of difficulties when engaging in small talk duties and thus, enjoyable chats were commenced, and friendships established. Lola, the lady who I was paired up with, turned out to be lovely, warm and knowledgeable with all kinds of trivia. The ultimate goal of this chit-chat session was to present facts about the partner on the stage, in front of the other guests. When this moment arose, many wonderful and at times hilarious comments were heard. Lola turned out to be a skilled rapper, or so it seemed, listening to the speed and accuracy of her speech laying out nearly my entire short life!

My joyful thanks of the day go out to all the people who I have received help from, who I have helped and simply shared the joys of sharing daily life with – endearing acquaintances and unique friendships, not forgetting the one who encouraged me the most when applying for the SUSI program.

PS: 감사합니다, pronounced gamsahamnida, means thank you in the Korean language.