For 3 consecutive semesters now, I have been a
member of the group called BILK (Because I Love Korean). Basically, it is an
exclusive group for foreign students living in South Korea who are studying in
the Catholic University and staying in the in-campus dormitory. BILK is facilitated by the dormitory
management. The members are current students from various countries such as:
The Philippines, U.S.A. Indonesia, Thailand, France, Nepal, India, Japan,
Taiwan and China. The members are divided into groups of 4 or more people and
are assigned one Korean mentor. The groups meet on a weekly basis and together
we learn useful and basic Korean sentences, phrases and words that we could use
on a day to day basis in our 2 year stay here in Korea.
As BILK members, the highlight of the semester is
when we go out on a field trip. For this semester we went to Yangpyeong. It is
a 2-3 hour bus ride from the school. Last October 20, Saturday, we assembled at
8:15 in the morning in front of the IH Building and around 8:30 we left for
Yangpyeong in 2 chartered buses.
When we finally reached Yangpyeong, our first stop is Yangsuri, the upper region of the Han River. Yangsuri is often used as set for movies because of its picturesque scenery. We went for a 1 hour walk and enjoyed the cool weather. After taking a walk we then went to Sanse Art Gallery to have lunch. There, we saw a traditional Korean house and a small cozy cafĂ©. The place had a really nice ambiance. They served a delicious home cooked meal consisting of hot sticky rice, grilled pork, salad, some sausages and of course a Korean meal wouldn’t be complete without Kimchi! After eating and resting we then had another bus ride to go to our final destination, the Yongmunsa Temple. The Yongmunsa Temple is somewhat on top of a hill or a small mountain. We hiked for 30 minutes (or so I think it was but it felt longer) before we reached the top. On our way we passed by many streams and took lots of photos. When we reached the top, aside from the temples we saw Asia’s largest ginko tree. The tree is about 200 ft high and about 15 ft in diameter. It is believed to be around 1100 years old! We were also instructed to drink the water coming from the small fountain because legend has it that drinking it will make you smarter! Of course we didn’t pass up on the chance of becoming smarter. The water was really fresh, cold and sweet. It was definitely a refreshing drink. Afterwards, we hiked back down because we need to leave the area by 4:00 in the afternoon.
Everyone was generally satisfied from the trip. We
all took hundreds of photos! What made this trip extra special was because it
was fall. It was a nice sight to see the leaves changing colors and falling
down from the trees. Living in a tropical country like the Philippines, we do
not usually get to see trees filled with red or yellow leaves. That is why fall
is my favorite season of all. I am now looking forward for next semester’s (my
last T_T) field trip!
- by Karla Patricia Colmenar
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