Student Take Over: Bittersweet Final Days in Seoul

We are coming to the end of days here at the K-pop Immersion Program: Seoul Session 1. That means everything’s been a little bittersweet within the autobot ranks. It’s been a series of lasts today. Our last hangout sesh with the Korean high school students, our last Survival Korean class, our last full K-pop class lesson. But we’re ending everything with a bang.

Dr. Kim pulled no punches while talking to the class about gender issues within the K-pop industry. Today’s lesson was definitely a thinker. As a social justice warrior and K-pop fan, I’ve always struggled with the sexualization of K-pop idols, especially the girl groups, so it was interesting to go in depth and learn more. Our last Survival Korean class was a whole concert. We sang Arirang and it was as if the angels came down from the heavens and blessed the hotel conference room with their divine light. For real, though, Korean class has been a lifesaver. Hugo 선생님 is an excellent teacher. I feel like I understand Hangul a lot better and I can actually speak to some extent with the locals now.

We started our excursion activities with a trip to N Seoul Tower with the Korean high school students! Honestly, we all love them. They are absolute sweethearts. The hill we had to walk up to get to the tower was like a session of P90X. The view was worth it, though. It was a little weird seeing the place we had been staying in for 3 weeks look so small, when it had all seemed so big 30 minutes ago. It also made for some great photo ops, which is what it’s all about. CLOUT.

Then we headed to the Han River to eat fried chicken and watch the fountain show. Some of us flash-mobbed (if you can even call it that, only about 5 out of 15 of us danced) to Boy With Luv and made whole fools of ourselves. We played cards and it turns out that Nikia is a BOSS at BS.

We all got a little sad hours at the end of our picnic, though, because the Korean kids had to leave. It was a huge hug-fest and some people cried. It was really sad to say goodbye to them, but we all have each other’s information, so we should be able to stay in touch. Overall, this program has been amazing. We’ve all made so many friends and connections. I think that these relationships will last, too.

Nothing bonds people more than shared experience. 

Authored by: Keira Cavanaugh, Session 1 K-Pop Immersion: Global Discovery