Weekend with the Seoul Mates!

This weekend, the CIEE students were able to meet their Seoul Mates! Seoul Mates are Korean high school and college students that have volunteered to do a cultural exchange with our students. This weekend, we had 6 Seoul Mates! They guided our Session 1 students throughout the weekend and made lasting bonds with them- some of them even connecting with each other on social media so they could contact each other in the future! 

Saturday:

We started Saturday morning with Seoul Mates by doing some ice breakers! Students learned the names of all the Seoul Mates, and the Seoul Mates were able to learn our students names too! It was a rainy day here in Insadong, so the students and Seoul Mates had a chance to have catered sandwiches for lunch inside the seminar room of our hotel. Afterwards, everyone donned their rain gear and umbrellas and explored the streets of Insadong for an hour with their Seoul Mates! Some groups went to photo booths, others went shopping, and some chose to take cover in warm cafes while getting to know each other a little better. 

We then travelled to Myeongdong where students sat down to watch NANTA, a percussive cooking performance! Some of our students even had the opportunity to participate in the show on stage. Afterwards, we split into smaller groups and Seoul Mates recommended great restaurants that our students could eat at in Sinchon. Soon after, the rain began to clear up just in time for our students to gather to watch some K-Pop dance street performances! The local dance troupe "Doritos" performed a few dances while are students watched and cheered them on. Afterwards, the students gathered for a "random play dance". A random play dance is when excerpts of different K-Pop songs play and anyone in the crowd can join in to dance to the song. Many of our students jumped in to participate during the random play dance, and we even had some onlookers jump in and dance along as well!

Sunday:

We travelled to Hongdae to do an Escape Room activity! Since it was a really hot day, we stopped to get some ice cream with the Seoul Mates while we waited for it to begin. The Seoul Mates took our students to try various Korean foods in Hongdae. Some groups went to have Korean BBQ, while others tried dak-galbi (marinated chicken) or Korean fried chicken! They also did a bit of shopping on the streets of Hongdae. In the afternoon, we went to a noraebang (private karaoke rooms)! The Seoul Mates taught our students how to use the karaoke controls to queue up songs that they wanted to sing. They sang a mix of English and Korean songs for a few hours. Finally, after singing their hearts out, students went out for dinner in Hongdae. After having their final meal with their Seoul Mates, we took a group photo and students said their final goodbyes!