KING LING COLLEGE S5 Grand Tour Report Class: 5C Destination: Korea Date: 11-14 April 2014 Group members: Chan Lai Ching (2) Chan Sze Ching (4) Kwok Yan In (8) Lam Yin Yee (10) Wong Nga Shun (20) Li Chak Fung (28) Wong Chung Yuen (32) Wong Ka Chun (33)
1 Contents : Day 1... 2 : Day 2... 5 : Day 3... 8 : Day 4... 11
2 Introduction: Korea is a country full of special customs and traditions. We can always hear the k-pop in Hong Kong but we never understand Korea through their traditional cultures. In this trip, we expect we can know more about Korea and learn their cultures. We hope we can enjoy the trip and have a memorable experience. : Day 1 On the first day of our tour, we travelled on KOREA AIRLINE and arrived in Seoul at 16:35. When we arrived there, our tour guide Ken has already waited for us at the greeting area, he welcomed us enthusiastically with Korean language. After that Ken took us to a restaurant, this restaurant looks old school and not so special. As Ken told us that this is a typical and traditional Korean restaurant, finally Ken ordered the Korean pork spine soup to us, we enjoyed the soup as our first night dinner. Cultural learning Before we arrived at the typical Korean restaurant, our tour guide Ken told us that in this kind of restaurant, they required customers enter without wearing their shoes, there is no reason but only Korean s habit. Also Ken said that, in the trip we had to build up a habit which is to help our partner to prepare the tableware, as this is a courtesy in Korea. Cultural difference In our view, the table cultures between Koreans and HongKongers are totally different. In Hong Kong, many HongKongers only focus on themselves. When they sit down at a restaurant, they will take out their cell phone and focus on it, ignore their buddies. On the other hand, Koreans will help each other to prepare the tableware, not to focus on the cell phone. Think more about others, sometimes a little action could make your buddies feel warm and respected. This is the difference between Koreans and HongKongers. Historical meaning / environmental meaning
3 There is a habit that we observed from Korean. During the meal, they will put the bone into a box. Ken told us that Koreans will leave those remaining food to the pigs or dogs, they won t throw away the remaining food, and their recycle concept is very great. Appreciation of the spots The Korean pork spine soup was really yummy! It was a remarkable memory for us. Observation of attitude of local people towards the spots Their attitude of facing visitors was very sincere. At the restaurant, the boss was very polite and enthusiastic, he allowed us to add either more rice or more side dishes, if we were not yet full.
4 After we finished the dinner, we went to the HongDae free market. The first place we saw in HongDae was the Hello Kitty Café, this Café is the theme Café. Inside the Café, there were many Hello Kitties, not only the windows, but also the desks.every corner inside this Café was full of Hello Kitty. Inside this Café, a lot of students love reading books or chatting with their friends, it is because they enjoy the comfortable environment. Then we shopped in HongDae free market. HongDae free market is the place for the teenagers to showoff their creation, and this market is very famous in Korea.The teenagers in HongDae not only care about money, but also care about art creativity The salespeople in HongDae free market needed to have registration, so that it could make sure the qualities of the products are high. Each of the products in HongDae had their own style, maybe it was the only one in the world. So, if you saw one product that you love very much, you should buy it immediately, otherwise, you will feel regret After we visited the HongDae free market, we found that the street is full of different types of shops and everything is suitable for teenagers. We think Hong Kong should have a place just like HongDae to let teenagers showoff their creation,to stimulate Hong Kong s cultural and creative industries,so that increase Hong Kong s competition. Also, the most important thing is, if we have some creative idea, teenagers should not care about the bad intention criticism; we should not hide the ideas. We should write it down or make it to be a product and don t waste the idea. Everyone has their own talent, if we have many ideas on what we want to do, make it down and do not let it disappear. Otherwise, we will forget it very soon. Just like the product which was on sale in HongDae free market, each of the products was the greatest creative product, they used their unique ideas to produce unique items. They made their products become the only one in the world. If all the teenagers hide their creative idea, then nothing would be on sale in the HongDae free market. As a result, we will say that HongDae is a paradise for teenagers.
5 : Day 2 National Museum of Korea National Museum of Korea has more than 220,000 collections. This museum is full of Korean history and art. The museum is divided into three floors. Each floor contains two galleries. The first floor includes the Prehistory and Ancient History Gallery and the Medieval and Early Modern History Gallery, second floor includes the Donation Gallery and the Calligraphy and Painting Gallery, and the third floor contains the Sculpture and Crafts Gallery and the Asian Arts Gallery. Every gallery has their own feature and can raise your eyebrows. Before we went to the National Museum of Korea, we just thought that it will be very boring to visit this museum. We have the bias that all the museums are not interesting and must be dull. However, we felt surprised after we visited the museum. We had no time to visit every floor because it is really big, so we began from the third floor. The third floor is the Sculpture and Crafts Gallery and the Asian Arts Gallery. It was special that we could see the collections include China, Indian and Japan art around Asia. When we saw the porcelains, we felt like we are in China because porcelain is one of the famous things in China. It also helped us know more about the history of other Asia countries. Moreover, the second floor made us feel surprised too. We could not expect that there will be a Calligraphy and Painting Gallery. This gallery contains the Calligraphy of Korean. We knew that Calligraphy is very famous in China, but we could not imagine Korea is also good at Calligraphy.
6 Although we did not have enough time to look around all the galleries, we felt satisfied and joyful. It was a meaningful and unforgettable memory. The museum helped open our eyes and made us not only knew more about the history of Korea, but also the art of China, Indian and Japan. In addition, it raised our awareness to protect and preserve the old things. All the old things are one part of our history, we have the responsibility to save it. We did not feel regret to visit this museum and we will go there again next time if we have the opportunity. We really gained a lot after visited this museum.
7 Korean Folk Village is a cultural theme park which also is a well-known shooting venue of some historical dramas such as Dae Jang Geum and Moon Embracing the Sun. With the success of the dramas, Korean Folk Village became a touring spot, and most of the Korean family will visit the village with their children. On the day we visited the village, the village was crowded. Most of the Korean parents would bring their children to visit the village in order to teach their kids about the traditional culture of the South Korea. This is a good way for children to learn more. Also, it is a model for the Hong Kong parents to make more chances for their children to learn about the history of their birth place. So that the children nowadays can improve their sense of belonging of Hong Kong or even China. So we could feel that how the Korean knows much about their country and be proud of it. Apart from this, during the visit, we could see that the Korean government put lots of the resources into this cultural theme park, which was an alternative way to protect the traditional culture of Korea. The village is not only a theme park, but also a museum. In Hong Kong, there is a lack of resources like the Korean Folk Village, the museum in Hong Kong is boring and unlively. If Hong Kong has a village like the Korean Folk Village, we think it will become a popular place around the youth.
8 : Day 3 Scenic spot: Kimchi workshop This is the place teaching how to make the Kimchi. Also there is the place for us to have the photo taking with the traditional Korean clothes as well. All of the visitors can make their own Kimchi. We could choose whether to keep the Kimchi themselves, or sent it to some orphanages. Moreover, many kinds of traditional Korean clothes could be chosen to wear, it was enough for us to choose the most suitable one. It is the great chance for us to know more about the Korean culture. We could know the lives of the Korean through visiting the Kimchi workshop. What they wore and ate is show in here. After visiting the Kimchi workshop, we discovered that China has the similar culture with Korean. It could be attributed to two countries history. Many years ago, China invaded Korea, all of these actions brought the Chinese culture into Korea. Take the food as an example, some of the
9 places in China like Sichuan has the similar food with Korean, the people love eating the spicy food too. Koreans eat Kimchi and the Chinese eat pickled vegetables. However, there are enormous differences between two countries after long time. The largest differences would be the extent of keeping the historical culture. From our point of view, no one prefers to keep their traditional culture rather than earns money in China. But in Korea, we could see the contrast. All of the Koreans love their culture and hope to share it to foreign people. Therefore, we were appreciating Koreans in this side. That s why Korean could do the good job in the tourism. Through this time, we could know the culture in Korea; also we could understand the difference between China and Korea. We hope we can have the second opportunity to travel Korea as soon as possible.
10 The Trickeye Museum: Trompe I oeil is the French language to describe the meaning of illusory picture. Trickeye is the English abridge of Trick of the eye. Trickeye Museum was made by eight theme halls which are History Hall, Masterpieces Hall, Love Hall, Luxury Hall, Living Hall, Traditional Hall, Fashion Hall and Mission Hall. All the works are not only for watching, but also can take photos and touch. The museum is very small and old. We were eager to this visit point but we were disappointed for this visit point. However, we were happy during there. We could take a lot of photos with the 3D pictures. The display of the photos is very unique and amazing because we can see the trickeye. We took many special and funny photos which made us laugh after we saw it. We also learnt the Trompe I oeil techniques which is the special art for painting. We could not see any local people visit there. Most of the visitors came from Mainland China even Hong Kong people. This trickeye culture came from France. The photos were very meaningful but it was not enough for us. We did not want to visit it once more because it was too small and the halls were not enough. This visit point was our most unforgettable place during the trip because we took many photos. All the works there was not only for watching, but also we could take photos and touched. That was very crazy.
11 : Day 4 PUNGSUNG MIDDLE SCHOOL is a boys and girls school. There are different classrooms for students activities. We visited this school and had a chance to exchange different culture with the local students. Besides, we visited their lesson to see how difference from Hong Kong. After having a briefing for both schools, we were pair up with the Korean students. They showed around the school for us and told a lot of details about their school facilities in order to let us had more understanding about the school. The Korean students are energetic and enthusiastic. Also they are helpful, when we had any questions, they were willing to answer and explain in details. When we visited the classroom which was having lesson, the Korean students tried to show us. Luckily, teachers let us stepped inside and had a look of how Korean students having lesson. We found that there is not quite different from Hong Kong. Study in Korea is more relaxed than study in Hong Kong. Besides, there are enough
12 facilities provide to the students for extracurricular activities. It makes the school life of students become more colorful. After that, the Korean students brought us to an activity room for exchange culture. They prepared some puzzle of some historical spots like Dabotap. Before building this puzzle, Korean teachers told us the history of these spots. During building the puzzle, we exchanged information from each other, talked about different spots of Korea and Hong Kong. For exchange culture, we were going to teach them paper cutting, we chose the easy one to let them have a try, we hoped to draw their interest on paper cutting. This was a rare opportunity for us to learn different culture through communicating with the local students. Not only could we learn about the Korean culture, but also shared our culture to them. Thank you school planning this meaningful activity for us to have an unforgettable memory.
13 Hardly had we arrived Myeong-dong Street when we saw it was crowded with people. A variety of shops were selling different products, which range from bags to food, not to mention the most famous thing in Korea, skin-care products. We inched through the teeming street and lined up in front of an ice cream store. The ice cream was quite special because not only was it combined with two flavors but its height was around 20cm! Some clothes and bags were fashionable and cheap, except the skin-care products. We created remarkable memories and had a happy shopping hours with my teammates in Myeong-dong Street. In the trip, we found that Korean used to jostling people instead of saying excuse me while they needed to pass through the crowd. We were angry in the beginning because we thought it is an impolite behavior. How could they push others without apologize? After the tour guide explained that it was their culture, we learnt to forgive and show understanding for them. Actually, this kind of conflict was easily found between Hongkongers and Mainlanders. Mainlanders brought their culture into our city when they travelled to Hong Kong. They always eat in MTR and pee-pee in the street. They see it as normal thing. However, Hongkongers are so mad for their incivility. In order to stop mainlanders ruin Hong Kong s image, Hongkongers always carry protests and argue with them. Is it a good way to solve the discrepancy? We hope Hongkongers will try to forgive and show understanding for them, like what we did in Korea. Thus, the society harmony could be improved and fewer quarrels will be happened. What s more, Korea is an eco-friendly city. Citizens have a high eco-sense in daily life. Streets lack of rubbish bin, which successfully encourages people not to produce many rubbish. Even though they have rubbish, they will bring it to home. It is different than Hong Kong. Our rubbish bin is everywhere, so that we produce rubbish without thinking. After the Korea grand tour, we will be an eco-friendly person and start my green life.
14 Conclusion: After we finished the trip, we all felt reluctant to leave. These four days went by very fast. We just felt that we didn t do anything much and it was already ended. However, this trip gave us an unforgettable memory. We will not forget the time we spent on the bus with the tour guide Ken and the interaction with the local students. They were just like our old friends and very active to share with us. It will be a special memory in our lives. END