We Made It!

The incountry portion of GSE has gotten off to a great start.

No problems with the flights. Friday morning, we said an early goodbye to family, friends, and Rotarians at GSP before leaving for Atlanta. The 2-hour layover gave us a chance to check email, blog, Facebook and have coffee and breakfast before departing for Incheon.

If you have to spend 15 or so hours on a flight, it doesn't get much better than Delta 91. Lots of in-flight movies, regular meal and drink service, and plenty of room near the back of the plane.

One of the neatest portions of the trip was flying over the Northern Territory and Russia. We got some great pictures of snow, ice, and mountains.

Incheon Airport is one of the nicest airports in the world--it is also beautiful.

District 3720 met us in Gimpo, a subway ride away from Incheon, with a lovely reception. They treated us to a meal at a traditional Korean restaraunt and we were able to spend some time getting acquainted.

Finally, after 25+ hours without sleep or showers, we were taken to Hotel Taehwa. Tomorrow, we will go to Tongdosa to begin a 2-day temple stay.

7750 GSE Team

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Originally uploaded by bestts4u

10 Days and Counting

In-country preparations are right on schedule. On Sunday, the team gave our 7750presentation at the Simpsonville Rotary Club. The audience included several members of the local Korean community and we presented in Hangul in order for them to provide some suggestions and feedback. The evening was a success--fellowship and feedback. (And I must mention the barbeque from Henry’s--It was fabulous!) I am so absolutely excited about this trip. Departure day is almost here ...

Thinking about the scope of opportunity GSE is providing is humbling. It isn’t just the month abroad, either. I’ve met so many great people through the various orientations, meetings, and training sessions. All of those friendships are blessings.

25 Days Left

The trip has always been real, even back in September. The month in South Korea was never one of those Oh, it's so far away, it will never get here, there's PLENTY of time deals. We knew from the outset there was much preparation and work to do, but more importantly that the period of time from September to April 3rd would pass very quickly.

With 25 days left until our departure, urgency now attends our meetings. Plans that were until recently just plans have to be finalized. It's almost time to pack.

Each day, something new I wish I had taken care of earlier surfaces or some detail that should have been thought about beforehand presents itself for consideration. There is a little bit of panic. When panic visits, I remind myself of something that Ken Tucker told us at our first GSE meeting in Simpsonville:

Folks, don't forget to have fun.

Did We Really Agree to Meet at 8:15 on a Saturday Morning?

We did, and Ed brought us a wonderful assortment of bagels from Bruegger's.

:)

One of the biggest aspects of our preparation for South Korea has been the studying the language. Our group has been so fortunate to have Sara and Inho Yoon as instructors in our endeavor to learn. It is difficult to find words that adequately describe all they have done for us. "Superb" comes to mind, as well as "Above and beyond." Under their guidance, we are continuing to work on the alphabet, some basic grammar, numbers, and key phrases.

From the outset, the group decided to deliver the presentations to our Korean hosts in Hangul and began to look for ways to effectively communicate. Sara helped us translate our District 7750 presentation. She also took the time to make audio recordings of each slide (currently 55 Powerpoint slides) so that we could practice pronunciation and improve our words per minute. We also will likely provide the Rotary clubs we visit with handouts of our presentation.

We also continue to learn about culture and customs in an effort to keep the faux paus's to a minimum!

(Finally, it would be remiss not to mention that yes, Sylvia is Korean. She is, however, our Girl, not our crutch! She is an incredibly valuable source of knowledge concerning language and culture, but also a terrific teammate.)

Saturday, January 17

District 7750's GSE team met on January 17 at Day and Zimmerman for language and culture training. Father Ken stopped by Saturday morning to go over some official business - passports, medical forms, and proof of insurance. Next, we discussed uniforms and where to buy them. With 5 team members of varied sizes, this wasn't as easy as it sounded. Varying shades of gray, pleated vs. flat-front, and the ultimate question: Seersucker. Talks are ongoing, but a resolution is forthcoming.

After lunch at 5 Guys (Ed, Michelle, and Jaime) and Atlanta Bread (Babette), Sara arrived with lesson 5. She also brought a guest with her, Dr. Peter Yun, an economics professor formerly of the University of Virginia's College at Wise, currently of Handong Global University in South Korea. She patiently covered the Korean number system--there are two systems for those of you who are curious. Pure-Korean is for counting, Sino-Korean is for measuring quantities. We also reviewed some expressions and pieces of our presentation.

We will meet next on January 31. (These snazzy pictures are from my cell phone and are the first I've taken since getting the phone--a Samsung Sway. For a cell phone, they're not too bad.)

Quick Update

So, what's new with District 7750's GSE team to South Korea?

Here's a quick run down of some of our recent activities post-Clemson:

• Language and culture training have continued with the Yoon's (Sara and Inho.) They have been wonderful instructors and patient with us as we make our stabs at learning Hangul. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at their home in November, which included a number of delicious Korean dishes and many bottles of 포도주.



• Last weekend, our group, along with District Governor Carol Burdette and Ken Tucker, traveled to High Point, NC for an orientation of GSE and Rotary Scholars in our zone. It was a great time to catch up with everyone and meet some of the other GSE teams. (Plus, we got to stop at Trader Joe's in Charlotte on the way home and Sylvia treated us to Mochi ice cream. Great stuff.)



• Michelle, Travis, Sylvia, Ed, and I continue to work on our presentation. Our goal is to effectively communicate with our Korean hosts in their language. We're thinking of some ways to share information about our district that will be interesting to them and cover our bases should we find ourselves without projector's or encounter computer problems, etc.

Regular blog posts and pictures are forthcoming!

고맙습니다!