End of the journey for Korean students

Picnic serves as closing event for Gunpo City delegation in Grant County

With a quintessentially American meal, students from Gunpo City, S. Korea, brought to a close their 10-day journey into Grant County.

Grilled hot dogs, potato chips and soda pop were among the munchies on hand during a picnic at Connelly Park Saturday afternoon, which served as the unofficial closing ceremony for the students' trip in Grant County.

Besides gifts and souvenirs, the Korean students took with them plenty of memories and sights from the Columbia Basin.

"I'll remember the parks and the lake and the beautiful sky," student Cho Hee Kim said. "In Korea the air is very dirty, and here you can see the stars."

The differences between her homeland's culture and here did not go unnoticed by Kim, either.

"You need to be 20 years old to drive in Korea," she said. "Here, high school students have cars."

Mun Ju Go, another student, agreed, saying that the humidity of Korea stood in stark contrast with the dry weather of Grant County, as well as the abundance of trees in Moses Lake versus the tall skyscrapers of Gunpo City.

Kim, a high school student, said that she hoped to come back to America someday, once her college days are over.

Nevertheless, Kim and her fellow travelers made the best of their trip, which for many of them was their first time outside of their country. While far from home, it was the novelty of the journey that made most of their personal highlight reels.

"I had fun at the Demolition Derby," Yoon-Jin Lee said. "I love nature and going on the canoes and seeing the water, and the lake was very beautiful."

Sarita Riley, a chaperone during the trip of American students to South Korea, attended the picnic and said that the Korean students had greatly enjoyed their stay, although it had not been free of hurdles.

"They found the museums difficult," she said, specifically pointing at the lack of translation available at these venues.

Regarding the organization, Riley said the Koreans' trip had been designed to be flexible, taking into account that with a trip of this magnitude, not everything is going to go right.

"You always know that there are things you could do better," she said.

Some of these things, volunteer organizer Lee Blackwell said, included the lack of a formal organization to put together both trips, and the fact that 14 Korean students came to America, and only six American teenagers went to Korea.

Blackwell said that now sister-city organizers are aware of the need to start planning early for the trips. Next year's planning is set to start this coming October, Riley added.

"There is a lot of work to do," Blackwell said. "Now we know the mistakes and we know the needs to be fulfilled."

Besides putting together an organization, Blackwell underlined the need for people to understand their responsibilities and the vision of the exchange, as well as the availability of resources for the trips to take place.

Conversely, Blackwell said the Korean student's trip had filled his expectations, and was grateful for the efforts of the host families, private businesses such as Basic American Foods, the county itself and the cities of Ephrata and Moses Lake.

In addition to Blackwell, organizers Laure Grammer, Tim Snead and Ken Kunes helped plan the trip. The Washington State Potato Commission also donated $1,000 to pay for expenses.

"This is the first time we have done this," Blackwell said. "And the indications are there that this will be a successful relationship."