Getting a taste of Gunpo

Basin students ready for trip to Gunpo City, South Korea

MOSES LAKE — Eating mung bean pancakes with chopsticks and sitting cross-legged on a chair cushion, Ephrata High School senior Jeanene Russo is getting an inkling of what her upcoming trip to Gunpo City, South Korea will be like.

Russo is one of six students from Grant County leaving June 21 and returning Aug. 2 as part of an exchange trip where students will tour the county's sister city and live with host families.

The trip is intended to help continue building strong relations between Grant County and Gunpo City.

With less than a week until Russo leaves, it's not the long airplane ride or the thought of being so far away from home that weighs heavily on her mind.

Rather, it's the anticipation of trying new foods that she is most curious about.

"The food's going to be different," Russo said.

Students Josselyn Green and Sarah Sherman are looking at the trip as a way to overcome obstacles and reach beyond their comfort zones.

Green sees some of those obstacles as learning to adapt to changing circumstances and learning to work well with people who hold different perspectives.

"In order to help people, you have to understand them," Green said.

"We just should not expect it to be the same," Sarah Sherman said.

Sarah's brother Steven, who made his first international trip at the age of 11 to Hong Kong, is also going on the trip.

Considering what is going on currently between the U.S., Korea and other countries right now, it is an interesting time to be making a trip like this, Steven said.

Wednesday's dinner was the first one planned since the exchange program began two years ago, one of many additions made to this year's trip to help better prepare students.

Co-chair for the student exchange, Sarita Riley, said other changes have included meeting once a week with the students to practice the Korean language and learn about the area's history and culture.

"The students have achieved a greater responsibility for making it happen," Riley said of this year's trip.

Students fund-raised some of the expenses for the trip and also received significant support from the Gorge House of Blues which donated $4,000. Other donors such as the Big Bend Economic Development Council, Canfield and Associates and several chapters of the Kiwanis also contributed to the student trip.

Riley said the student exchange initially started as a way to encourage younger generations to become involved in the building of a relationship between Grant County and Gunpo City.

As the trip nears, students are eager to share with those in Gunpo City about Grant County.

This is a diverse area with different cultures of its own that continues to see steady growth, said Green of the message she would like to bring to Gunpo City about life in Grant County.

"I'm really honored," said student Cassia Paul about being able to go on the trip. "For a 15-year-old, this is pretty out of the ordinary for me."