AUBURN - One reason Seo Jin Choi decided to fly around the world from her home country of South Korea to Auburn this summer was building friendships.
Sam Tenney / The CitizenAnnette Bell, second from right, helps students visiting from South Korea count change for a bus ride at Westminster Church Tuesday morning. Students are Kyu Hyoung Kim, Sae Rom Lee and Seo Jin Choi.
“I want to make American friends,” said the 15-year-old from Busan, South Korea.
In the two weeks Choi - who took “Jinny” as her American name - has been stateside, she met not only American friends, but also built camaraderie with six other Korean high school students with whom she's gone on field trips, learned English and shopped.
Jinny is one of eight Korean students from the Pyongyang Presbytery in Korean who participated in a cultural exchange program that landed them at Westminster Church in Auburn for one month.
Arriving in central New York July 25, these students immediately became immersed in the mores of the United States by living with host families and taking English classes daily.
That's exactly what Sae Rom Lee, or Rosie, wanted from the trip.
“I want to learn American culture,” she said.
What each of them discovered is how much they like it here.
“The scenery is very beautiful,” Yoon Mi Jung, or Amy, said.
Jinny adds, “And peaceful.”
The English Language and Cultural Exchange Program is a product of an eight-year international partnership between the Pyongyang Presbytery - established in South Korea by a group of North Korean refugees - and the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse, of which Westminster Church is a member.
Convener of the Korean Partnership Mission and Ministry Team of the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse Linda Russell said this partnership is a way to build relationships, share in cultural experiences, mission work, ideas and worship.
“We do this because we're connected in the faith,” she said. “Each one of us find we are strengthened in our faith when we share in the faith with our partners. And so we teach each other and from each other we learn that really we're all stronger in our faith.”
The presbyteries have each sent adult delegations to both countries to foster this connection.
But Russell had an idea to bring in high school students for English immersion. Russell herself spent three months in Turkey has a high school student and said she knew the value of that kind of experience.
“I recognize the value of a cross-cultural experience for people that age, and I think our world will be better and more peaceful if we continue to have good, positive cultural experiences,” she said. “I think this age is one of the best to do that.”
And thus formed the trip that brought Jinny, Rosie, Amy, Eun-Na or Molly, Kyu Hyoung Kim or Nick, Dong Won Jeong or Bill and Ye Kyun Jung or Ted to Auburn.
The group has been to Expedition Camp, an outdoors adventure camp, that took them white water rafting along the Hudson Rive, Camp Gregory and mountain climbing in the Adirondacks, among other things.
“There are many interesting places to go here,” Amy, 15, said. White water rafting was her favorite activity so far.
The group is also receiving English lessons from Annette Bell, English as a Second Language professor at Tompkins County Community College.
While each of the students started learning English in the third grade, they said they learned the language much better in their time here.
“They teach us easier,” Molly, 16, said.
Added Amy, “And we have to speak English all day.”
Bell said it was remarkable how much progress they have made in just the two weeks they have been in the United States.
“It's more fun,” Molly said of learning here.
Amy found many of the colloquial expressions interesting, especially “Crazy,” “It's cool,” and “Oh my goodness.”
With their trip half finished, many said they value their time here and don't like the idea of leaving.
“We have good memory and good time,” Molly said.
Added Jinny, “I don't like leaving here.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or Alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
In the two weeks Choi - who took “Jinny” as her American name - has been stateside, she met not only American friends, but also built camaraderie with six other Korean high school students with whom she's gone on field trips, learned English and shopped.
Jinny is one of eight Korean students from the Pyongyang Presbytery in Korean who participated in a cultural exchange program that landed them at Westminster Church in Auburn for one month.
Arriving in central New York July 25, these students immediately became immersed in the mores of the United States by living with host families and taking English classes daily.
That's exactly what Sae Rom Lee, or Rosie, wanted from the trip.
“I want to learn American culture,” she said.
What each of them discovered is how much they like it here.
“The scenery is very beautiful,” Yoon Mi Jung, or Amy, said.
Jinny adds, “And peaceful.”
The English Language and Cultural Exchange Program is a product of an eight-year international partnership between the Pyongyang Presbytery - established in South Korea by a group of North Korean refugees - and the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse, of which Westminster Church is a member.
Convener of the Korean Partnership Mission and Ministry Team of the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse Linda Russell said this partnership is a way to build relationships, share in cultural experiences, mission work, ideas and worship.
“We do this because we're connected in the faith,” she said. “Each one of us find we are strengthened in our faith when we share in the faith with our partners. And so we teach each other and from each other we learn that really we're all stronger in our faith.”
The presbyteries have each sent adult delegations to both countries to foster this connection.
But Russell had an idea to bring in high school students for English immersion. Russell herself spent three months in Turkey has a high school student and said she knew the value of that kind of experience.
“I recognize the value of a cross-cultural experience for people that age, and I think our world will be better and more peaceful if we continue to have good, positive cultural experiences,” she said. “I think this age is one of the best to do that.”
And thus formed the trip that brought Jinny, Rosie, Amy, Eun-Na or Molly, Kyu Hyoung Kim or Nick, Dong Won Jeong or Bill and Ye Kyun Jung or Ted to Auburn.
The group has been to Expedition Camp, an outdoors adventure camp, that took them white water rafting along the Hudson Rive, Camp Gregory and mountain climbing in the Adirondacks, among other things.
“There are many interesting places to go here,” Amy, 15, said. White water rafting was her favorite activity so far.
The group is also receiving English lessons from Annette Bell, English as a Second Language professor at Tompkins County Community College.
While each of the students started learning English in the third grade, they said they learned the language much better in their time here.
“They teach us easier,” Molly, 16, said.
Added Amy, “And we have to speak English all day.”
Bell said it was remarkable how much progress they have made in just the two weeks they have been in the United States.
“It's more fun,” Molly said of learning here.
Amy found many of the colloquial expressions interesting, especially “Crazy,” “It's cool,” and “Oh my goodness.”
With their trip half finished, many said they value their time here and don't like the idea of leaving.
“We have good memory and good time,” Molly said.
Added Jinny, “I don't like leaving here.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or Alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
