Soumaya Lansari
Durham County

“Today was the first full day in Korea and it was a fantastic experience. Thank you so much to the Borchardt Fund with the Triangle Community Foundation for allowing me to go to Korea for this immersion experience. Everything around me was new and exciting, and I’m excited to keep feeling this way. 

Our itinerary was to do a half day tour of Seoul and visit a school, and the experience was phenomenal! The tour consisted of wearing a hanbok, the traditional dress of Korea, and then walking to Gyeongbokgung, Korea’s most famous palace located in the middle of Seoul. The clothes were gorgeous and the palace was striking. I was struck by the juxtaposition of being surrounded by the historical palace and looking up to see the modern Seoul skyline and beautiful mountains. The view was breathtaking and as we entered into the sandy courtyard, we were met with a reenactment of the changing of the guard from the time of the Joseon dynasty. I immediately noticed that there was an announcer describing each process in Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese. The attention to language strengthened my impression that the country has been very dedicated to educating visitors about Korean history and culture. As we continued walking around, going into the palace, more and more of the education was done via signs which were in Korean and English. This helped me understand more about the palace’s layout and significance behind each section. It almost felt as though I was able to transport myself back to the time period and brought back memories of watching different historical dramas. So many people came wearing beautifully colored hanboks as well which helped my mind imagine such scenes. Learning and teaching history and culture is a passion of mine so I’m very excited to bring photos and new information to share with my students. 

As I allowed my mind to wander, I realized that having this palace in the middle of a bustling, international city is an amazing example of how history and culture is present in our everyday lives. Teaching ELL students means teaching an international population and the best uniting themes are culture-focused. The experience at the palace would be a great model for a lesson focused on documenting culture and history physically found around students. It could be a project identifying it both in their home countries and in their current community or at school. Creating a sense of familiarity and recognition helps students feel comfortable in a new environment, and making connections between being back home and in their new home would help them feel more confident and increase a sense of belonging. The more they feel a sense of belonging, the more my ELL students are willing to push themselves in speaking their new language and share their ideas. My hope is to connect my students with new cultures and countries by showing the link between their familiar cultures and new ones they learn about from fellow classmates, travel, or lessons at school.”