Last August 22-26, 2013, I was at
Seoul, South Korea to represent Xavier University in the ASEACCU Conference. It
was my second time this year to travel abroad for free but I felt the same
excitement as I had when I found out that I got accepted to become a youth ambassador
for the Kizuna Project with the opportunity to travel to Japan. When my friends
knew about it, the initial response that I got was commonly about “Wow, Korea.
Iregards nalang ko sa K-Pop” or “Grabe makaadto na jud ka’g Seoul”; Nothing
really different from their excitement when they talked about Otaku, Anime,
Nintendo, and etc when I shared about my Kizuna acceptance. To be honest, these
things never excite me. I was never a fan of Anime, nor did I fancy K-pop and
all that. Cherry blossoms, yes. Seoul,
yes. But above all else, what really excites me everytime I travel is the
people I would meet in those once in a lifetime experiences. And I guess that’s
what makes my ASEACCU Conference very memorable, just like how my Kizuna
experience went.
Day 1
At
the Incheon International Airport, many of their signages have English
translations. These were very helpful since I only travelled with a companion who
is as old as I am. We had no chaperone to accompany us during the trip so we
had to travel on our own. We arrived 5:00 AM at the airport and we were expecting
a bus to pick us up by 8:00 AM and bring us to the venue. Hence, we spent the
whole time eating, and just doing random things while waiting. When it was near
8 AM, we began to panic because the bus was not there yet and the organizers of
the conference can’t be reached through phone. We desperately asked some airport
staff to help us go to the venue since we were afraid that we might had the
wrong information on the location where we were supposed to be fetched. Thank
God most of them can converse in English, much better than the Japanese. We got
information on what subway stations to take and all that, but with our heavy
bags, we didn’t take the train as an option. Provincial buses were available
but it would still take as 2 hours to get to the venue and we were running out
of time. There were taxis then, but the ride would cost us 80,000 won (approx.
P3,600). We felt so hopeless then. Fortunately, at exactly 8 AM the bus arrived
and all our worries were gone. It was then when I realized that Korean time is
on time.
At Incheon International Airport, the world's best airport
The
venue of the conference was at the Catholic University of Korea. We then stayed
at their university dormitory, which was not a usual dormitory like we see in
the Philippines. Their dormitory has state of the art facilities, with
elevators larger than hotel elevators in our country. Their rooms have
automatic power system, and automatic lock with key cards. They have a
centralized air conditioner, too. Their dorm is more than 30 floors, with a
canteen that’s much like an expensive restaurant here. Truth is, that dormitory
is even better than a 4-star CDO hotel. I stayed there for 2 hours while
waiting for lunch. Then I had lunch with a friend at a nearby pizza restaurant
which introduced us to the scrumptious Korean pizza. The opening program would
start by 6:00 PM so in the afternoon, we went to Time Square and shopped with
our eyes because everything there was just too expensive.
At the Catholic University of Korea
The
opening program in the evening was so overwhelming. It was in that time when we
were introduced to the other participants from different countries. They were
from Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, and South Korea. I was
wearing a flag shirt together with the other Filipino delegates and everyone in
the hall was just so amazed to see us with a uniform attire. Well, we just
found a way to contact each other in Facebook and discussed what to wear, and
had online meetings for the cultural presentation which we will perform on the
last day. The CUK ASEACCU student volunteers who were called “ASEATTI” performed
an intermission number of Gangnam Style and the hall was too active and alive.
Keynote speakers were also there to welcome us to the event.
A Korean dance number
With the other Filipino delegates wearing our flag shirt costume
We were welcomed with these freebies
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