Gwangju International Center

GIC invites active and enthusiastic international residents living in Gwangju to experience and assist in various ongoing cultural programs through its Volunteer scheme. This time 16 volunteers from 10 different countries( China, Denmark, El-Salvador, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Slovenia and Uzbekistan) joined GIC for September~December 2017 period. All of them participated in various activities like Language exchange, GIC day, GIC Tour, Cultural classes, GIC talk, Kids classes, Proofreading, Translation etc. 

At the end of their volunteer service they submitted their review of volunteership which we're going to share with you. 

Michaela, Philippines 

GIC Day: A Colorful Day to Remember           

 Cultures as Colors of the Rainbow

Each color has its own unique characteristics that make a rainbow spectacular. The GIC Day is like a rainbow, not just because it is colorful but also because people with different cultures are brought together to work hand in hand, producing scenery of unity and cultural appreciation.

 Mabuhay! (Live!) Philippine Booths

Assisting in carrying out the Filipino traditional dance, Tinikling and the traditional game, Sungka went beyond my volunteering experience because it is sharing something which is a part of me. Thanks to GIC for organizing such cultural event!

 The Hug

In the event, I had the chance to use the Super Mario costume. The children’s expressions as they approached and hugged Super Mikka were very heartwarming. This made me realize that happiness is not just a product of volunteering but also a part of the volunteering process itself.

 Smile Outside and Inside

The people who approached us wore the best smiles. I was so happy because I made them smile even if they did not know the one who was behind the character. Every time someone took a picture, I smiled gorgeously in the inside and outside, as if my smile will be captured in camera.

 Indeed, it is a colorful day to remember! -MA

Gwangju Tour with Global Friends

 Every month, GIC organizes the Gwangju Tour with Global Friends. The tour last November 18 is my second time to join such event but my first time to join as a GIC tour volunteer.

 In the program, we participated in team activities which include quizzes about different cultures. Teams were composed of Korean high school students and “global friends”. In the afternoon, we visited Yangnim-dong and a certain folk village.

 Travel. Enjoy. Share

 It was fun since missions were given to each team and were to be accomplished in Yangnim-dong. After the tour, we guided the high school students in making a report about the experiences in the tour. The biggest challenge is when I was helping them decide on the presenter of their report because no one really wants to at that time.

It was a great experience not just because of the fun and adventure but also the shared insights and shared times. –MA

GIC Talk: The World of Ideas

 Volunteering is made more special in GIC Talk because the event is unique. Diverse topics are discussed. From career, to arts, to traveling, to farming, to countries- welcome to the world of ideas!

 Volunteering Experience + Hugot

Aside from the volunteering experience one can gain, is the inspiration he or she can get from the hugot or hugot quotes in the talk. Hugot, as a slang word (Filipino), as defined by tagaloglang.com,  refers to drawing emotions from somewhere deep within you.  In this case, the deep insights that were shared by the speakers, based on their own experiences. For instance, in travelling, you should not just think of the fun but the impact that you will leave, especially to the people. Another is that,  during difficult times, one should help himself first and help from others will follow.

Setting up

Arranging the chairs, being assigned to distribute the question and answer slips, or to monitor the Powerpoint presentation, or to greet and welcome the attendees, almost every Saturday– these tasks I will surely miss! Plus, the intense decision-making on who will the host be! (Play drumming sound effect here!)

I have tried being a host once. I was a bit nervous but since the topic was related to adventure, my nervousness somehow, was lessened.  The GIC Talk and the whole of the GIC Volunteering Program are both amazing for growth and development of ideas.–MA

Yap Wen Kang, Malaysia

It has been four months be the volunteer in Gwangju International Center.  Thank you  to international volunteer coordinator who giving the chance to us explore more event  and advisor of GIC talk, Anna who teach and guide us to coordinate the GIC talk in every Saturday. So there are some comment throughout the whole event I join. 

GIC Talk: GIC Talk was the main team of mine. The team consist of four international volunteer, four local volunteer and one advisor. Our job is make sure and run the talk on every Saturday. So the team separate into two for routine. Usually one team will conduct two talk per month. During the talk, I was assigned as the photographer in the talk.  The talk usually take one hour or one hour and a half to finish.  We always success to run the talk each time.

GIC  Tour: Actually I not in the team of GIC Tour, but our coordinator give us the chance to join GIC Tour. We join the trip to Yangnim -Dong village tour with the student from junior high school.  We assigned as a buddy to guide them during the trip. It is fun because I get to know more friend in this program although as a facilitator.

Other event: I do join the one of the big event of GIC, Gwangju International day. I duty in the booth of GIC to promote the GIC to foreigner. The event took 8 hours to finish. It is the first time to join the international festival. Beside, We do have workshop sometimes for international volunteer. The purpose of workshop is to reflect and give opinion to the activities we did. 

These activities are my experience in Gwangju International Center.  In overall activities, I have full fill the working hour of International Volunteer in every month, but I only have one volunteer activity in December due to back to my country soon. Overall, There are not any in my team (GIC TALK), the Korean volunteer very kind and always help us and teach us how to conduct the activities. The only problem is lack of high standard camera sometimes. I have to use the normal camera to take photo cause the photo does not look good. I suggest that GIC can buy one camera GIC talk.

Allen Dee, Philippines

I found out about this program when I became a GIC member. And I participated to this program to enhance my social skills. I also want to gain ideas and insights especially about culture and student’s life from different people since this program invites international and local residents of Gwangju.

Our basic role as volunteers is assisting and promoting GIC programs and special events. We also need to attend every orientation and workshop and to complete the required time for volunteering.

I was assigned as member of the GIC Talk team. The team is composed of eight members, four Koreans and four international volunteers. The team is handled by Ana Traynin, the coordinator of GIC Talk.

GIC Talk focuses on different topic each week. These include world cultures, social issues, history, lifestyles, political issues, speakers' experience and other areas of interest. GIC Talk happens every Saturday.

As volunteers, we should be on the venue from three o’clock to six o’clock in the afternoon. This three-hour time includes the preparation and setting up the venue followed by a one-hour session with the speaker or the talk proper then the remaining time is for fixing the materials and pieces of equipment used during the talk.

Different tasks are assigned to each member. The tasks are taking pictures during the talk, hosting, setting the PowerPoint presentation, making poster, promoting the talk online, and greeting visitors.

Out of eight GIC Talks, I participated five times. I did different tasks like taking pictures, hosting and setting the PowerPoint presentation. Doing these tasks is not difficult but requires expertise in execution.

One of the tasks, which is hosting makes chills run up and down my spine. It was my first time to do hosting so I got nervous specially that the host should have a stage presence to capture the attention of the audience.  However, doing this will at least help me improve my confidence level. Then I tried hosting the second time and it turned out just fine.

In GIC Talk, we volunteers are not only doing our assigned tasks but also we are learning new ideas and insights through listening and interacting with different speakers. At the same time, we are getting concepts on how to manage and organize an event.

Aside from being a volunteer in GIC Talk, I also participated in other volunteering fields like the Gwangju International Community Day Special Volunteering and the 8^th Gwangju Tour. The GIC Day is a special event in which countries from all over the world gather together to show their culture. It is a big event so all volunteers are given the task to assist in different booths. I was assigned in National Museum booth in which we are providing coloring bags to people especially to children. In the GIC Tour, I was assisting and guiding High School students in doing their tasks.

Another task given to me is the Gwangju Guidebook Proofreading. Proofreading is a little difficult especially that I am not familiar with the content. Sometimes changing the structure could change the idea or the content itself. Most of the proofreading process I have done focus only in checking and correcting sentence structures that involve coherence of ideas and topics, tenses structures, parallelism, and good choice of words.

My journey as a volunteer in Gwangju International Center comes to an end but the memories and experiences I have gained will remain forever. GIC provided me a second home and gave me opportunity to execute my skills and improve myself to be a better individual. It also motivated me to do things I have never done before. This volunteering program provided me a chance to interact with different people thus helping me to express myself and boost my self-confidence. It is also the vessel of gaining new friends and I am glad that even in a short period of time, I have gained many friends. It may be the end of my work in GIC but I will carry out the act of volunteerism whenever and wherever I go always.

Thank you GIC and the people behind it for providing opportunities to students like me. 

Kamila, Uzbekistan

When a month passed since I have arrived to South Korea I found out about GIC. I didn't think about any details and I didn't even read a poster. I just applied and didn't  regret about my decision! I have met many interesting ,different and talented people.I have an honor to call some of them "friends" I have participated in festivals ,events and various activities(Fringe Festival,GIC Community Day,Gwangju Tour 8 with Global Friends) My favorite one is GIC community day.Actually I didn't expect such a huge event which was professionally organized by GIC and other centers. I was positively surprised.Belonging to Language exchange team I have learned to work in a team ,share ideas and be more responsible. Assisting in Kids Art Class I've learned not to afraid be funny and childish like these little cute kids. Naturally ,there were moments when I doubt about what I was doing ,but I got  an essence .So, if you would like to develop yourself ,help others and integrate yourself into the society of a new country  you cannot find a better place than GIC! GIC is not just an organization, but a family which care about all it's members. I am more than grateful for what this volunteership gave me and gives every single day.

Katja Sajna, Slovenia

My volunteering at GIC did not start the best since I have been late on first 2 meetings. I was lucky that Harsh still let me participate.

My first assignment was review of an event. I was making a reportage of a kids Halloween event at Kwangju foreign school. I came there in the early afternoon, in the beginning of the event. I took some photos and just enjoyed the event. After i wrote a review. I found the event very nice. Great for the foreign community, kids can enjoy both, American and Korean culture like that. I guess school really encourage that.

 My next volunteering job was working on GIC day. I was there for the whole afternoon. I was at the Flea market, trying to sell used books. The experience was great, I was having fun with selling the books, inviting the customers and trying to reach the goal. We had the goal of the money we wanted to raise. The best thing about that day was experiencing all the countries and all the food! That day was really fun

 My next assignment was kids art class. I participated at 2. On the first one I was listening to the presentation of Mongolia. A girl from Mongolia presented her country, their culture, how they live. She also prepared us some of the traditional tea. My job was to take pictures, observe and later make a review of the presentation. This way people that are interested in GIC and what it does could read about it.

At the second class I was the English teacher. We were making art, coloring and learning about shapes. My job was to help them learn shapes in English, so to repeat the English words. It was quite nice. They were very lively.

In december I represented my country on GiC Global culture class. I represented Slovenia. It was very special and interesting for me, representing my country. The kids were very interested. The best thing for them was the activity. We made a Slovenian Christmas dessert, special kind of doughnuts. It was fun for them because they rarely see the dough or work with it. So I think this was the best part.

My last job at the GIC in december was decoration of the space for the Adios party. We decorated it in Christmas lights. We listened to some Christmas music to get into the spirit. It was nice. On the end place looked festive and very cute.

 My time at GIC was very nice. I had fun participating on many events GIC has organised. And i am very proud that i was a part of the GIC community. I think they are doing amazing work for Gwangju and for diversity there.

Margeline, Philippiines

I officially began working at GIC as a volunteer on October 11, 2017 where I got involved in the first session of language exchange program. Prior to this, I met the other volunteers and talked about how to run the program and what preparations were supposed to be done. I was part of the program until the month of December. During the first few sessions, only a few people participated but more people kept coming later on. Such program is indeed a great opportunity for people to improve their Korean and English speaking skills. Though there are certain topics to talk about, the participants can freely talk about other things and this makes it more interesting and engaging. Not only the speaking skills improve but also one’s knowledge about culture and other interesting facts since participants are from all over the globe. On the other hand, for some participants it could be challenging at times especially for those whose language level is quite low because they could not keep up with the subject or conversation and not many are willing to explain every little thing in detail. Aside from the language exchange program, I also volunteered in one of the biggest GIC events for the year which was the GIC Day. It was a whole day activity where people from different countries were gathered and showcased their cultures including traditional cuisines, games, costumes, etc. Thousands of people came to the event and experienced diversity to a high level. I proofread some articles as well and did a presentation about the Philippines.    

I could say that I was not able to fully commit my time since I failed to participate in some of the most important meetings. Nevertheless, the opportunity of being a GIC volunteer has helped me in expanding my skills and abilities. I was also trained better on how to work with people and deal with different circumstances.

Ravina, India

Having received the opportunity to be a part of the volunteering team at GIC has been a great learning experience.

Being assigned under the ‘Language Exchange Program’, we had regularly sorted out our roles on every weekly basis where we had conducted the program. It was indeed an interesting program that takes place catering the interests of both the local, and the international participants. Allowing both the categories of participants to give and receive the language acquisition they need, it’s a mutual approach where GIC helps to mediate the link. Spreading the word across through SNS or by displaying posters was the very initial attempt, thereafter there was a rapid rise of participants.

Language Exchange Program is a program whereby, foreigners get the opportunity to learn Korean and Korean get to learn English. Both the participants are giving the mutual effort to achieve the ultimate goal of learning the language. The program is split into twenty-five minutes of English conversation, followed by twenty-five minutes of Korean conversation, and after the ten minutes break is the thirty minutes bilingual conversation. Apart from the general conversation based upon particular theme or topic chosen for the day is quite ideal, yet believe that things progresses faster with greater interests when certain games or activities are conducted. The learning outcome of the particular language is more fun experienced.

In the near future, for the new sessions of Language exchange program, I believe there needs to be more structured or organized division of the three levels, that are; beginner, intermediate and advanced. The timings for the starting of the program must be limited to the participants as well. Otherwise, it gets chaotic later to sort the different levels amongst the participants.

 Overall, the language exchange program is a great service and opportunity for people living in Gwangju, allowing it to be globalized in one platform, through mere means of exchanging conversation. It is indeed through language that a hand is extended in understanding each other’s culture.

I thank GIC for giving me the platform to volunteer. This in turn gave me the learning experience where I was able to be the volunteering to organize the program out with other volunteers, while at the same time I was a participant myself. Being a foreigner, and as well being a beginner level in Korean speaking, I was able to participate along with the other participants and involve in the language exchange.

Laura, Romania

The GIC volunteering period was a beautiful and worthwhile experience filled with many personal developing and blissful moments. Thanks to its multilayered program structure, GIC is a good place to volunteer, one filled with lots of opportunities to immerse in unforgettable cultural learning experiences.

The GIC staff proved to be engaging and friendly. And my coordinator, Harsh, has been a true inspiration and a model of efficiency. He was always on point in delivering advice, orientation, helping materials, keeping track of his own responsibilities but also of ours. He was a professional manager who also succeeded in showing us his human side. I appreciate him a lot.

My only wish is that the International and Korean volunteers could work more closely together, as part of the same team. Though I understand perfectly the reasons behind the decision to separate us, I feel that this distinction drew a psychological line between foreign and local volunteers. Let’s not forget the purpose of Gwangju International Center: to promote cultural exchanges.

As a serious and responsible person myself, I admit having felt somehow punished for other people’s irresponsible behaviors and therefore robbed of the opportunity to interact with more Korean volunteers and staff and of the opportunity to better observe Korean work methods and mindset. I should also add that a part of the Korean volunteers (at least the one that I’ve met and talked to) felt disappointed too by this separation. That’s why I hope that in the future, a better solution will be found so that all volunteers feel part of the same big family. The team building meetings were of great help in that direction. I appreciated as well the flexibility in changing the projects for foreign volunteers. 

Also, I wish to give my feedback concerning the Language Exchange program. I fully value the work that has been done for this program until now. Although it seems an easy task, it is in fact one that requires dedication, pedagogical skills and lots of creativity and enthusiasm. I really believe that the Language Exchange is one of the coolest GIC activities, therefore a program that should continue and be taken more care of. There are so many things to be bettered and so many wonderful ideas that could be implemented.

Finally, I strongly recommend to anyone interested in volunteering (local or foreign resident) to invest his/her free time in improving Gwangju community through GIC.  And, although my student priorities do not allow me to continue as a volunteer in GIC, I wish to express my continuous support to the organization’s activities by participating at its events and by purchasing GIC membership every year from 2018 and on.

Thank you for everything! Once GIC, always GIC!

Vivi, Denmark

Enjoyable aspects of the program

Despite being accepted as a volunteer after the deadline of the application I was very well received with sufficient information about the different existing teams that you were available to join as an international volunteer. Moreover, the coordinators whom I had the most contact with (Singsing and Harsh) were perfect at responding quickly to any questions or doubts that I may have had during my volunteership program.

There was also a lot of room for listening to any dissatisfaction we may have had as well as lots of opportunity for finding the team that fits your own desires. Despite not being as active compared to some of my other peers I definitely felt very welcome and that GIC is a very cosy family. No matter how busy I was, there was not a time where I regretted going to GIC.

 Room for improvement: While I think that GIC offers a wonderful program for foreigners staying in Gwangju, I think it could have been just slightly more organized when we first joined the program. That is, after the programs were introduced at one of the orientations as well as after writing down in our application in which field we would like to work with, I had the impression that we would be assigned a team rather than having to sign up for one ourselves. Therefore, for a long time I did not do any team activity although it would have been nice to join a team from the beginning.

Another thing that would have been lovely is for more opportunities to engage with the other volunteers by maybe incorporating not only a informational orientation but an ice-breaker as well so people could get to know each other better!

Yap Chuin Hong, Malaysia

Kids Art Class (2 hours)

I was the reporter of that class. This session is about making paper plate tambourine. Due to my weak proficiency in Korean Language, I wasn’t able to contribute much in the class. I tried my best to assist the teacher and the class assistant in charge by helping out the students in some of the steps in making the handicraft.

GIC Day (6 hours)

I was in charge in the cultural booth of China and Philippines. In the morning, we set up the booth by decorating it with the traditional items from each respective country. It was fortunate that I am a Chinese descendent and a Malaysian as I can demonstrate some of the traditional Chinese games such as diabolo and some of the traditional Philippines games which are similar to traditional Malaysia games such as congkak. The session was smooth and I managed to tried foods from various countries.

Gwangju Guide proofreading (9 hours)

Proofread of some English documents. Personally I hope the author of the documents have higher proficiency in English as some of the contents are misinterpreted badly.

Global Tour with Friends (8 hours)

I interacted with local high school students and we conducted game sessions together in GIC. We proceed to carry out some missions in Yangnim-dong area. The weather was cold but still I enjoyed it very much. The high school students are shy but helpful.

Saturday Kids Class (2 hours)

I introduced to the elementary school students about my country, Malaysia. The kids concentrated quite well in this session. I think I have made my presentation simple enough for the kids to understand.

Muhammad Zaigham, Pakistan

During the volunteer program by Gwangju International Center (GIC), I was mostly assigned with the ‘GIC talk’ program of the GIC. It is a weekly organized event in which presentations on topics such as society, culture, politics, science, education or any topic of interest are held. Different people from all over Korea are invited including entrepreneurs, businessmen, bloggers, social-workers and so on to share their thoughts and spread the knowledge. We were a team of 8 volunteers, 4 international and 4 Koreans whereas we had one coordinator Anna, who was the in charge of all GIC talk related activities.

The major tasks during these events include social media promotion, hosting, setting of the event place, video recording of the talk, photography, Q&A session handling and guest reception. Normally, in order to add diversity and fun to the tasks, our team started to rotate the tasks for each member. So we all got a chance to participate in every of the aforementioned errands. The work felt like fun and we all ended up having a great time and eventually became good friends. Below are some glimpses from various talks that we organized. 

Apart from the event execution, due to my previous knowledge in graphic designing, I was also assigned with the task of Poster designing for the events. My coordinator, Anna was very positive towards new ideas so I had a free hand in working for whatever I like.  For designing tasks, I wasn’t required to visit GIC so I usually used to do it from my home.

One of the largest annual event hosted by the GIC also fell in my volunteer term, so I was obviously required to work for it. Named as GIC day, it’s a massive event with lots and lots of fun activities including games, signing, international food festivals etc. I was assigned with the second hand books stall organized by GIC to raise funds. Whole day was fun where we had a chance to interact with many new people.

 I would also like to add my heartiest gratitude for the international volunteers’ coordinator, Harsh, who patiently answered to all the queries I had and was always supportive when I had some schedule clash. Finally, I would like to say thanks to the Whole GIC team for this amazing experience. I am looking forward to join the volunteer program again!  

Ge Biying, China 

 3개월동안 자원봉사 활동 해서 좋은 추억이 됐네요. 그동안 제가 총 4번만 참가해서 아쉽지만 좋았어요. 그동안 중국의날이라는 중국 문화 체험 활동 또는 필리핀 문화 체험 활동에 봉사 했어요. 그리고 GIC’ day에 어린이 문화부스 운영했어요. 그날은 많은 국가의 음식과 문화 만나서 재미있었어요.