The Korean Cultural Center Australia (Director Kim Jihee, hereinafter referred to as "KCC") is to visit two local schools in New South Wales on the 1st and 2nd of August via its incursion program, ‘Ride the Korean Wave!’ where a total number of around 400 students will be provided an opportunity to experience a variety of Korean cultural activities at school.
On August 1, the KCC is to organise Korean cultural programs from 9am to 3pm at Bethel Christian School, one of the independent schools in Mount Druitt area. Although the number of students of Korean heritage totals only 4, primary school students take Korean language classes once a week and seventh graders learn the Korean language 100 hours a year.
On the second day, 2nd August, the KCC is to visit Sarah Redfern Public School located about 55 kilometers southwest of Sydney for about 200 students to participate in diverse Korean cultural experience. Currently, approximately 100 students are learning the Korean language at school but the number is expected to grow in the future.
A total of around 400 students from both schools will be divided into groups in accordance with their grade and get to take part in hands-on cooking class, Jogakbo (Korean patchwork) workshop, K-Pop dance and Taekwondo learning in rotation. A well known Korean chef Heather Jung will teach how to make Bulgogi ssambap and the students will get to taste the food after the cooking session. The K-Pop Dance Workshop will be led by one of the finalists of 2022 K-Pop Cover Dance Festival Australian Final, 9Bit Dance and a local K-Pop instructor, Geneva. Jogakbo instructor Claire Taerim Jeon will teach the students Korean basic sewing techniques utilising Korean traditional patchwork fabric and local Taekwondo Demonstration Team will run a Taekowndo workshop where the students will get to learn the Poomsae (basic forms).
In addition, K-Pop dance performances as well as a Taekwondo demonstration will be staged for the participating students and the teachers to enjoy. At a separate booth set up, they can experience Korean traditional games such as Ddakji and Tuho and try on Hanbok, Korean traditional garment. With such fun and diverse Korean cultural activities, Ride the Korean Wave will provide a prime opportunity for Australian students to be introduced to Korean culture, further solidifying their knowledge about multiculturalism in the form of play and experiences whilst getting one step closer to appreciating a variety of Korean culture.
The KCC Director, Kim Jihee said “Interestingly, it always seems that it is myself deeply moved in the end through this program where a number of students of Australian local schools get to enjoy a variety of Korean activities at school as it is physically difficult for them to visit our centre due to long distance. At the same time, it comes with great responsibility to have to deliver this program at as many remote schools as possible with time and budget at our hands.”
“The KCC will continue to organise Ride the Korean Wave moving forward in order to offer a window of opportunities for Australian students to be interested in and familiar with the Korean language and culture while enjoying a variety of activities. My hope is for them grow up to be culturally savvy global citizens as imagining what they will do in the future is super exciting”, she added.
