By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Diana Trifonova from Bulgaria

One of the best things about being in love with a culture or a country is sharing that same passion with other people. What is even more exciting is to teach others about the things you know about this place that's most dear to your heart. This is exactly what happened to me a few weeks ago. I was invited by the Korea Corner at the Sofia City Library to share my experiences traveling to Korea with other Bulgarians interested in visiting the Land of the Morning Calm.

What was planned as a small event, where we expected to have no more than 10 to 15 people attending, turned out to be one of the most crowded gatherings the Korea Corner had seen in a while. Some 40 people came to hear the “Traveling to South Korea” lecture, where I presented stories from my trips to the country in 2014 and 2016.

Besides sharing useful tips, like how to buy KTX train tickets in advance and what's a T-money card, one of the bigger goals of my presentation was to inspire the guests to try to act less as tourists and more as travelers. In an essay I recently read by the Bulgarian author Kapka Kassabova, she had the following advice on how to do that. “By listening to and seeing the local people and places instead of consuming them as a product and projecting our ignorance on them.”



The crowd in the small Korea Corner room was full of people who want to see and feel Korea for what it really is. There were people from all walks of life, from a reporter at one of the most prominent newspapers in Bulgaria who was planning to travel to Korea the next day to report about the Inter-Korean summit, to a young student looking for opportunities to exchange ideas with his Korean peers.

The best part about the “Traveling in South Korea” lecture was that it was the first of many that will follow. The huge interest toward traveling and the endless list of topics that can be covered in the future gave the idea to the Korea Corner to make a series of such lectures. This is how an informal Sofia-based Korea travelers’ club was established.

The next stop in the club’s journey will be Korean museums.



wisdom117@korea.kr

* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.