Home Away From Home: An Indonesian’s Experience with GIC Homestay Program

Senna is currently an exchange student from Indonesia studying at Chonnam National University. She wanted to share her Home Stay experience, a program through the GIC. For more information, please contact Kim Mira at mira@gic.or.kr.

The most interesting part of staying in or visiting a new place is meeting the locals. Since the time I first arrived, I really wanted to experience living with a Korean family. I always wondered how I would feel if I was involved in local society, ate homemade dishes, learned the language through conversation and gained a deeper understanding of the culture. I thought I would never have that kind of experience, until one day I heard from my friend that the GIC offered a program called “Living with a Real Korean Family.”  Shortly after applying, I received a response from the GIC and got the chance to join the program.

My host family, the Lees, have five family members. I was so excited when I knew that my host family would be a big family because I came from a small family. Mr. Lee has two beautiful daughters and one super-talented son; the older sister, Seul-gi, is two years older than me, while the younger sister, Seul-ji, is the same age as me. The older brother does not live in Gwangju. He studies in Seoul and comes home only once a month, so I did not have a chance to meet him.

I met my host family for the very first time at the welcome party held at the GIC. My host family had previously hosted another foreign student. We had a really good time at the welcome party. Only Mr. Lee and Seul-ji came to the party because Mrs. Lee was still at work and Seul-gi was still at school. Mr. Lee still showed a picture of his family while introducing the rest of the family one by one to me. After that, I knew that it was going to be an exciting experience.

One week after the welcome party, I stayed the night with the Lees. Mr. Lee and Seul-ji picked me up from the dormitory. When I arrived, Mrs. Lee and Seul-gi warmly welcomed me. After showing me the room where I would stay, Mrs. Lee, Seul-gi, Seul-ji and I prepared for dinner. They taught me how to make Korean pancakes. The experience was so much fun! When we had dinner, we shared many stories, especially food differences. I showed them pictures of Indonesian food that are similar to Korean dishes. While eating, I learned how to eat bulgogi properly. I learned how to use chopsticks properly, too (I had never done it correctly before). After dinner, we played the Korean traditional board game called Yut Nori (윷놀이). We were divided into two groups and I was in one group with Mrs. Lee. The game was really interesting and intense. We laughed a lot while playing it because I always forgot the rules. Before bedtime, Mrs. Lee, Seul-gi, Seul-ji and I hung out in the older brother’s room. We had a really fun girls’ talk.

The next morning, the Lees and I had a short trip to visit Unju Temple nearby their home. Even though the weather was not too friendly, we still enjoyed our trip. It was a truly beautiful temple. Mr. Lee explained the story behind that temple and the statues one by one in detail. Mrs. Lee taught me how to bow, too. After a while, we moved to the next temple, Daewon Temple, which is located not far from Unju.  It was another beautiful temple with a different style of statue, Mr. Lee explained.

After visiting temples, the Lees took me to a Korean traditional market. They took me so I could feel the atmosphere of Korea. I really liked how people interacted in the traditional market; it shows who they really are. After that, we went to Mr. Lee’s favorite restaurant and had a delicious dinner there. They introduced me to another meal that I had never tried before: massissoseoyo . While we were eating, Mr. and Mrs. Lee asked me if I would like to go for another trip to Jeonju because they knew I was curious about Korean traditional houses. Without much thought, I quickly responded “Yes!”

Two weeks after my temple trip, I went to Jeonju with the Lees. We had so much fun in Jeonju. We played Tuho (투호), a Korean traditional game, walked around and joined a tour there. We also tried to make handcrafts,  Seul-gi and I got our face painted and we ate a lot of food that day.

I had an amazing experience through this program. Despite the language barrier, they still treated me very well. I was so lucky because I had the coolest, warmest and nicest host family ever. Furthermore, they welcomed me as a part of their family. I will never forget the moments I spent with the Lees. Thank you, GIC for making my dream of staying with a Korean family a reality!