A special program for international cultural understanding in Cheongsan High School

A special program for international cultural understanding         co-hosted by Weekly Monday held in Cheongsan High School

Carlos Gorito, Educational advisor of the Brazilian Embassy stressed the importance of                 “Communication” as a strategy for survival  

On November 29th, Cheongsan High School (Principal: Yeonggwang Song) invited Mr. Carlos Gorito to give a special lecture about international cultural understanding. It was   co-hosted by the Weekly Monday, and students from Cheongsan Middle School and     Shimcheon Middle School located nearby attended as well. It aimed to understand the    Brazilian history and life style, as well as the cultural differences between Korea and      Brazil.

Mr. Carlos Gorito works as an educational advisor for the Brazilian Embassy in Korea. He is well-known as a representative of Brazil in JTBC talk show, Non-Summit, and he   was cast in many other TV shows like Koreans and Foreigners on MBC Everyone and A Trip to Brazil on EBS.

Mr Gorito shared his thoughts on the “Comparison of Cultural Differences Between Korea and        Brazil.” He also talked about how he settled in the Korean society, where he had never thought of      before he came here, with a survival strategy of communication. Students present there were very     impressed with his fluent Korean and funny stories, especially with his story about how he came to    stay in Korea and what strategies and attitude he had in adapting himself to a completely new society.

Principal Song said, “I’m sure his lecture was very helpful to each one of my students in expanding their scope of thoughts as a global citizen and I hope they can grow well as an important member of   the future generation in our world. It was a positive stimulus for many students.”

 

      

Communication: The Key to Success in        Living in Other Countries

Dong-eun Kim, 2ndGrade,Cheong-sanHighSchool

 

 

On November 29, I attended a very special lecture by Carlos Gorito from  the Embassy of Brazil in Seoul. This was a rare experience for me because it    was the first time for a person from an embassy to visit such a small school like mine. In fact, before the lecture, I assumed that the lecturer would definitely be  Korean. To my surprise, he was not Korean at all but Brazilian. What is more, he spoke Korean. A Brazilian who speaks perfect Korean! I intuitively felt that I        would definitely have a valuable moment in his lecture.

During the lecture, I found myself quite similar to Carlos Gorito and          thought he and I had about two things in common. First, both Carlos and I         voluntarily went to a high school in a remote countryside. I also encountered     and felt a totally different world. However, as I lived in a city for a long time, I had a tough time in getting used to my new school life at first. Likewise, Carlos said, "It was very difficult at the start." Next, Carlos and I had a similar dream in that we all wanted to go forward beyond our countries. For me, I was born and have      grown up in Korea until now, so I hope to go out into the larger world. Carlos      added that it is communication that is essential to the success of living in other countries. I felt sorry for him as I knew how difficult and strange it would be for a foreigner to live far from his country and deal with others who speak a different   language and live in an unfamiliar culture.

Having lived in South Korea for 10 years, Carlos remembered three things about communication, all of which I found impressive: “Communication is           inconvenience," "Communication is trial and error," and "Communication is an     infinite challenge." Then, I realized these three sentences are not only for those who are abroad and speak different languages, but also for those who are in      their own countries and share the same culture and language. In fact, people in  the same countries often struggle with one another because of poor                communication. After the lecture, I learned a lesson that having successful       communication is a lifelong task to be careful about all the time.

     

The Value of Communication

Su-hyun Kim, 2ndGrade,Cheong-sanHighSchool

 

On November 29, Carlos Gorito from the Embassy of Brazil in Seoul visited my school. I had believed the lecturer would be a senior Korean person, but when the lecturer was introduced, he looked totally different from my thoughts. The lecturer, Carlos, was a young Brazilian who was fluent in   Korean. It was also amazing that he had appeared on some famous Korean TV programs. After           learning this, I got really curious about who he was, and couldn’t wait to hear his story.

Communication was the main topic of the lecture. Carlos said that communication is an       inconvenience and is also trial and error, and he added his examples while living in Korea. He had     earned his master's degree in Brazil and then he came over to Korea and attended Seoul National      University as an exchange student. He studied Korean culture and language there. When he first       came to Korea, he found his new life here so unfamiliar. He had no ideas about what Koreans usually ate, what language they spoke, and what the history they had. He felt these whole new things were     uncomfortable. At that moment, he realized that he needed to have “communication” for a better life in Korea. Then, he started to eat Korean food every day, talk to many Koreans, and tried to use         Hangeul, Korean letters, as much as he could. It was a huge challenge for him, but he never stopped  it in order to overcome the cultural differences and break the communicational barrier between him and Koreans.

Carlo's lecture taught me that I should try to communicate with other people: that now I live in a global world, so it’s inevitable to interact with others beyond space and language; and that for     this, I must keep challenging myself and go through many trials and errors.

The lecture also made me think about who or what I had been communicating with. In         school, I communicate with many teachers during classes, whereby I learn plenty of valuable             knowledge. I also feel like I’m communicating with books while reading them, and gain wisdom from   them. Plus, I’ve been growing up and communicating with my parents and friends, and still learning how to go through my life better. I know I may run into some obstacles while communicating, but I     will keep trying my best for successful communication like Carlos did.