Rotary District 3710 Conference

Today was the Rotary District 3710 Conference. Although it was just one day, it was packed with performances, speakers, food, and much more. The morning was filled with introductions and speakers. The first picture I've attached (under the blue tent) was the snack before our formal lunch (second picture). The second picture actually doesn't do the lunch justice, as they continued to bring out more dishes after the picture was taken. As you can probably tell, food is at the center of Korean culture.

After lunch we did our presentation and despite some initial confusion about how long we could present, I think it went very well! Do taught us a traditional Korean folk song, "Arirang." The general message of the song is a jilted lover cursing the one who is leaving them behind, "Dear who abandoned me [here], Will not walk even ten li (unit of measure) before his/her feet hurt." We ended the presentation with a verse of "Arirang," which could not have been a more perfect ending because it seemed the crowd loved it.

There were spectacular performances throughout the day - a traditional Mongolian instrumental group, Korean belly dancers and hip hop dancers, a drum group that incorporated water and flames, and of course, Korean karaoke.

We've got a free day with our host families tomorrow so it will be interesting to see what everyone did :)