We’d like to know about your student’s international experience …the research they did, the planning, communication while they were away, and how it impacted their life…we want to hear it all at info@letsgetglobal.org.

Thomas and Susan Hornung, parents of Haley (Seoul, So. Korea 2010)
Our daughter, Haley Hornung, graduated from high school in June 2010 and is currently taking a gap year. She enrolled in the Ganada Language Institute in Seoul, South Korea because she is fascinated with Asian Cultures and wanted to experience life there firsthand. While learning the language didn’t end up being the main focus during her two months there, being enrolled in the school gave us the contact for the lodging which was like a private dorm room in boarding house. Most fellow boarders were students at local universities. As parents, we derived a certain comfort knowing she would be with other students, would have two meals a day provided, and would meet others at the boarding house and during classes.

We think Haley gained tremendous self-confidence as she learned to live in a large city in a foreign country, dealing with foreign currency, finding her way around on foot and taking public transportation. Another priceless life skill included learning to navigate the Western Union money exchange for emergency funds in a foreign country when her debit card failed. Normally fairly introverted, Haley learned to reach beyond her comfort level making new friends with many who were also experiencing their first solo travel. Her cultural exchanges were many. In addition to her daily interactions with Koreans, she was able to interact with students from Japan and China who were studying at her school. Through a shared interest in music, she also met two university exchange students from Singapore. Haley’s palate broadened as she experienced new foods, and we find she is much more likely to try foods at home now.

Haley has become a self-assured solo traveler. Since returning from Korea, she traveled to Singapore for music concerts where she connected with the friends she met in Korea. When an overnight layover in Tokyo occurred in route, she took it in stride and found lodgings on her own. At this time, we are not sure what her next big adventure will be, but we feel she has gained confidence in her ability to make decisions on her own, with a new level of maturity to face life’s challenges. Printable PDF…

Shirl Mendonca, mother of Ryan Walker (China 2009)
Ryan matured a lot after just 5 weeks in China.  We have a saying in our house: “Plan A is when everything goes the way you want it to and admirable behavior is easy.  But Plan B is when nothing goes your way and you get to choose what kind of person you will be by how you respond.”  China was Ryan’s Plan B.  Nothing went as scheduled and, as a  result, he leaned a lot about the people he was with, about the Chinese they were interacting with, and even more about himself.

Because of Swine Flu concerns in China that year, his original school — in a major Cantonese city with hotel accommodations — was changed at the last minute to a remote Mandarin speaking village in rural China; here he slept on a plywood board mounted on cinder blocks and had to use pit toilets. He took it all in stride knowing that, at least by the village standards, his accommodations were better than those of his students. He could communicate via his laptop so we always knew that he was safe and that this poor school was doing everything they could to show their appreciation.

Via Skype, I talked with Ryan about 3 hours after he finished his last teaching class. To my surprise, he was still choked up from saying good bye (it was so unlike my son to be moved like that).  Even with all the hardships that came from teaching in this area, these children touched his heart in a deep and profound way that surprised even him. That goes a long way to helping him see other cultures in a new light.

Besides a better understanding of another culture, compassion, flexibility, and resourcefulness, an added benefit of his trip was the confidence it gave him…that he really was able to do all of this on his own. Two years after the fact, I also think it helped Ryan to get additional job interviews and several great job offers; the experience really stood out on his resume and how he handled the challenges was a topic of conversation. He’s even mentioned an international job at some point in his future. Printable PDF…