Cultural Exchange Club hosts Korean students

By Nathan Koh,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–

Two shy girls walked to the front of Kevin Williams’ third period AP US History class, introducing themselves as Yejin and Minsoo on Thursday, Oct. 29. Williams asked if they liked candy and if they had ever been to America before, because Yejin and Minsoo are two of the nine Korean exchange students visiting the states from Sanju, South Korea.

This past summer, Davis High students went on a 10 day trip to Korea as part of an exchange program. Students stayed with host families, and now DHS families are returning the favor by housing the students whose families they stayed with in Korea.

The Sanju exchange students stayed with their host families in Davis for four days before traveling to Los Angeles to visit Disneyland. In those four days, DHS students gave Sanju students a taste of life in the United States.

“[The Davis Cultural Exchange Club] facilitates a cultural exchange between Sanju students from Korea and Davis High students,” said club president junior Moira Williams. “So we have a whole schedule planned out. We’re doing a bunch of fun stuff like going to the Vacaville Outlet and going to San Francisco for a day.”

In addition to the group outings, the club planned a Halloween party for the Korean students to enjoy.

Host families consider the experience a good opportunity for both the students and the family itself.

“We get to experience the joy of having the students in our home. The exchange students also get to experience another culture which is neat,” said Aileen Barandas, the mother of junior host student Isabel Barandas. “We bought groceries and had to clean a bit. There wasn’t too much preparation that needed to be done.”

“It’s just like having a guest over. You [have] to clean the house,” Isabel added.

The Davis Cultural Exchange Club, which meets on Tuesdays in P-14, will host another trip to South Korea next summer.