By Janet Chin Shuk Henn (2009 MBA, Malaysia)

At approximately 9am on October 9th, 42 international students from 27 countries made their way to the Gimje Horizon Festival for a two day and one night visit. Located on the western region of Jeollabuk-do Province, Gimje is the birthplace of Korea’s rice-farming culture. This annual affair aims to promote Gimje city and traditional Korean activities/games and has been recognized as the best cultural and tourist festival for five consecutive years. The popularity of this event caused some delay in the traffic. Consequently, the students reached Gimje three hours later than schedule and had to miss the much anticipated Korean traditional games and wedding ceremony, as well as the Injeolmi-Duk challenge (making of a 1,233meterlong rice cake). However, they were just in time to fly their kites, an activity that symbolized friendship, love, harmony and hope. It was a perfect day for kite flying. Though some ended up tangled with other kites by the river bank, the lucky ones were brought home as souvenirs. After an interesting dinner which consisted of a variety of mushrooms with beef and seafood, they headed back to the festival to witness beautiful fireworks that marked the end of the first day.

The following day started with an early morning call at 6:30am to join the other participants by the misty seaside for a breakfast of shellfish porridge. After breakfast, everyone piled back on the buses to be transported to the festival destination. A brief stop was also made by the roadside for group photos to be snapped amidst the beautiful scenery. However, as the smell of fresh cow manure wafted towards the enthusiastic cameramen and models, everyone quickly found oneself running back to the buses. Upon arrival, the students were immersed into a rice cake making contest. The contestants were organized by countries, with Uzbekistan, Ghana, Pakistan, and a joint Ethiopia and Tanzania team representing the KDI School. Although the first place was claimed by Nepal, our Uzbekistan and Ghana teams managed to secure the second place, with Pakistan and Ethiopia and Tanzania coming in third. For lunch, the students had a wide variety of international food stalls to choose from, accompanied by pleasant songs performed by a live Peruvian band. To help digest their full stomachs, students dressed in farmers'' clothes and participated in a rice-harvest. At approximately 11pm, the tired bodies reached home. Although the schedule was quite demanding, the trip was a memorable experience that undoubtedly increased and enhanced the students'' understanding of the Korean tradition and culture.