Day 11/12: Taekwondo (태권도) 하고 Special Needs Volunteering

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon taking a Taekwondo class at Yonsei University with all of my classmates. I purposely chose a position in the far back corner, but unfortunately ten minutes in someone informed the instructors that I was a black belt so I was put in front of the class on one side of the room to help demonstrate. To be completely honest I was pretty embarrassed, but I also had an amazing time with all of my classmates. We spend the time getting to know each other better and honestly making complete fools of ourselves. Overall I would said it was an awesome day.

Today, after class I went to a special needs center with half of my classmates to help volunteer. When we first arrived we didn't know what we getting into and what to expect. As usual, we were greeted kindly by all the staff and were asked to helped with many of the residents at this center. Many of the people living at the center were brought here because their families had difficulties in giving appropriate attention and care to their loved ones. The center is out in the countryside and is a beautiful location. I had the pleasure of helping out a young boy that could not speak well, but he could understand us relatively well. We walked around the complex a few times and played with some of his friends, and the entire time he was latched onto my arm. We became pretty good friends by the end of the day I would say. This center was a great place to understand one of many volunteer opportunities in South Korea and what it has to offer. The students in the CLS program will be volunteering here once a week so I'll be sure to write an extensive blog of my experience here in the future.