Memorable Cultural Exchange with Osan’s Keystone Club Students

By: Sia Ko, Eunwoo Kim, Taehee Park

Introduction: Building Bridges Through Cultural Exchange with Osan Keystone Club

The Osan Air Base Child and Youth Programs sponsors a unique program called the Keystone. Youth members of the club participate in events on and off base with other military-connected students and even students like us out in the Korean community. Our school, the Korea Tourism Senior High School, partners with the club members to engage in meaningful cultural exchanges and to make new friends from other countries. 

First Online Exchange: Halloween and Dongji Traditions

Our first exchange with the Keystone Club was an online exchange in October of 2024. Since Halloween was just around the corner, we all wore Halloween costumes and were excited to meet online with our Keystone Club friends. After forming a total of 4 groups, we explained “Dongji”, a holiday similar to Halloween in Korea, to our Keystone friends on the other side of the camera screen. Our Keystone Club friends talked about Halloween and shared anecdotes and experiences from Halloween, and we learned about each other’s similarities and differences. They asked us questions about things they were curious about, and we answered them and were able to teach them about Korean culture. 

We were able to have meaningful cultural exchanges, discussing each other’s cultures and traditions. By sharing about our unique lifestyles and festivals in each other’s countries, we had the opportunity to broaden our cultural perspectives. Although our Korean members did not have enough English skills to express everything we wanted to say, I think we were able to have fun and interact due to the active and attentive attitude of the Keystone Club friends. Each member of the Keystone Club was focused on our conversations and responded to our questions in English. This first meeting was a great experience, and we made unforgettable memories with each other. Although it was a short time, it was all the more precious because it was short. I think the attitude of the Keystone Club members, who seemed to listen to every single sentence I spoke in English, was really impressive.

Second Online Exchange: Pepero Day and Gaining Confidence

Our second online exchange with the Keystone club members was in November of 2024. 

In this exchange, we learned about the fun culture in Korea and shared about our daily lives as students at the Korea Tourism Senior High School. Our group had time to introduce Pepero Day, which took place the day before. Unlike the first day, we felt more prepared because we had an activity to introduce in more detail. For this second exchange, unlike the first exchange, we divided into teams and had a video conference with each group.

Since it was an exchange with a smaller group of friends, we started with nervous hearts. At first, everyone was a little awkward, but we learned about Western culture through the Keystone Club and group videos. The Keystone Club members prepared many questions and gave us big reactions to our answers, so we gradually gained more confidence. Those of us who were hesitant to speak English were able to continue the exchange by speaking freely and joking around. It was fun because we could introduce Korean culture to many friends by changing teams every few minutes. Maybe that's why it felt much more comfortable and freer than the first exchange, which was a larger group call.

All the teams in the Keystone Club actively participated and enjoyed their time with friends, but one team in particular was the most memorable for me. That team was the last one I interacted with. When I first joined, they greeted me in Korean. So, one of my teammates said that he would teach them Korean. When the club members heard that, they agreed, so we played a prank on them while teaching them Korean. I shared that when you greet a Korean person, you have to say "cute" first and then say their name. Something like "cute ○○." One friend didn't seem to believe it, but everyone else was fooled. I was so grateful. The exchange ended with the screen changing while I told them the truth, and they were all laughing. It was a really happy moment between us. Our school’s students don't have many opportunities like this, to joke with other students from different countries, but it was both exhilarating and heartwarming as we shared so much laughter. We learned a lot of English expressions while interacting with the Keystone Club, and I felt like our students gained more confidence in English while learning that laughter is a universal language.

In-Person Meeting: Excitement and Friendship at Last

In December of 2024, we finally met our Keystone Club friends in person. We started the day with much anticipation, eager to connect face-to-face instead of through a computer screen. Many of our members, including myself, took extra care in our appearance, knowing we were meeting new people. Perhaps because it was our third in-person interaction rather than a virtual one, we struggled to focus during our morning class due to our enthusiasm.

After lunch, we all waited in front of the school gate for our Keystone Club friends to arrive, holding posters with the names of our friends that we had made in our group the day before and gifts that we had prepared together. After some time had passed, we began to see the cars arriving from afar. When we saw the car pulling into our drive, we couldn’t hold back our happiness, with some of our students even screaming in excitement.

Activities Together: Crafts, TikTok Challenges, and Games

Our group consisted of six people, including friends from our school and myself, along with three Keystone Club friends: Caroline, Amani, and Chris. After a brief greeting in front of the school, we headed to our first activity location, the Western Culture Center, to make mother-of-pearl keychains with traditional Korean patterns. While making the keychains,  we talked about each other’s school and our school life at the Korean Tourism Senior High School. We all laughed together as we listened to stories about the school life of our Keystone Club friends, which was very different from the culture of Korean schools. It was so much fun to hear their stories about American culture that we had never heard of before, and many of us wanted to hear more stories. We became closer as we spent time together. 

Soon, we all were exchanging Instagram messages with one other in attempts to stay connected, grateful for this opportunity to meet new people. We learned that people in the United States use and enjoy TikTok a lot, just like us in Korea! We filmed a dance challenge that is popular on TikTok these days. My friends from other teams also participated in the TikTok challenge, but because they didn’t know how to dance, it was even more fun as we laughed together. After that, we all spent time together having snacks and playing games.

Lasting Impact: Breaking Language Barriers and Building Confidence

As we wrapped up our event, we all took a commemorative photo together. After taking the photo, my friends and I sang the song “Remember Me” from the Disney animation “Coco” while sending off our Keystone friends. It was a beautiful farewell to our friends, and we hope that this memory will be the most memorable one until the end. 

When our school first started to participate in this cultural exchange with Osan’s Keystone Club, many of us thought about whether we could express ourselves well in English. However, seeing my fellow students and myself now, unlike how nervous we were at first, I realize this experience has given us confidence in speaking English through the great reactions and exchanges with our Keystone Club friends. This cultural exchange has made us grateful for the opportunity to communicate and interact with friends from the United States who live and study in Korea. As global citizens living in the same global village, we are overcoming language barriers and growing our cultural awareness one meeting at a time. Our school looks forward to more opportunities to collaborate with our military-connected community. We also want to encourage others to engage and get involved with other cultural and language exchanges in their communities. No matter what your age is, the language you speak, or where you are from, we can all learn from one another and make great memories together.

About Korea Tourism Senior High School

The Korea Tourism Senior High School is the first tourism-specialized high school in Korea, opening in 2000. They are proud pioneers of Korea’s tourism-specialized education, fostering talented individuals in the tourism industry to emerge as a new growth engine in the 21st century.

With an average class size of 25 students, Official Tour Guide Interpretation Training, UNESCO School Membership, and active sister-school relationships with 30 institutions in over 13 countries, the Korea Tourism Senior High School has consistently proven itself to be the premier player in Tourism Education. The Korea Tourism Senior High School will continue to spread into the world through academic training and build an educational environment and mutual trust suitable for new eras now and in the future. 

If you would like to learn more about Korea Tourism Senior High School, check out their website at: https://tourism-h.goept.kr/tourism-h/main.do