Fourth to sixth-grade students from the British international school Dulwich College Seoul and the country's oldest Catholic school Gyeseong Elementary School, took turns visiting each other's campuses for a day. More than 180 students immersed themselves in a variety of extracurricular classes and hands-on activities designed to foster cultural awareness and promote mutual understanding.
Located adjacent to each other in Seoul's affluent Banpo-dong, south of the Han River, the two neighboring schools connected for the first time through these classes last Friday and Saturday.
On the first day of the event, Dulwich students visited Gyeseong, where they rotated through classrooms dedicated to traditional Korean instruments, learning how to play janggu (hourglass-shaped drum), gayageum (zither), and haegeum (two-string fiddle). They were also given a chance to explore traditional Korean dance through samgomu (dynamic three-drum dance) and talchum (lively mask dance).
"Playing three drums at the same time was more difficult than I thought, but it was really interesting," said one Dulwich student who gave samgomu a try after observing a tutorial with fascination.
Another Dulwich student from India, who had a chance to play the gayageum, expressed curiosity about the unfamiliar instrument and exclaimed, "The sound was beautiful."
The following day, participants from the two schools switched places, with those from Gyeseong visiting Dulwich, where they watched intercultural performances by foreign students and tasted an assortment of exotic delicacies and culinary specialties from around the world.
The two-day event was part of a program run by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education since 2021 aimed at connecting schools and students, providing opportunities for interaction and cultural exchange.
"By exchanging with peers from the local school community, students gain insight into different cultures and learn to see the world new perspectives," she added.
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