John ’26, Victor ’26, and Michael H. ’27, reflect on the importance of collaboration, leaning into discomfort, and improvisation.
Today was our second to last day in South Korea. Having learned valuable leadership skills throughout the trip such as collaboration and planning, it was time to use these skills. We had three hours to play with to choose our own activity before we had to get to lunch where we would reconvene with the entire group. For the activity, we were in small groups. Our group wanted to do an escape room, but we realized we would not be able to travel 35 minutes on the subway to Hongdae and then go 50 minutes to lunch because we would be late. This was frustrating given we realized this at 9:00 PM the night before, after planning the entire activity. Everyone was tired and had to rally to come up with a new idea. After joking about absurd activities we could do, we decided on the Coex Aquarium. I myself hadn’t been to an aquarium in probably ten years, so I was excited to go. We had to plan the trip quickly, so Max ‘26, Victor ‘26, Issac ‘27 and myself began finding a subway route, finding ticket prices, and finding a breakfast place. We then presented our plan to JB, our amazing trip leader from Envoys. Together, we all ventured out into Seoul the next day. It still amazes me how clean and orderly Seoul is, especially the transportation, which is a massive difference from New York City. For example, no one talks on the subway, and when people leave their phones charging no one steals them. In the subway stations, we put our heads together to not get lost. After arriving at the aquarium, we explored, spending a lot of time in the shark area. Later, we even saw penguins. It seemed like a pretty typical aquarium. Joining us was our friend Alex ‘27 who lives in Seoul. We succeeded as leaders in this activity as we planned it and executed it as a collaborative group.
After a quick stop in the gift shop, we made our way to the restaurant for lunch. There, we were hosted by the Kim family. We were served a traditional Korean meal with many different courses. By the end, the entire 30 foot long table was completely covered in empty dishes and our stomachs were full. Everyone tried at least one new food. I was amazed by the flavor of the kimchi. Traditional kimchi is nothing like Deerfield kimchi. Then, we went to a modern art museum. There were animated videos that we watched. They were disturbing as they provided commentary on society’s objectification and sexualization of women. This included the image of a wolf trying to disrobe a woman. However, the movies were very thought provoking. There was also artwork such as golden beavers and flowers. I was not expecting this stop to be fun, but the thought provoking nature of the art made the trip to the museum worth it. Finally, we traveled to a Korean baseball game. The atmosphere was electric as the two teams battled on the field. Tomorrow will be a sad day as it is our last full day in South Korea.
-John ’26
Today, three groups split up and went to create their own adventure for the day. My group went to the aquarium, some people went to the forest and others just went shopping for fashion. There was one teacher per group, and everybody had their own version of fun. This was a really fun way to get creative and to think about how we could lead ourselves rather than just following, and personally for my group and I, navigating the subway was the most difficult part, but we still made it through and got to see the COEX aquarium. After our separate adventures, the group convened for a special lunch hosted by Mr. Kim, a Deerfield alumni and parent. They treated us to myriad different and delicious meals, including meat cooked right in front of us. After taking pictures and saying our farewells, we headed to the sky dome where a heated baseball game would be held. I found it interesting how there were more Lions fans than there were Hero fans, which was the home team. There were so many chants and songs the fans sang for the players which was completely different from any baseball game I’ve seen in the U.S, which showed a lot of support. Although we had to leave early, I would definitely come back for another game, as it was full of delicious food and an exciting atmosphere.
Today was a day of mostly exploration and exposing ourselves to new things, which I think is a powerful trait for a leader to have, because putting ourselves in a different or uncomfortable situation allowed us to have fun doing things we wouldn’t normally experience at home.
-Victor ’26
Michael Wu and I started our morning at a café where we prepared for our morning activity. This morning’s activity was special as it was entirely student led and planned. After prior research and planning we decided to visit Seoul forest. Seoul forest is like the Central Park of Korea. It’s an oasis in the middle of the heart of Seoul. It’s a great spot for a picnic, walk or sight seeing; however, our trip in the forest consisted of nothing but rain and mud. We knew in advance that it was going to rain but not quite as long and powerful as it actually did. This led us to improvising our plan a little bit as we decided to spend a large part of our morning in a café next to the forest where we all got drinks and talked about life. Later in the day we had a quick stop at the Samsung store before our lunch with Mr. Kim, the father of one of Deerfield recent graduates Lauren ’24. He treated us to one of my personal favorite meals, which was highlighted by special Korean beef and cold noodles. After lunch we had a quick stop at a local modern art museum where they were displaying works which were supposed to represent feminism. They used motion picture films of clay subjects that were meant to make the watcher feel disgusted and unsettled.
To end the day we went to a Korean baseball game, The Lions vs. The Heroes. The Heroes were the home team, but the support from the Lions fans was far more prevalent, the stands were a sea of blue. As a lifelong Red Sox fan I’m ashamed to say that this game was by far the most exciting game I have ever been to, and this was due to the fact that the fan atmosphere is like any other I have ever seen. The stadium was packed for a regular season day game, which would be unheard of for many MLB teams. I couldn’t understand anything that was being said, but there was not a moment of silence. Every pitch there would be a chant or song being sung. Fans showed true support for their team. There were even sections dedicated to cheering in which those who were in it spent the entire time moving around and cheering. Our seats on the second deck provided a great view of the entire stadium and the game itself. The biggest surprise was the spirit of fans. I don’t think I saw a single frown or look of disappointment. Even after their team made a bad play or struck out they had a smile on their face and looked like they were just appreciating the moment. I saw very few people who weren’t wearing the jersey of their favorite player. Myself and a couple others decided to do the same as we bought jerseys and hats of the teams we were routing for. Personally I chose the Heroes and got a sweet pink jersey with the shortstop number 5 Lee Jae-sang. After 5 great innings we sadly needed to leave, but the Heroes did end up winning 10-3. In recent years there has been some controversy about the pace and excitement in the MLB and I think a lot of those problems could be solved by looking at Korean baseball and especially the fan engagement.
-Michael H. ’27
