Hello, I'm Choi Sung Eun, 23 years old, and I am writing my UCLG volunteer work and experiences. First, I'd like to introduce myself a little bit. I am a senior in the Department of English and Literature at Myongji University Seoul Campus. As I send you this writing, I would like to express my gratitude as someone who got the chance to volunteer at UCLG. Thank you so much.
How I became a volunteer: Daejeon City Hall's autonomous decentralization department selected 50 volunteers to help UCLG around May through simple personal information, official language grades, volunteering certifications within 5 years and self-introduction papers. Those who passed the first document were going to be selected through an English interview, but all of them were approved in the first tryout because of the shortage of volunteers.
The reason why I participated in UCLG: I am a university student who will receive bachelor's degree in English linguistics and literature. Therefore, I want to make use of my English communication skill which I have been learning for 4 years at University. In addition, I applied for this Volunteer position as a Daejeon Native who has lived for over 20 years to introduce "South Korea" more specifically to foreigners and participants of UCLG World Congress.
Volunteer training for UCLG: After the final selection, starting with the launching UCLG ceremony in July, volunteers performed various education classes to fulfill their assigned duties.
Activities I mainly participated: English tour guide (watching k-pop concerts), English information service, and receiver distribution activities for UCLG participants, cleaning, and so on.
The benefits: It was a meaningful time to develop communication skills by communicating with people from various countries in English, expanding my knowledge of the UCLG, and listening to authorities' thoughts on pressing topics such as world issues (environment, human rights, women's rights). Also, I was able to learn about various international organizations and their roles. Also, it was a good time to learn the importance of language communication.
What I thought needed to be improved: First of all, I thought we needed to raise awareness and treatment about volunteers. What I mean by saying this is volunteers are those who actively take their time to help UCLG. Some people might think that the actual works are too much with the status of a volunteer. Most of the volunteers I saw had no problem communicating in English. Furthermore, they focused on selecting volunteers with global skills rather than simply selecting volunteers from the documents. In particular, college students, who account for the highest percentage of participants, were able to communicate in two to three languages, so I think it would have been better to help the information desk and registration department rather than simply spend time standing up at the square.
Meaning of opening UCLG in Daejeon:
I was asked about the first impression of Daejeon while eating and guiding with various UCLG participants. The first impression of Daejeon, which they said one thing in common, it was good because Daejeon was a clean and quiet city, also said that "the 2nd Daejeon Convention Center held a smart city exhibition to show the image of Daejeon as a science city, it was so impressive."
What made good impressions on the UCLG participants:
During lunch, I met and had a conversation with one of the South African local government association (SALGA).He said "The impression of Daejeon is very good, I really want to experience more about Korean culture. In particular, I want to experience Korean food, music, and what kinds of Korean culture are getting popularity to the young Korean generation and so on. One of the participants on the bus getting to the K-pop concert showed me a picture saying that he had experienced Korean food. It was a picture of Korean food, and He said to me it was very impressive and He complimented the taste of Korean food was amazing. Lastly, an Arab woman who is one of UCLG participants asked me where she can buy Korean ginseng. It was a proud moment and I felt confident that red ginseng is well-known to tourists as a must-buy souvenir in Korea.
What I got through this volunteering was that it was such a great opportunity to share Korea with the world. Moreover, I think we could even go further by letting participants experience more Korean culture such as dishes and traditional acts.
