D.ecisive C.hance N.earby Y.ourselves

From January 14 to 25, the Global Explore Team in Department of Law explored U.S.A.. After I returned from the exploration, the day after coming home, I saw the film Avatar. Though it passed five months ago, I feel like my spirit is still in the exploration as the hero of the film. At first, when I was selected as a member of the exploration with the Departmentof Law students, I felt pleasant but at the same time, had doubts about what could I discover on this trip in a totally different major and study. However, now on the keyboard, I am afraid my impressions from this trip might not be able tofit on this paper.

Washington, District of Chance

Chance to Meet Santa Claus - Diner in Dr. Pittman’s Home

Russell W. Pittman, Director of Economic Research, the best authority concerning Fair Trade Law in the U.S.A. invited the student explorers. He has great interest in Korea. He is also abig fan of Cho Soo-mi, the famous Korean vocalist, and Korean literature, such as The Old Garden written by Hwang Seokyoung. He treated us with homemade food himself, with bread,lasagna, margaritas and even brownies. I can’t forget his speech of relief. “Help yourself, forget your diettoday.” I couldn’t believe whether it was true that I was meeting the top global leader who I could meet only in the media ordinarily. He treated Korean students as friends and opened his mind first for students who were put in a strange environment. Atthe dinner table, students could talk with him not only concerning legalsubjects, but also concerning interests of students or Korean culture and society. As his lecture in the Department of Justice or the formalmeeting, the informal conversation was a deepen couragement for students.

Chance to Visit, Chance to Be Friend
In Washington, most of museums and national exhibitions are free. The events deal with a variety of themes and it

takes a significant amount of time to look around there. When I came out during free time, I met a young foreigner who was lost in the street. At first, I guarded against the man, but we entered the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Looking around the museum, I could talk with him. Finally, in the end of my free time, I said goodbye to him. As I felt loss to part from him, I wanted to give him something. But all I had was a pack of cookies that I bought from Korea. I gave it to him saying, “I’d like to give you something. This is a Korean cookie for you.” However, when I returned to Korea, I realized the cookie was made by a brand in the U.S.A.. I couldn’t help but laugh and felt how intimate U.S.A. is with Korea.

The City of New York,New York City (NYC)

“Oh! God blesses me.” As I heard that the schedule includes visiting New York, I cheered up. My view point about NYC was totally based on dramas or films such as ‘Sex and the City.’ In the running bus, from Washington D.C., my heart was beating fast and it seemed to ring from urban music for the sophisticated city. As soon as arrived in NYC, the city lights received us. Explorers with Professor Lee Kijong who led this exploration made a midnight-trip for the first night in New York from Rockefeller Center to the Empire State Building. The glowing lights paralyzed the cold. We felt impatient with the passage of time. Because we were in NYC!

The next morning, I planned with other members about what to do after our formal schedule. We decided to visit

some tourist attractions which appeared in great hit dramas or films and the Statue of Liberty, the symbol of New York. The way to go to the Statue of Liberty, I imagined an enormous and magnificent goddess of liberty. But what was waiting for me was just an ordinary green statue.

It might be genuine NYC. Many buildings were aged, the street was unclean and wanderers alwaysshivered with cold in the street. Visiting New York seemed like a strolling fantasy in the iconized city to me. As my stereotype was broken, I was confused. ‘Where am I?’ I trembled because my plan for ‘Fabulous Experience in New York’ was going to collapse. As I strolled with disappointment, suddenly, my eyes met eyes of the goddess of liberty. “You are in the city of Liberty, don’t be restricted by your stereotype. It is not appropriate for this city. Just enjoy your freedom.” As ever before, we toured the tourist attractions. We also tasted the cakes and drank the coffee, as the characters did in films. Walking in the street or having a meal, we kept talking about each dream and future and sharing concerns. Every moment in the city of Liberty was dramatic. That’s not the only reason why we were in such place. If I was with them, I didn’t care where I was. Because I could understand how profound their agony was, the deep emotion from the sympathy was the most impressive, more than what kind of films or dramas.

I’ll Come Back after I Take the Wide World

“I’ll come back after I take the wide world.” It was my message which I sent to my family. As I sent the message, I had doubts I could make it come true. However, fortunately, I fulfilled this promise. What I discovered in U.S.A., the wide world was inside me. There is a broad world beyond my sight and I was already there. The confidence from the experience stimulates me every time when I loosen myself. Through this trip, the most valuable gift was capturing stimulation and motive for my vision. Before departure, the doubts and fears were from ignorance, not where I was going but where I was. After I entered university, I wandered to get a solution about who I am or when I feel pleasant and fruitful. However, on reflection, I didn’t need to wander and struggle. Nearby me, there are props, professor who give me a chance to be enlightened, SMU, which opens the way of promotion, and the Sookmyungians who can share agony and aim for their visions.

Park Bae Hyewon/SeniorReporter