Habanha
„he social atmosphere makes them lose the ability to think on their own“
Text by Esther Klung; Photos by Hanbanha
L
ast autumn I met Jongeun, a 16-year-old Korean
girl in Berlin. She was with her classmates and
watched them perform traditional music. We
talked for a while and I found out that she´s not a
normal student but atending an extraordinary concept
of school. he school „Habanha“ was founded by her
parents, Sunny and J-Sik and the easiest way describing
the concept is to call it a „traveling classroom“.
It´s the kind of school I dreamed of as a student. Not a
school where you memorize facts just to take a test by
the end of the week, facts you will soon forget because
you´ll never need them in your life. But a place where
you learn how to think on your own, a school that
widens your horizon.
Sunny, J-Sik and their three children were an
average family, the parents were hard working, and the
children went to school. Every vacation they traveled
in Korea but the parents always felt that something was
missing. hey weren’t the family they wanted to be. hey
were tired when they came home late in the evening and
there was never enough time to talk to their children.
hey got the feeling time was chasing them and they
yearned for a change. So they asked their parents to
give them the chance to take a trip with their children,
to travel the world for three years. hey started their
journey in July 2006 and came back in July 2009 but they
didn’t want to resume their lives at the point where they
let three years ago. hey came back with an idea and
shortly ater “Habanha” was founded. “Habanha” means
“if you want to do something, do it right now without
any fear”. Sunny says, although they were facing terrible
times during their travel they never feared anything. She
always knew that everything that happened was meant
to happen, and while she started to believe in signs on
the road, she also started to think of God and came to
realize that God gave every person a heart to follow.
he idea of “Habanha” is to connect the students
to their inner wishes and open their minds through
traveling, meeting diferent people all over the world and
learning from diferent cultures. Although the lessons do what you want to, be who you want to be - are simple,
most people struggle and never get ind out who they
are and what they want. Sunny and her husband hope
that the students who atend their school will learn how
to follow their hearts. Of course the school is not only
about sightseeing and hanging out with each other, but
there´s a more or less strict plan for every day. Usually
the students get up at 6 every morning and exercise for
two hours, and then they have to assist the cook and
prepare the meals. Ater breakfast they look around
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