and explore the place they currently live in. Sometimes
there´s no time for sightseeing because the students are
invited to perform concerts to promote Korean culture
to the world. For a few hours a day the students have free
time but they know that they should use these hours to
study. Required subjects include reading English books,
memorizing words, writing a book report later and
keeping a diary. his is followed by lessons about the
history and culture of the countries they travel, preparing
and holding speeches to a given social topic and working
on a group mission that has to be inished by the end of
the week. hose missions can be interviewing people
about their goals in life or other topics; they usually have
to do with inding out how people in other countries
think and feel. he last part of the classes depends on
the talents and interests of each student. I ask Sunny if
it´s diicult for the students who atend travel school
to achieve the necessary marks for atending university
later. First she tells me that the students usually stay
for one year with “Habanha” but some decided to stay
longer. he longest period was three years in a row.
hen she tells me that some of her students went back
to ordinary schools and got outstanding grades because
they understood how important it is to study themselves
and they gave up studying to please their parents or
teachers. She also tells me about one student who only
graduated from elementary school but is now working
at a public enterprise and she believes that everyone can
achieve anything as long as they give their best.
hen we jump to the topic that interests me the most:
he South Korean education system. I am eager to know
what she thinks about it. Sunny tells me, how sad it is that
the schools only aim for the admission of universities
and that parents push their children to study harder and
harder because they believe that the one who studies the
most will get the most money later in life. But young kids
aren´t interested in money when they have to give up
their time to play and meet friends. She be