For me, Vietnam seems no strange country because I know people who has participated in the Vietnam War. There are people in my family and my neighborhood who fought in Vietnam long ago. Before I visited Vietnam, I thought of Vietnam as being a bit of a backward country because of the Vietcong and movies like Rambo.
     However, my thoughts changed after 22 days of staying and working in Vietnam. One of the Korean residents in Vietnam said that we can easily understand the last 30 years of Korean history by looking at the present Vietnam. Here in Vietnam we can witness the 80's and 90's standard of living and the 2000's digital culture in Korea. With a great number of PC rooms, a trash heap in the street, and a motorcycle parade like a cloud of grasshoppers, I become convinced that Vietnam is a new Asian developing country. I was also filled with nostalgia upon seeing the suburbs in Vietnam.
     Our 22 members of the Ho Chi Minh team prepared well structured programs such as the volunteer labor service, TaeKwonDo demonstration, Samulnori (the Korean traditional percussion quartet), child education, Korean language education and cultural exchange. We went through unexpected things because of the tropical climate, different culture and social system, but we did our best under the slogan of love without frontiers but with an unyielding spirit for 22 days.
     Labor services in orphanages, performances for malformed children, culture diffusions by Tae Kwon Do and Samulnori, cultural exchange, camp fires, the Vietnam War Museum, the smiles of vietnamese friends, and saying good bye with tears in our eyes - it was a myriad of experiences. I was personally happy as could be, and I will never forget my 22 days in Vietnam.
     Lastly, I give thanks to every Ho Chi Minh Overseas Volunteer Corps member and expect that this overseas volunteering in Vietnam is not an ending but a beginning.