British envoy donates weekend for children
.jpg?w=728)
British Ambassador Scott Wightman reads a post card written in Korean by a 15-year-old boy of the orphanage Evergreen Child Center during a get-together with the children at the embassy in Seoul, Saturday. / Korea Times
By Kang Hyun-kyung
A witty interpretation of the similarity in the naming of South Korea and Britain drew laughter from British Ambassador Scott Wightman and his wife Anne during their get together with 31 children at the embassy, Saturday.
Kwon Tae-yeop, the deputy head of the Evergreen Child Center orphanage in the midwestern city of Cheongju said that the two countries have one thing in common.
“They are poised to be great in that the naming of the two countries has that meaning. Britain is called Great Britain, while the first part ‘Dae’ of the Korean name of South Korea also means great,” Kwon said during a photo session of the children’s day event.
The official name of South Korea in Korean is Dae-han-min-guk.
The staff and children from the orphanage giggled at his remarks. Ambassador Wightman laughed after hearing the remarks through an interpreter.
The get-together was in fulfillment of Mrs. Wightman’s promise last December to invite the children of the centre at the embassy in January.
Wightman, fifth from right in second row, and his wife Anne, to his left, poses for a photo after children of the Evergreen Center performed traditional Korean mask dance at the embassy, Saturday. / Korea Times
She visited the orphanage in mid-December and donated 6.43 million won as a Christmas present. The British Embassy had raised funds to help underprivileged children in Britain and Korea.
Ambassador Wightman expressed hope that the children will get to know more about Britain through the one-day event.
“We are hoping that they find it interesting to see a little bit about what the embassy is like and what we do here. It’s exciting for us. It’s one of the things that I think encourages people to work harder and learn more about (Britain),” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the center, Kwon Sun-beom, an inmate of the center and a senior at the Korea National University of Education based in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province, read a letter of gratitude in English to ambassador Wightman and his wife for the invitation.
“I prepared the letter for two or three days. Speaking honestly, I felt enormous pressure while preparing it because I decided to write in English,” the geography major said.
If given the opportunity, Kwon said, he’d love to study in Britain some day in his future and promised to work hard to achieve that goal.
The children played drums and performed a traditional mask dance after Kwon’s letter was read.
Mrs. Wightman was impressed by their performances.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like that. I have seen some professional mask dancing before but I prefer the children’s mask dancing. It is really professionally done and enjoyable,” she complimented the children after the mask dance performance.
Mrs. Wightman then took the floor to lead an activity designed to explain Britain and its culture to the children.
Exploring British culture
During the interactive program, she explained the British political system, culture, historic sites and iconic venues in London. Mrs. Wightman asked the children to imagine that they are in London and to write post cards to their teachers or friends to describe what the capital is like.
Choi Hyeon-mi, a third year high school student, wrote in English, saying that everything in London was so fun and she was particularly struck by double-deck buses.
A middle school student Gyeong-ho wrote a post card to the Ambassador couple, saying he was grateful to them for extending their warmth and hospitality to them.
He said he hopes the ambassador couple will not catch flu in the cold winter here.
Ambassador Wightman, who approached the table where Gyeongho and several other children worked on postcards, read the middle schooler’s post card written in Korean.
The envoy’s Korean language skill wowed the participants.
Mei Larm, a British Embassy official and organizer of the children’s day event, said she was honored to spend time with the children during the weekend.
“It was a great honor to give them an opportunity to experience something different out of the Korean culture,” she said. “Britain has a lot of opportunities and support for all children to have opportunities to study in Britain.”
Kwon Hyun-sook, director of the Evergreen Center, said that the event turned out to be more than a cultural experience for the children.
“I see that many of our children are strongly motivated to learn English through this uncommon opportunity. I am just thankful for the ambassador couple for their thoughtful invitations to our children,” she said.
The children were treated to traditional British food and later moved to a nearby ice rink in Seoul Plaza for one hour of ice skating.
Volunteers from the British Embassy and charity workers helped the children spend a memorable time at the embassy.