Papa Myo from Myanmar
(Korea National University of Arts)
“Happy Life in Korea”
My first impression of Korea is people are incredibly nice and very hospitable. The food is amazing! Temples are beautiful and lots of mountains and parks are everywhere around the country. It is a very safe place to travel around and cities have also interesting vibes and stuff going on.
It is amazing to see how many Korean people love arts and culture. At Hyehwa (Daehakno Street) I was able to see many theaters and live performances which make me feel the energy of youth and I instantly fell in love with the place.
It is amazing to see how many Korean people love arts and culture. At Hyehwa (Daehakno Street) I was able to see many theaters and live performances which make me feel the energy of youth and I instantly fell in love with the place.
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In Korea, most of the museums and galleries were free which I found very impressive and they were so educational, cultural and entertaining. Among all the museums where I have visited, the best one I like is the War Memorial of Korea where I was able to see the firm friendship between my country Myanmar and Korea.
On the third floor of the museum, there I saw a list of the 39 countries that supported and helped Korea during its post-war reconstruction period. I found out the name of my country in the list. I felt so proud of my homeland and I also felt deeply thankful for Korea which now sends a lot of supports to my country in return including KOICA, NIED scholarship, CPI program and so on. So, in that place, I could feel our firm and good relationship and friendship between the two countries. 
Another incredibly nice thing was visiting UNESCO World Heritage sites in Korea. I visited the Changdeokgung Palace and Gyeongbokgung Palace; there were awesome palace buildings with nice views of mountains in the background. The atmosphere in this place was amazing. While I was there, there came many tour groups of school children and many of them were wearing Hanbok the Korean traditional dress which was absolutely adorable.
My life in Korea is very meaningful and fantastic. I met a lot of friends from Asia and Western Countries at the CPI official orientation ceremony. CPI program is not only for learning our own professional subject but through CPI, we can also learn Korean culture and language. So, now I am learning at two universities which are the Korea National University of Arts for my professional art project and Kyunghee University for learning Korean language and culture. I met artist friends from many different countries there too. Our teachers did not limit our curriculums to the textbooks only, but also updated us of the latest trends, films, dramas, songs, and news of Korea and also shared information about Korea extensively from their own life experiences.
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Our language learning sessions got even more interesting as we were paired with KHU graduate students, who helped us practice our Korean and introduced us to student life here. We also enjoyed various cultural experiences, field trips, and tours outside Seoul. This includes making ceramic cups and plates at the Icheon Pottery Village, touring a traditional Korean folk village in Andong, and visiting to Seoraksan Mountain and Jeongdongjin Beach.
I also explored Korean food cooking class at Korean Temple Food Center and Seongbuk Global Village Center. It is a very interesting class and I tasted a lot of Korean food, which was very delicious. Every Wednesday evening, I need to learn Korean Traditional Mask dance at National Theatre of Korea. I also attend my mental professor class “Puppet Theater” at Korea National University of Arts. I was given such a honourable opportunity to give a special lecture of Myanmar Traditional Marionette Theater to K-Arts students.
Now I am preparing for my final puppet performance project. My AMFEK project is the Joint Puppet Performance named “Friendship”. I would like to do join performances with students of school of drama. The genre of my performance is puppet and dance performance and the duration is 15 minutes. This performance is about the two birds keeping their friendship forever. Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. Friendship is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an association. A World Happiness Database study has found that people with close friendships are happier. I would like to keep our Korea and Myanmar friendship forever, for this reason I am trying to create this “Friendship” puppet performance project.
I would like to tell you once more that my life in Korea is very convenient, happy and meaningful. I really appreciate and feel grateful for CPI. And also I thank Korea National University of Arts for the AMAFEK program through which makes me experience and explore not only Korean culture but other international cultures and arts. I truly hope that we can make reunion with all the AMAFEK members in KNUA. I am eternally grateful for everything that have supported me and helped me, no words can describe my gratitude.
I would like to tell you once more that my life in Korea is very convenient, happy and meaningful. I really appreciate and feel grateful for CPI. And also I thank Korea National University of Arts for the AMAFEK program through which makes me experience and explore not only Korean culture but other international cultures and arts. I truly hope that we can make reunion with all the AMAFEK members in KNUA. I am eternally grateful for everything that have supported me and helped me, no words can describe my gratitude.
