It is said that “the beauty lies in the eyes of beholder”. And it is true. My pair of eyes witnessed the beauty of Korea from the very first day of my arrival in Korea. The charm of Korea is something beyond that I can express. The beautiful nature, a different language, kind people with their soft and tender heart, the impressive culture and monuments and the delicious cuisine were able to stay in my heart and mind easily in a very short period of time. I couldn’t even believe that it was my first time in Korea and how fast I got connected with those things.

I was a fortunate participant from Gandharba Cultural Art Organization(GCAO), Nepal to get an opportunity to participate in 2017 Cultural Partnership Initiative (CPI) program operated by ICHCAP under the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea (MCST) and the CPI Secretariat (Arts Council Korea). Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to ICHCAP for believing and selected me as a participant of CPI program 2017.

I felt so blessed to stay in Jeonju, a tourist hub city, famous for traditional Korean food, historic buildings, sports activities and innovative festivals, have really made this city a perfect place to live in. My staying in Korea started with the learning of Korean language at the Chonbuk National University in Jeonju; a different alphabet, vowels, consonants and grammar easily confused me for the first few weeks. But the generous motivations and the sincerity of teachers’ started working slowly that the language couldn’t remain stranger to me anymore. I felt like I learned something. Especially travelling some places and shopping in the local markets, became much easier and interesting after learning Korean language. It also worked as a bridge to get connected with Korean people. After interacting with them, I found the Korean people are very kind, helpful, soft and hard-working.

The culture, cuisine and monuments are the most impressive part in Korea which I got many opportunities to see and experience during my stay. Especially, the musical instruments, music and dances are incredible. Sometime I found quite similar to Nepalese culture and music but sometime a vast difference. The taste of Korean foods and its variety is really awesome. I visited many museums including the National Museum of Korea, Korean folk village, Hanok village, King Palace and more other places which represent the Korea. My understanding of culture and monuments stepped up after visiting these places and I realized how beautifully the Korea has preserved it.

The CPI program is very special and managed to give a picture of Korean culture to the participants of different countries. Personally, I am so blessed to grab this opportunity to know and understand the Korean culture and to share mine with this beautiful country. I hope the CPI will give lot of opportunities to the young and energetic participants of many countries for better understanding of culture and its values in coming future with effective and more systematic way. This will definitely help to enhance the charm of Korea in coming days.