We had a very very very tough time waking up today because we stayed up late last night to eat ramyeon... (which was worth our precious sleep) we had breakfast at the hotel for probably the thousandth time already. 😂 After that, we headed to the beach that was just a minute’s walk away from our hotel. We had a lot of fun there always chasing seagulls and taking photos. 

Afterwards, we went to the school for the closing ceremony. The students from BSHS and SST presented on the projects that they have been working on. One of the projects was about robots. The student from BSHS was talking about how he won the Robot Olympiad in the "1st graders" category. Because of the recent flood in August that hit Busan and caused low-lying houses to be submerged, he was inspired to build a robot that could track if drains were clogged and send a signal to relevant authorities to unclog the drains. This shows how our learning can be applied to tackle real-world issues and help humanity. We can hence use whatever we have learnt, in SST and also Busan, to solve real-world issues. However, it was challenging to understand certain technical parts of the presentation because I do not major in robotics. With the help of my buddy, i could understand the presentation a bit better because she knew what he was trying to convey and explained the rationale and principle of the project to me. This shows how effective peer-to-peer learning is. I believe that learning takes place in both directions. When you teach someone, you deepen your understanding on something. On the receiving end, you are also able to connect with your peer better and will not be very shy to voice out our thoughts and queries. 

Then, we had our farewell session where we had to bid goodbye to our buddies. It was a bittersweet moment as I am excited to see my new buddy, Hayun unnie, again in January, but I also had to say goodbye to Jiyun unnie, whom I may never see again. I will still try to catch up with her using social media. This proves that technology such as social media platforms can always connect people from all over the world and it is a very good tool to build greater friendships. Reflecting on everything that was planned for us in BSHS, I felt very touched by the teachers' and principals' gestures to make us feel welcomed at school. 

We then left to go for lunch at a restaurant. We ate steamed egg, many small dishes like beansprout and kimchi, and also a very humongous bowl of rice. I enjoyed my meal a lot as lunch was just filled with chatter and laughter. 

Afterwards, we went to the temple which is a UNESCO heritage site. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking! There were autumn leaves of different shades ranging from red to yellow and green which formed a puzzle on the grey stone floor. It made me appreciate nature a lot and I was just absolutely in awe at how clean and beautiful the place looked. It had that atmosphere of ancient life in the past as it was an old site. It was as if I was in a fairytale when I walked through the gates. This was when I really understood the importance of preserving these heritage sites which is rich in culture. I hope that more of these sites around the world will be preserved and shown to future generations who did not live in that era. 

Overall, it was a fun and enjoyable learning experience. It is my last day in Busan tomorrow and I will treasure the remaining time here.