The Frog in The Well is a well known fable from ancient China. The frog thinks his well is the best place in the world. One day, he brags of living in such a nice well to a turtle, who came from Eastern Ocean, and recommends him to move into the well. The turtle, however, refuses the frog’s offer describing how big and great Eastern Ocean is. Need less to say, the frog would not have been embarrassed if he had ever been to Eastern Ocean at least once. The frog in this fable illustrates people, who consider their society as the greatest without ever being outside of it. I must confess that I, too, was one of them until the golden opportunity knocked on my life. In this essay, I will depict my first trip to Europe, and outline what I learned from it.

     “Can you go to Europe instead of me?” Although Mi-Kyoung might have asked me not expecting to be accepted, the question immediately hit my heart. I always had a fantasy of Western countries. Mi-Kyoung was supposed to go to Europe with one professor and another professional Go player to participate in Korean Ambassador’s Cup Go Championships in Germany, France and The Netherlands. Yet, she had to cancel it at the last place and was looking for a substitute. I met her by chance then, and she realized that I could be a qualified candidate because I satisfied the only required condition: the candidate must possess professional certification in the game of Go.

     I quickly thought about the possibility. It was certain that the trip would not cost as much as usual, because Korea Baduk Association promised to provide flight tickets, and the Go associations of each nation guaranteed overnight accommodations, meals and reasonable payment. So, the only problem was school. Because I was a junior in high school, 3 weeks’ travel during semester seemed impossible. However, a miracle has happened. My teachers discussed the matter and concluded that the trip would be much worthier for me than studying in school. Therefore, with Mi-Kyoung’s recommendation and the school’s approval, I was able to get on the plane to Berlin, Germany on 24th of March, 2006.

     Our team was composed of three people. Professor Hahn, who has proposed and managed ‘Korean Ambassador’s Cup’, led the team. Hae-Won, a professional Go player and a popular commentator on Baduk(Go) TV took part as a ‘beautiful professional player’ from Korea. I was the youngest of the team and played a role of ‘the most promising player’. We stayed in Europe for 20 days and visited Germany, Austria, France, The UK, Belgium and The Netherlands. During the journey, we mainly participated in Korean Ambassador’s Cup as special guests from Korea, played teaching games with the participants, and lectured on the game of Go. Also, we had meetings with Korean ambassadors and diplomats, regional Korean Go communities, local Go players and board members of the Go associations and clubs. Despite full of set schedule, however, we were able to go sightseeing during the day because, thankfully, most of our appointments were either during lunch time or business hours.

     There is a proverb that goes “Better to see once than to hear a hundred times.” Indeed, seeing and being in real Europe was far greater than merely seeing it on TV and reading about it in books. Being exposed to totally different culture - language, architecture, food, climate, people’s manners and life style – strongly shocked me. First of all, I could not help but notice the importance of English. Whomever I met, no matter what their first language was, everyone tried to talk to me in English. At the time, I could barely say greet people in English. Thus, even though I had so many things to ask and talk about, all I could do was just smile and nod or rely on Professor Hahn, who occasionally translated for me. I was embarrassed, and I firmly decided to study English. As a result, after a few years of efforts, I do speak English now. Secondly, I noticed sophisticated citizenship. For example, drivers seemed to always yield to passengers and bikes. Also, most public transportation was handicap-friendly, and no one looked upset when an elderly woman on wheelchair detained the whole bus. Last, I was absolutely attracted by the beauty of various European cities and their romantic atmosphere. Graceful architecture from antiquity was so well-preserved that it felt as if Queen Marie Antoinette, William Shakespeare or Mozart would walk out and talk to me any time. Among all the charming cities, however, my favorite was Oxford in UK. Exquisite buildings, fresh green quadrangles, small cafes and old bookstores were in great harmony. Ever since I have seen it, one of my secret dreams was to study in Oxford at least one day.

     However, in terms of the game of Go, Korea was certainly an advanced nation. I met a great number of European Go players, who wanted to come to Korea to experience so called ‘the heaven of Go players’. They were curious to see 24/7 Go broad casting channels, the department of Baduk(Go) studies in Myoungji University and Korea Baduk Association as well. In Europe, teachers, books and materials about Go were extremely inadequate. Amid these poor conditions, however, more people were enjoying the game of Go than ever before, and many of them were rather passionate about it. I assume it was because Go has something that attracts people. Although Go was not yet widely known in Europe, I found its future shining when bright looking professors and students of Oxford ardently kept asking me about Go. Moreover, I realized that professional Go players should exist not only for competitions but also for the promotion of the game of Go and the development of Go players all over the world.



Hajin LEE - Essay for the university application