On October 20th through October 22nd, Taylorsville High School hosted around 50 very special and memorable guests. Students from the international high school in South Korea, visited Taylorsville in hope to experience life as a typical American student.

50 Korean students were each paired up with one Taylorsville student. Each individual student had the opportunity to ask and answer as many questions as they wanted or needed to. Through the Koreans, Taylorsville students had the chance to really understand what life is like in another country as the Koreans were able to compare their school day to ours.

“For us we live at school and go home on the weekends. We can not wear cool things like you and if I were to use my phone in class, I’d be in big trouble. Our classes start at 8 am but go until 11 pm, with 4 hours of directed study time. The thing that surprised me the most was that Americans don’t particularly care about their school,” said Hyjieng Kwon, sophomore at IHS.

Through all the questions and understanding within a pair (one Taylorsville student and one Korean student), trust was built. Along with hosting a Korean during one’s school day, many of the hosts chose to spend more time with their Korean pal at activities outside of school during the two days the Koreans were here.

Within the two days of school and activities the pairs of students grew closer and closer to one another. The trust and time spent together created many friendships within the pairs of students.

“You grow so attached to the Korean students every year, but you gain some amazing friends from across the world and it really is just the neatest experience,” said Danie Calacino, senior.