One of the most valuable experiences on my Cultural Understanding and Language Program was my home stay. It started with meeting the Korean cadets at my hotel at 1000. We mingled with the cadets and then went off to bowl with them for about an hour. This was a good way to break the ice and by the end of the bowling session both ROTC groups were comfortable and enjoying each others company. From the bowling, we went on to the different cadets universities. For me that meant I was going to Korea University. We had to change out of our civilian clothes and into our ACU's because we were told the media would be covering the USA cadets arriving and touring Korea University with the ROK cadets. Upon arriving, we had lunch with our ROK counterparts as well as two newspaper reporters and the Korean University ROTC commander and another cadre member. I was seated across from the commander and adjacent to the newspaper reporter so I spent most of my lunch talking and answering questions. The commander gave a toast to us as cadets and told us not to forget the sacrifices made in the Korean War to preserve democracy and freedom and that the R.O.K.-U.S.A. is the strongest alliance in the world. This is a reflection of the R.O.K.-U.S.A. alliance motto- " kapchi katchida" or "we go together". After lunch, we toured around Korea University for a little bit then met the ROK cadets again in front of media cameras for a Korean news program. After this, we watched a video on Korea University in front of the media as they were taking pictures. After this, we were paired up with a ROK cadet. My cadets name was Yong Sok Jin and he was a year ahead of me (as a senior) majoring in industrial engineering. The rest of the afternoon and most of the next day was free time to enjoy with our counterpart. Yong Sok took me to a touristy place and showed me some local tastes that I enjoyed very much. I also bought several things and a particular piece of Korean art caught my eye. Yong Sok insisted that he buy this as a gift for me so  I agreed after a little hesitation. It was a very nice gesture. After this, we made it back to his residence. His parents and I exchanged introductions and I gave them a crystal glass from the University of Portland (my university) as a gift. I said a prayer for the family before our dinner then we enjoyed our traditional Korean dinner. Yong Sok's parents also gave me several nice gifts before we left for the night. Soon after Yong Sok took me out to to a street where all the college students hang out. We meet a couple of his friends there and enjoyed a night of billiards and yang nyum chicken. The following day we enjoyed a traditional Korean suana while we talked about important things that were in our life. It was very relaxing. After, we shopped at the fashion district at Dongdaemun and then watched Transformers 3 together. I had a great time with Yong Sok Jin and before we said our goodbyes we exchanged our contact information and hoped to see each other again. It was a great experience and showed how alike the ROTC cadets are from our two different nations despite a language and cultural difference. Kapchi Katchida