EIL Intercultural Learning

EIL had the privilege of welcoming Saerom Lee from YES International Korea for her first ever visit to Ireland. Saerom has been working closely with EIL on our Secondary School Programme in Ireland. This August EIL will be welcoming 6 new Korean students and 6 returning students from YES who have been placed in various host communities throughout Ireland.

After meeting all the EIL staff in Cork, Saerom was able to visit one of our host communities in Castleisland, Co. Kerry where several of her students have been placed. She met with the Kerry local coordinator, Lillian Cronin, as well as two host families.  We were also able to organise a private tour of Castleisland Community College even though it was officially closed for the summer holidays. Although her stay in Ireland was brief, she was able to learn a lot about what Ireland has to offer exchange students, as well as teach us about specific cultural challenges Korean students face when living in Ireland.

EIL believes that a strong relationship between the sending and receiving offices is crucial to the running of successful programmes and we are very grateful to Saerom and YES International for taking the time to come and visit Ireland to get a first hand experience of how the programme is run and help in making suggestions for future improvements.

Pictured here with the Individuals Department in a typical Korean photo pose: Genevieve O'Connor, Brendan Kelleher, Saerom Lee and Anton Kieffer.