English langauge educational camp in Ireland in July for young Koreans

Conor Melvin – the development officer over at the Seoul Gaels – has come up with a great initiative to get young Koreans more involved with club. He is helping organise an Enlgish language educational trip to Ireland for Korean students aged 12-15 years to take place in the second half of July this summer that involves lots of activities (playing at a Connaught final!) I’ll let Conor explain more:

“Ireland family stay is a family run business with over 20 years of experience bringing French and Spanish students to the west of Ireland for English camps. This is the first year they will be inviting Korean students to join the camp. The students will be given the unique chance to learn Gaelic football with the Seoul Gaels Gaelic football club every Saturday in Seoul before leaving for Ireland in mid July for a 3 week camp. They will stopover in either Istanbul, Amsterdam or Paris for a day and night sightseeing on their way to Ireland. After touring Croke Park and other popular sites in Dublin they will head west to Castlebar, county Mayo where they will stay with Irish families with children of the same age. After English classes in the morning the students will take part in dozens of sporting and cultural activities in the afternoon. Gaelic football, hurling, golf, rugby, soccer, basketball and swimming to name but a few. They will also  learn Irish dancing and tin whistle from local experts.  The students will also have the amazing opportunity to play during the half time game of the Connaught final on Sunday July 21st in front of 40-50,000 people. We are sure this is an experience they will never forget and we also plan for them to meet the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) at the game. On Wednesdays and Saturdays they will take trips to local areas of natural or historical beauty such as Westport, Croagh Patrick, deep sea fishing off Achill island, Ashford Castle, Kylemore Abbey and Connemara. On their return to Korea we hope they will continue to play Gaelic football and help to develop the special relationship Irish and Korean people share. If you or someone you know are interested in participating in the camp please check out our blog which has most of the detailed info: http://blog.naver.com/irelandstay (info in Korean as well) and http://irelandfamilystay.com Or email development.seoulgaels@gmail.com”

It sounds like a great trip for Korean students and much more varied than the normal langauge camp. Conor has put a really good quality brochure together (in English and Korean) so please print it out and pin it up in your school, tell your students and tell your students’ parents to help spread the word. He’ll also be at the St Patrick’s Day festival in D-Cube on Sat March 16th so you’ll get a chance to talk to him about it (and meet some of the kids who have signed up).

St. Patrick’s Day Celebration in Chuncheon!

St Patrick’s day is not just for those who happen to be in Seoul on Sat March 16th. For the past number of years Linda Gormally has arranged a Patrick’s Day event in Chuncheon. It started out small (there was only one other Irish person living in Chuncheon when Linda moved there) but has gotten steadily bigger. Last year it involved Irish food, listening and dancing to music and even complete beginners learning to play the tinwhistle! This year the party will take place at Lounge Pub T7 (with festivities continuing on at the  One Luv Club in Kangdae Humoon later on that night) on Friday March 15th. For updates look at the FB event page (we’ll also post updates as we get them)

So if you know anyone in the Chuncheon area then let them know about this, and if you should meet Linda make sure to congratulate her for getting this off the ground!

Less than 3 weeks to St Patrick’s Day festival!

It’s just less than 3 weeks to the annual St Patrick’s Day festival on Saturday March 16th, which will take place at the D-Cube plaza in Sindorim.

Are you going to wear a fancy dress for the costume competition? Would you like to win return flights from Seoul to Dublin? Have you heard about the new area we will have called Irish Village? Are you going to come and dance and enjoy the music? Do you want to try your hand at playing some Irish musical instruments? Will you come to the evening party in The Bull & Barrel in Itaewon? To help you answer these questions have a read about what we have planned here (or if you prefer over on Facebook or Meetup).