[Video Review] Let's Protect the Earth with Foreign Friends in Iceland!

Author: Administrator
Country / City: Europe/Iceland/Reykjavik
Views : 406

#Increased confidence in English, improved independence #Experience living abroad, foreign friends #Satisfaction from taking on a new challenge

*An actual participant in the gap year program kindly took part in an interview to introduce gap year to more people.

Strongly recommended by Korea Gap Year participant An Yeon-su 👏👏👏

Protecting nature with my own hands! Environmental conservation volunteer work in Iceland

"If you take a gap year, anyone can have a life-changing experience."

I am a university student majoring in Earth environmental science. I have been deeply interested in the environment since childhood. I often thought about ways of life to solve environmental problems, and related research activities led to my university admission. Before serving in the military, I traveled in Europe and, interacting with foreigners for the first time, realized how narrow the world I knew was; this realization led me to choose a gap year. To persuade my parents, I carefully organized the expected costs and the volunteer activity plan and gained their support.

Iceland''s area is similar to South Korea''s, but its population is only about half that of Jeju Island. Everywhere you go it''s nature and hiking trails. On weekdays, around 9–10 a.m. we would go to the beach and spend about two hours picking up trash. I thought Iceland would be very clean, but it wasn''t as clean as I expected. The reason is that because there is a lot of fishing, fishing-related waste such as ropes used on fishing boats and broken plastic were often discarded on the beaches. Along with other foreign volunteers, I felt great reward in cleaning up the dirty beaches.

In the afternoons we had time to share our thoughts about environmental pollution and the progress of global warming. In particular, in conversations with European friends I learned that being vegan is not just about pitying animals, but about reducing the huge carbon emissions from livestock farming. About 20% of total carbon emissions come from livestock, and reducing that greatly contributes to solving global warming. Also, one friend needed to travel from Reykjavik, where we stayed, to a city called Akureyri; the bus takes about seven hours while a plane takes about an hour and a half. The bus fare and plane ticket were similar. Even so, they chose to take the bus instead of the plane, which emits more carbon. Seeing friends like that made me rethink the environment.

The most memorable day was the West Peninsula tour I took with friends. We visited lava fields, cliffs, and a famous mountain, but the weather wasn''t good. There were strong winds and hail—conditions you can''t experience in Korea—but the foreign friends reacted positively, saying, "We experienced real Icelandic weather!!!" If I were Korean I would have thought the day was ruined, but seeing the Europeans'' positive mindset made me think I should learn that attitude too.

I think many people in Korea still don''t even know the word "gap year." But when you go abroad, many people say, "I''m doing a gap year." I didn''t know what it meant until I experienced a gap year myself, but once I did it was really great. I hope everyone gets to have a gap year. It''s not just an ordinary trip; through a gap year you communicate with locals and live like they do, and I am convinced that anyone will have a life-changing experience.

*An actual participant in the gap year program kindly took part in an interview to introduce gap year to more people.

Strongly recommended by Korea Gap Year participant An Yeon-su 👏👏👏

Protecting nature with my own hands! Environmental conservation volunteer work in Iceland

"If you take a gap year, anyone can have a life-changing experience."

I am a university student majoring in Earth environmental science. I have been deeply interested in the environment since childhood. I often thought about ways of life to solve environmental problems, and related research activities led to my university admission. Before serving in the military, I traveled in Europe and, interacting with foreigners for the first time, realized how narrow the world I knew was; this realization led me to choose a gap year. To persuade my parents, I carefully organized the expected costs and the volunteer activity plan and gained their support.

Iceland''s area is similar to South Korea''s, but its population is only about half that of Jeju Island. Everywhere you go it''s nature and hiking trails. On weekdays, around 9–10 a.m. we would go to the beach and spend about two hours picking up trash. I thought Iceland would be very clean, but it wasn''t as clean as I expected. The reason is that because there is a lot of fishing, fishing-related waste such as ropes used on fishing boats and broken plastic were often discarded on the beaches. Along with other foreign volunteers, I felt great reward in cleaning up the dirty beaches.

In the afternoons we had time to share our thoughts about environmental pollution and the progress of global warming. In particular, in conversations with European friends I learned that being vegan is not just about pitying animals, but about reducing the huge carbon emissions from livestock farming. About 20% of total carbon emissions come from livestock, and reducing that greatly contributes to solving global warming. Also, one friend needed to travel from Reykjavik, where we stayed, to a city called Akureyri; the bus takes about seven hours while a plane takes about an hour and a half. The bus fare and plane ticket were similar. Even so, they chose to take the bus instead of the plane, which emits more carbon. Seeing friends like that made me rethink the environment.

The most memorable day was the West Peninsula tour I took with friends. We visited lava fields, cliffs, and a famous mountain, but the weather wasn''t good. There were strong winds and hail—conditions you can''t experience in Korea—but the foreign friends reacted positively, saying, "We experienced real Icelandic weather!!!" If I were Korean I would have thought the day was ruined, but seeing the Europeans'' positive mindset made me think I should learn that attitude too.

I think many people in Korea still don''t even know the word "gap year." But when you go abroad, many people say, "I''m doing a gap year." I didn''t know what it meant until I experienced a gap year myself, but once I did it was really great. I hope everyone gets to have a gap year. It''s not just an ordinary trip; through a gap year you communicate with locals and live like they do, and I am convinced that anyone will have a life-changing experience.

Why This Project

What makes this project special

#Rest & Recovery#Freedom & Happiness#Inner Peace & Fulfillment#Environmental expert#Iceland travel#Time of relaxation and peace#Beautiful nature#Experience in the world's remote areas#Environmental volunteering#Wilderness travel#Hiking#Multicultural experience#Expanding worldview#Practical English#Recovery#Emotional healing#Global teamwork experience#Sustainable living#Travel and volunteering combined