[2025 하계] 청년 2차 - '왕잉룽' 참가자 수기(중국 거주)

 

Heartbeats in the Cultural Code

 

           Wangyingrong from group16

 

  Under the July sun, I journeyed with ethnic Korean youth from across the globe on the "okfriends home coming" pilgrimage. Amidst the human tides of Seoul’s Hongdae streets, along the winding roads of Chungcheongnam-do, and upon the ancient bricks of Gongju, I measured the land with my steps and touched, with my soul, the faint yet persistent echo deep within my bloodline—a grand reunion transcending time itself.

  Within the hallowed halls of Chungnam University and KAIST, solemn laboratories intertwined with vibrant innovation workshops formed a surreal tapestry. Beyond the glass walls, verdant trees swayed; inside, wisdom flowed silently. Watching seniors’ fingers dance like butterflies over keyboards, lines of code cascading like starlight across screens, the future shed its shadowy veil. The gleam of science and technology illuminated the path ahead, mirroring an eternal yearning for knowledge and exploration that seemed to slumber within our very veins—a flame passed quietly through generations.

  Deeper within the quiet corridors of the Gongju Museum, pottery from the Baekje dynasty stood mute as riddles, while ancient gold ornaments glowed with slumbering brilliance under the lights. Tracing the cool stone wall of King Muryeong’s tomb with my gaze, its chill seemed to carry the sigh of Baekje’s earth straight to my core. Silent, these relics awakened a dormant melody in my blood—revealing that we, these scattered branches, are rooted deep in the peninsula’s fertile history, every grain etched with a shared story.

  Most luminous were the young faces under the lights, companions from distant corners of the world sharing dreams in Korean. Accents wove a tapestry of dialects, yet strangely merged into a single song. As the campfire blazed, its light leaping in everyone’s eyes, no further words were needed. The shared songs and dances became our deepest covenant: bonded by youth, we recognized each other across the world’s map. Though mountains and seas divide, the pulse within us beats to the same rhythm—a millennium of the peninsula’s wind rushing through our chests.

  The plane’s roar pierced the clouds on the return flight, the landscape shrinking below. Closing my eyes, my mind’s eye held the museum’s pottery patterns, the laboratory’s rivers of code, and the campfire’s reflection dancing in my companions’ eyes. This "home coming," I realized, guided us not merely to a geographical homeland, but to a beacon lit deep within the soul by shared memory and cultural code. Though our branches scatter across continents, the heartbeat within our cultural heritage will ultimately draw all dispersed starlight to converge in the eternal river of our people—a profound gaze back toward our shared roots, resonating in the very pulse of our blood.

 

※ 본 소감문은 참가자의 소감문을 그대로 작성한 것입니다.