한국어
At the Ethnic Enrichment Festival (EEC), a multi-ethnic cultural festival that has continued in Kansas City for over 40 years, the Kansas City Korean Society participated for the second time and successfully promoted Korean culture. More visitors visited the festival due to the lower temperature compared to last year, and among them, the Korean booth received a lot of attention and reception.
The Kansas City Korean Society showcased a variety of Korean foods and promoted the taste of Korea. Carefully prepared foods such as yakiniku, spicy chicken dishes, and chapchae were very popular among visitors, and the Korean booth was lined up with people who wanted to experience traditional Korean food. Kansas City Korean School also participated in this festival and contributed to promoting the school and introducing Korean culture.
What is particularly remarkable about this festival is that the Consul and Executive Officer in charge of Korean culture at the Chicago Consulate General visited in person and encouraged the Korean Society and volunteers. Their visit made the meaning of the festival even more significant and contributed greatly to the Korean American community.
The Korean team introduced the beauty of Korean culture to the world through fan dancing and K-pop performances. In particular, fan dancing received great applause from the audience, and K-pop performances were also very popular, mainly among young people. Also, at the national flag parade, Sam and Sujin Hong wore hanbok and showed off their traditional Korean beauty, which caught the attention of many people.
Through this festival, I was once again able to confirm the high level of interest and popularity in Korea. In particular, the EEC preparations raised the flags of various countries at the entrance of the venue, and Taegeukgi was placed right in front of the venue. This was an important symbol of the growing interest in Korea.
The success of the festival was followed by the efforts of many people. In particular, the dedication of volunteers who prepared food before the start of each event and spared no effort until the end of the event was remarkable for the difficult preparation process. Among them, I would like to express my special thanks to Director Yu Kwan-mu for his hard work for 3 nights and 4 days after driving 3 hours from far Wichita for this event. I would also like to thank the Kansas Missionary Church and Pastor Kim In-gwang for their willingness to use the church kitchen for 3 days.
The festival ended successfully with no major damage by selling all the prepared food. I would like to express my deep gratitude to all the volunteers and members of the Korean Society for their hard work. The proceeds will be used for the operation and events of the Korean American Association. I was able to further raise interest in the Korean community within Kansas City through this festival, and I look forward to further promoting Korean culture through such events in the future.