Suji Kim
Rotary Youth Exchange Program
By Marilynn Bowler
 
"She's just precious," said past president Catherine Browning, and then added, "There couldn't have been a dry eye in the house." Catherine was right. Suji Kim stole our hearts and left us wanting her to stay with us for much, much longer. Attired in traditional and quite beautiful Korean garb, the young Rotary Youth Exchange Program student from South Korea spoke to us about her year with three Charlotte Rotary host families and she told poignantly of the rich experiences and new lessons about America that she enjoyed during her stay. Using perfect English, Suji made us laugh aloud at her telling of when she first joined David, Lynn and Emily Erdman in their home last Fall and each time our own wonderful David talked with her h-e s-p-o-k-e v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.
 
She shared the tale of her grandfather's move from South Korea to North Korea during the war in the early 1950's and how he lost touch with his own family. Perhaps that's why the Kims … Suji, her identical twin sister, her younger sister, her mother and her father … are such a close family unit. Having been a host family to a young foreign exchange student in South Korea last year, Suji became enamored with the idea for herself and so began the rigorous application process to come to America with the Rotary program. She told of her mother's adamant encouragement, sharing her thought that her mother wanted Suji to live the dream of traveling the world that she, as a young married woman, could never realize. "My mother," said Suji, "is my motivation. I want to be just like her."
 
Attending Charlotte Country Day School on full scholarship (thanks to the generosity of CCDS) Suji has maintained an A average, has made multitudes of friends, has mastered the English language, and has spent a year with three fabulous and quite normal American families: the aforementioned Erdmans, Jane and Paul Schmidt (during the winter months) and Betsy and Matt Joyner with whom she will live until June when she returns to South Korea. We learned from Suji that although she spent her entire junior year in school in America, she will not get credit at home in South Korea for that academic year and will have to rejoin her high school as a junior next year. Parenthetically, in South Korea students carry a twelve course load with school hours beginning at 7:00a.m. and ending at 10:00 p.m. each day. Whew!
 
With periodic catches in her throat and a touchingly teary interlude, Suji told of her wonderful year in Charlotte. She saw her first football game and had fun at her first Halloween party. She found she loves Ben & Jerry's vanilla and chocolate chip ice cream, and liked it when Paul Schmidt teased her about tofu. When Christmas came and Santa brought her many wonderful presents she wondered how Santa knew just what she'd like to have. She knows about the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny, and has great memories of going to Florida for Spring Break. Suji was especially surprised that people hug each other so easily in America since hugging one's friend or acquaintance is neither typical nor comfortable in Korea. She smilingly assured us that she's gotten to like the custom and is quite comfortable with it now.
 
She showed her keen sense of humor by following up her announcement of her plans to visit Germany with an energetic demonstration of her guttural German language proficiency …"YA!" she declared. She's clearly global as President Luther Moore advised us. It seems that he and Sandra invited Suji to ride to the Rotary District Conference in Charleston with them and, enroute home, they asked Suji what type of food she preferred. Much to their surprise Southern fried chicken lost out to Mexican food, so off to a Mexican restaurant they went. Suji thought it was delicious, Luther proclaimed!
 
As she spoke tenderly of the many memories she made in Charlotte and how much she will miss her classmates, her friends and the warm family life she shared with the Erdmans, Schmidts and Joyners, Suji shed loving tears and we wept right along with her. She is, indeed, "precious."
 
Head Table: Steve Montgomery, Jane Schmidt, Paul Schmidt, Luther Moore, Ed Wadsworth, Regina Patton
Invocation: Matt Joyner
Visitors & Guests: Edgar Love; Health & Happiness: Mike Rash; Song and Piano: Thomas Moore

• President Luther thanked Dick Klingman and Klingman Williams, Inc. for outfitting the Rotary office in new furniture; Hugh McColl was inducted into the US Business Hall of Fame and in his remarks, thanked three people: his wife, and his two lawyers - one being Rotarian Jim Kiser; Alan Adler's article 'Corporate Culture Will Define Performance Success', was published in this week's Charlotte Business Journal. Alan was also highlighted as a notable name for being award Distinguished Rotarian; in an ad for leadership, Central Piedmont Community College features CPCC grad and Fire Chief Luther Fincher.
 
• Charlotte Rescue Mission (Tony Marciano) received the "B.O.B." award (Best of the Best) by Charlotte Magazine for being the best "charity"; Donald Haack Jewelers won the small business (employees under 100) Ethics in Business Award. First Charlotte Properties and SMS Catering were finalists; John Stedman announces The Scottish Bank is planning to relocate its SouthPark branch and its commercial-lending team to the Morrison Building on Morrison Boulevard.
 
• Don Millen introduced Sam Sasser and Drew Conner, who will be participating in Rotary Exchange programs in the upcoming months. Sam is tentatively scheduled to be in the summer program in Japan and Drew will spend the upcoming school year in Spain.
  
• Meg McElwain will chair next year's music committee and has asked for help to enhance the weekly singing by having 'host' performances from outside groups or individuals. Please contact Meg at meg@magnoliamarketing.net if you know anyone that would like to perform (at no charge to the club).

Allison Ann Swanson
Classification: Hospitality, Management
Occasions Catering & Event Planning
Sponsor: Tim Newman
Endorsed: Cecily Durrett & Marilynn Bowler