He will take part in a reality TV show shining a light on his school exchange experience.
A Tauranga teenager will take part in the newest season of a Korean television show this month.
ACG Tauranga Year 12 student Oscar Wray will feature in the reality show After School: School Trip, which follows five students as they travel to South Korea’s capital Seoul.
As part of the show’s fifth season, the students will be filmed over eight days as they stay with a host family, attend a local school and immerse themselves in Korean culture.
It comes as a 2023 delegation of about 30 education leaders from 23 primary and secondary schools are set to head to Korea next month to attend the Tauranga Korean Times education fairs in Seoul and Busan. A total of 25 members of the Education Tauranga delegation will also visit Tauranga’s “friendship city” Ansan City for school visits.
Speaking to the Bay of Plenty Times, Wray, 16, said he scored the opportunity as part of Western Bay of Plenty economic development agency Priority One’s Instep Young Leaders’ Forum, which aims to inspire local youth with Future of Work opportunities within Tauranga’s business community.
“I applied for it and I got in,” he said. “I am a pretty big fan of K-pop [Korean popular music] and K-dramas [Korean drama]. I also quite like the KBO [Korean Baseball Organisation], Korean baseball.”
Wray said he was “really excited” to visit Korea, meet new people and experience a different culture.
“I want to try all the food. That is one thing that I am really excited about.”
His mother, Mariane Wray, said she was proud of her son for having the confidence to head overseas and experience a new culture.
Wray said her son had developed leadership skills from his involvement as an Air Force cadet in Tauranga’s Air Training Corps and would no doubt make the most of every opportunity in Korea.
She said her son spent three years in Malaysia from the age of 6 to 9 and was no stranger to different cultures.
“He has experienced a lot of different cultures, different foods, and different languages and different lives. He has always been really accepting of it all.”
A large regional delegation of schools is heading to Korea in September to attend the TKT education fairs in Seoul and Busan. There are 34 people from 23 primary and secondary schools in the group this year, with many of the participants joining the trip for the first time. Photo / Alex Cairns
Meanwhile, the boss of a Tauranga education agency hopes to double the number of international students arriving from Korea next year as the latest delegation of education leaders heads to the sister city this month.
Hyun Taek Yang, director of education agency Tauranga Korean Times, said it was excited to continue the trip to Korea post-Covid-19.
“Our numbers are going back to normal to prior Covid times.”
But, he said, it needed more support to build its international student numbers up to what they were pre-Covid.
“I can expect at the beginning of next year, we can get to normal numbers that we were prior to Covid. That means 150 families with 200 students.
Yang said he was “really happy” more than 23 schools were visiting Korea again this year.
“I have had lots of interest from Korea, and I look forward to another good delegation.
“There are about 10 teachers going to Korea for the first time.”
Yang said he expected the delegation to meet more than 200 families during a three-day fair in Seoul and Busan.
“We are expecting between 50 and 70 families to come over to New Zealand from January to July next year. Some of them will be starting in Term 2 and Term 3 next year. That means 100 new students are coming next year.
K-Pop, K-drama and Korean food had gained popularity in New Zealand and were helping to build cultural relationships, he said.
Tauranga Korean Times director Hyun Taek Yang. Photo / Alex Cairns
Education Tauranga regional relationship manager Melissa Gillingham said it was “fantastic” to see the revival of international education in Tauranga, which had been built on the strength of the city’s long-term relationship with South Korea.
“Cultural connections are strengthened by these reciprocal exchanges, and everyone benefits - from school principals and staff to Kiwi students of all ages, and, of course, our Korean friends.”
Tahatai Coast School international student manager Rowan Barton said visiting Ansan City will be a “really rich cultural experience” for the 24 local educators.
“Eating an authentic Korean-style lunch from the school cafeteria will highlight one of the major challenges our families face when starting school in New Zealand - preparing lunchboxes.”
Barton said the delegation planned to tour a school and visit the Danwon Youth Centre and the city museum.
The museum was less than a year old but effectively shared the history of Ansan - a new city focused on the environment and culture - attracting budding entrepreneurs and celebrating multiculturalism, he said.
“I am really looking forward to meeting new Korean families that will study in Tauranga next year, as well as reconnecting with alumni - families that previously attended our school.
“Each time I visit South Korea, my appreciation for the culture deepens. This assists me in supporting our families to successfully settle at school and into our community.”
Ōtūmoetai Primary School deputy principal Marcus Hughes said he was looking forward to meeting prospective families and connecting with past students who studied at their school.
“It is a great opportunity to market the Ōtūmoetai brand, with both the intermediate and college attending too.”
