“I write poetry because I can disobey the impulse; it would be like blocking a spring
that surges up in my throat. For a long time I've been the servant of the song that comes,
that appears and can be buried away. How to seal myself up now?...It no longer matters to me
who receives what I submit. What I carry out is, in that respect, greater and deeper than I,
I am merely the channel.”

-Gabriela Mistral

In October 2019, when the weather became a bit chilly, Dongtan Global High School heated up with immense enthusiasm from its students. DGHS hosted the Chilean Embassy on October 18 under the theme of ‘The 130th Anniversary of Gabriella Mistral, the poet of Chile.’

Before conducting a full-fledged lecture, Ji-Woo Jun and Joon-Young Park in the second-grade performed "La Bamba," a famous Mexican folk song as a special performance. After their performance, students watched several videos from the Spanish club, "VIVA.' The video was mainly composed of an introduction and appreciation of the representative literary works of each country in Latin America and attracted the attention of many students for its humorous composition.

This was followed by the VIVA's presentation on the life of Gabriella Mistral and the differences between Chile's education system and our nation's education system. Lastly, a representative of the Chilean Embassy introduced the relationship between Chile and Korea, the way Chile and Korea interact with each other and Chile's exchange student system.

Also, they illustrated the life of Gabriella Mistral. She was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator, humanist and the first LatinAmerican author to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature. Her lyric poetry which, inspired by powerful emotions, has made her name a symbol of the idealistic eagemess of the entire Latin American world. She was always on side of those who were mistreated by society: children, women, Native Americans, Jews, war victims, workers, and the poor.

As such, Chile is located geographically far away from Korea, but we can find a common ground in that both countries are very prosperous in the field of literature. Pushing ahead various cultural exchanges such as literary translations would benefit both countries to reach an even more flourishing culture.

By Su-Jung Han
(DG reporter)