We HOPE Succeeds in First Major Organizing Role For The Ulsan Global Festival

The Ulsan Global Festival did not take place in 2018...twice! It was first postponed due to the mayoral elections and then

because of Typhoon Kong-Rey. The We HOPE team, which had invested much time and effort, was disappointed but knew 2019 would bring another chance.

We HOPE president Roy Kim received the news that his organization had been selected to participate in the festival, in a greater capacity than before, in early March. The core members of We HOPE were notified and a meeting was held. Team members were shocked to hear that instead of organizing 40 volunteers and 4 activity tents, they would be responsible for processing and organizing 2,200 volunteers along with 10 cultural experience tents. Furthermore, We HOPE team members were asked to join meetings and give their respected opinions to the two main organizing parties, MBC and the Ulsan Global Center.

Planning began in early March. It was decided that there would be four tents dedicated to six countries. There would be a Canada/United States tent, an Australia/New Zealand tent, a

South Africa tent, and a tent for Britain. Each tent offered a unique cultural experience.

There were also two tents that provided refreshments to those who attended the Global Festival. We HOPE thought fresh lemonade and grapefruit juice along with slushies would quench the thirst of attendees, and it did!

Four sport and game experience tents introduced the local residents to new sports or games they may have heard of but never had the chance to try. The sports included football, rugby, hockey, and cricket. The games included ladder golf, horseshoes, bocce ball, and frisbee. A very big thank you goes out to Ulsan's

one and only rugby team The Ulsan Goblins for dedicating their Saturday to volunteer and show people how the game is played.

The overall outcome of the festival was great but it didn't happen as smoothly as you would think. Last minute purchases, broken machines, frozen computers. The icing on the cake was a miscommunication that led to a botched delivery of ice, which forced We HOPE members to scramble and bring ice that ended up being dirty and unusable!

Brian Girolametto said "We had several inconveniences but the team was resilient, pushed through, and made it all work. It was a learning experience for us all and going forward it can only help us grow."