Volunteers share stories from the 2018 Paralympics

Volunteering is nothing new to Wang, as she had joined her local volunteer federation in her freshman year. Having missed out on applying for the Rio Olympics, Wang was determined to volunteer for Pyeongchang. She started the application process at the end of 2016 and after a written test and interview, she finally received her offer in September.

"I feel so lucky to have experienced all this volunteer work," Wang says. "Seeing all these athletes doing sports makes me realize that any difficulties I meet in the future, I will be able to overcome."

Wang made friends with many other volunteers and enjoyed hearing their stories. One of her roommates was a 65-year-old Korean elementary school teacher, who treated her like a daughter.
"She wasn't married, but she treats all children as her kids."

Another volunteer Wang knows fell in love with an ice hockey player when she was helping him interpret sign language at a run-up event. Wang would watch the ice hockey game with her friend and cheer on her boyfriend's team.

She also has her own Pyongchang love story to tell－she met her boyfriend, who is also a volunteer from Wuhan, during a training session.

"The Olympics have given me a boyfriend," says Wang. "Both of us are into volunteer work, that connects us."

Wang was selected by her manager, Jeong Eui-ho, to join the transportation team, as Jeong was a fan of Chinese culture.

Jeong has been reading classic Chinese literature The Romance of the Three Kingdoms since he was a boy, and he became a huge fan of the main characters like Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. He is also teaching himself Chinese.

Most of the volunteers who worked with Jeong at the Paralympics were Korean, and he is happy to have had Wang on his team.

"I was a bit worried about her at first because all her colleagues were Korean, but she fitted in very well and we made a lovely team," says Jeong.

"Thanks to all the international volunteers, they helped us make a success of the Paralympics."