Last summer, Lina Jin, junior, jumped on a plane and headed for South Korea. She wanted to live there because her family is there and she wanted to spend time with them, but also, she had to study for the SAT. The interesting fact is that she lived alone in Seoul, which is approximately two hours away from her parents house, while she studied for the SAT.
“I loved getting to know more about Seoul. It was the first time I had lived there so I got to learn more about how Seoul looked and operated,” said Jin.
Studying for the SAT and attending a Korean school was much different than studying and attending school in America. Schools are incredibly strict in South Korea. In fact, government employees are paid to find children who are studying past 10 p.m. and stop them. High school students attend school for up to 15 hours per day.
According to USA Today, “In South Korea, 93% of all students graduate from high school on time. But in the United States, almost one-quarter of all students — more than 1.2 million individuals each year — fail to graduate.”
During the week, Jin lived alone in an apartment because the school that she attended was too far from her parents house, but she lived with her parents on the weekends.
“My favorite part about South Korea and Seoul in particular was the shopping,” said Jin.
According to Jin, there are a plethora of stores that are located near in the underground subway stations. These stores sell cheap clothes and accessories and are crawling with customers throughout the day. They are fun to visit because of the different hidden treasures that one might find unexpectedly.
There were many cultural differences that Jin had to overcome. One of the biggest changes for Jin to adapt to was the transportation. Many of Seoul’s residents don’t drive cars.
“The biggest cultural differences is the transportation. Mostly, I walked or used subway to get to the destination. But in America, we need the car to go somewhere but in Korea, most buildings are so close to each other, we can walk or ride bus which we can use public transportation to go somewhere,” said Jin.
Another cultural difference was the food. Korean cuisine is largely based upon rice, vegetables, and meats. Traditional Korean meals are unique because of the number of side dishes that typically accompany the rice or noodles. Kimchi (pickled vegetables that are heavily spiced), is served often. Commonly used ingredients include: doenjang (fermented bean paste), soy sauce, ginger, pepper flakes and gochujang (fermented red chili paste).
“My favorite Korean food is Korean barbeque which is called ‘bulgogi’,” said Jin.
During the day, Jin spent her time at school studying for the SAT. But whenever she had extra time, Jin loved going to a town called Daehaklo. Dahaklo is a famous town that musicians often go to practice and write music. It’s also known as the “street of youth, art, and freedom”, and from this name, it may seem that only younger people visit, but that is certainly not the case. Dahaklo is an intersection where generations come together through music.
“One day I saw a musical on Daehaklo. It was amazing!” said Jin.
The main reason that Jin went to Korea was to study for the SAT.
She did not take the SAT there, but studied in Korea because the schools are better there. “The schools in Korea are better and much more intense,” said Jin.
Although there were many cultural differences to overcome and the task of living alone was daunting, Jin loved being in Korea.
“It felt like I was home when I was there,” said Jin.
She thoroughly enjoyed becoming part of the culture through academics, shopping, food, and music. “I would love to go back to Korea because the time I spent there was so delightful and I loved seeing my family and being in my native country. Although I went to study, the time was still enjoyable and relaxing due to the atmosphere and because I loved the city so much,” said Jin.
Jin enjoyed her time in Seoul because she was able to experience a whole new city.
“Someday I would even want to live in South Korea,” said Jin.
