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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 1986)
- It’s a small world after all; Koreans say By Tamara Bell StaffWritcr t’s a small world. A cliche, surely. But the small world idea is one four students from Korea say aptly explains the similari ties between their country and the United States. Take Dukmin and Taeyeun Kim, for example. By looking at their apartment, you could al most imagine they grew up in San Antonio instead of Seoul. The apartment resembles any married students’ first home, complete with television, stereo and a second-hand couch. “The only real difference we find in lifestyles is there’s many kinds of food in Skaggs,” Taeyeun says. “We're western ized so it’s not a huge gap. I thought there’d be a big differ ence but I don’t find a differ ence. We have ‘Dallas’ and ‘Dy nasty,’ too.” “Dallas” and “Dynasty” they might have, but some doctoral programs they don’t, the Changs say. So three years ago Duk-Jin Chang works on data analysis programs for the Texas Transportation Institute. Chang is a graduate student majoring in computer science. they came to College Station be cause Korean universities didn't offer the doctoral degree in pe troleum engineering Dukmin wanted. Another reason Korean stu dents study in the United States is to have better job opportuni ties once they return home. “It's difficult to get a Ph.D in Korea,” Dukmin says. “It’s very competitive in industry, and if someone can speak English and communicate with Americans, he has an advantage over Ko reans who haven’t seen Ameri ca.” Although Koreans study En glish from the time they are 10- or 11-years-old, they aren't of ten fluent in the foreign lan guage, says Koom Chang, a graduate student in soil and crop sciences. “We learn English from mid dle school,” she says, “and learn about grammar. We know the English grammar better than the Americans but we can't converse with American peo ple. Especially in class when the professor says a joke. Every American laughs but I don’t re alize what it is. Doesn’t bother me because it's not about the course but sometimes it drives me crazy.” To study in the United States, Koreans must first receive an admission form from the uni versity they'll be attending. From there, they apply to the Korean government for a visa. Once they have the visa they’re on their wav. For most, studying in the United States will be the first time they’ve left home. Koom says she was dependent on her parents before she came to A&M. “In Korea you’re a member of family and you're dependent on them until you many,” she says. “But now I control every thing about me. Mom cooked, now I cook myself. I clean my self, everything is by myself. It was hard at first but it’s good experience and I like that.” Just as hard but more fun is adjusting to the friendliness of Americans, Koom says. “When I came here the first time an old man said ‘Hi' and smiled,” she says. “In Korea we didn't do that. Say ‘hi' to older people and they think you're crazy. At the time I thought is was strange, but now I think it’s great.” .Duk-jin Chang (no relation to Koom Chang) is a graduate stu dent in computer science. He says the material he's studying in textbooks at A&=M is similar to the material found in Korean textbooks. “It's just mv problem that logical material is more diffi cult to deal with than math ematical.” he says. “With logic I must express more, and express it in English. Math notations are universal so it’s much easier to study math.” Because Koreans think before they speak, Americans believe they’re either slow or dumb, Duk-jin says. “We are more reserved,” he says. “The language barrier also makes it difficult for us to re spond quickly. Americans react quickly because life is more simple here than in Korea. “There are established rules and common sense. Americans look ahead and go straightfor ward. It's a little bit more com plicated in Korea. We look around, not just ahead.” Unlike Koom, Taeyeun says she finds Americans more con- servative and less friendly than she'd anticipated. 1J efore we came here we thought Americans were very, very kind to strangers,” she says. “Koreans are never kind to strangers, very shy. But we didn’t find the kindness here. We find Americans relunctant to speak to strangers. Maybe af ter the Korean War, students came here from Korea to study and became common. We are no longer strangers to be kind to. V Taeyeun thinks one reason for the barrier between Ameri cans and Koreans is that Ko reans don’t participate in com munity activities. “We read Korean newspapers and magazines that we get from Houston,” she says. “Most Korean students have more in formation about Korea than America. So often we meet to gether and exchange informa tion about Korea. It takes The families of international students participate in international week festivities (left). A food fair (be low) allows visitors to sample food and drink from foreign lands. The fair starts at 6 p.m. on Wednes day, March 5, on the second floor of the MSC. continued from p.9 participate in the talent seg- £_ ment, performing songs.. dances and other talents from backround and culture of for- their country. Lane says that in eign students atA&M. the past students have learned to play an instrument from Urri 1 he show runs real well, but it’s always hectic in the back,” Hamade says. A talent show wall conclude the International Week events for ISA, says talent show coor dinator Navnesh Desai. While at A&M, Desai has their homeland so that they been involved wdth the India could participate in the talent Association and the ISA. show. Desai says 22 countries will Although students are eager to participate in the talent show an event are kept in consider- and other events during Inter- ation at the end of the week, national Week, an incentive is when one countw is crowned as offered in the form of awards the winner of International for each of the events, Desai Week. said. International Week has been an event on the A<SpM campus for almost ten years, Lane says. The object of the program is not profit, but education. As long as the program breaks even eveiy year, the ISA and the University are happy, Lane says, and so are the people. J udges rank the top five coun- “In the lobbies of the MSC tries in each event, but only the you will be able to see almost top three receive awards. Coun- all the cultures of the world,” tries placing fourth or fifth in Desai says. “In the lobbies of the MSC you will be able to see almost all the cultures of the world,” Naynesh Desai, talent show coordinator