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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