An outsider's point of view

Hi! I'm Becky, 22 years old, from the U.S. Right now, I'm more than two months into my one-year stay in Daejeon, where I'm doing volunteer work teaching English at a children's center. I live at Hannam University, where I take Korean classes, but I am not a full-time student, having already graduated from college back in the United States. And today, I'd like to share a little about my experiences as a foreigner living in South Korea, for any overseas exchange students who may be interested in coming to Hannam.

So far, I'm happy to say that my experiences with the Korean people have been very positive. Many people have shown me great kindness and concern, trying to make me feel welcome in a new place, and I'm so very grateful for that -- it isn't a gift that I take for granted. However, I would be lying if I said there were never struggles to understand each other -- and I'm not just talking about the language barrier.

Because Korea has what is called a "high-context culture," people communicate directly and expect you to infer things -- a fact I'm still getting used to. I'm used to a society that is all about efficient information exchange; in America, you are supposed to spell out the most important things (who-what-where-when-how) right away. You get to the destination as quickly as possible. But in Korea, it seems like it's more about the process of getting from point A to point B.

Either that, or conversations will happen in a roundabout way: you'll ask someone a question, and they'll consult with everyone else they know first before getting back to you. Which isn't necessarily bad, but it can be confusing when you thought that the issue only concerned the two of you.

Where I'm from, information sharing also happens mostly on a need-to-know basis. But after coming to Korea, I quickly learned not to tell people things that I didn't want everybody to know. During my first week here, I was sick and throwing up. Later, when I was feeling better and got back to normal life, I was surprised to find that everyone and their grandmother (yes, and people I didn't know, too) knew the details of my illness . . . despite the fact that it only affected a couple of people. I think that this kind of behavior also points to the community-oriented, high-context nature of Korean culture.

In my experience, Koreans also tend to ask a lot of personal questions. Total strangers will ask you: Where are you from? How old are you? Do you have a boyfriend? Why not? In my culture, this would be seen as rude, but in Korean society it is perfectly acceptable.

Speaking of age, that is a much more important factor here than it is in the U.S. Relative age is one of the first things that gets established in any relationship, because in Korean society, you are supposed to respect people who are older, if only by a little bit. Even after two months, I'm always being surprised by how much weight age is given. Just the other day, in one of my classes, I had to break up a fight where one little boy was viciously punching another in the chest. When I asked what had happened, I learned that the younger (by a year or so) boy said something teasing to the older one, which might not have been such a big deal, except that it violated the junior/senior relationship. So, the older boy got upset and started attacking him.

There are also many little things that happen here that you just wouldn't see in the U.S. For example, there are different gender dynamics. Here boys hold other boys' hands, or walk with their arms around each other's shoulders, whereas usually my culture's loud disapproval of homosexuality dissuades men from acting too familiarly with each other, lest they be seen as gay.

Or, for another example, I still can't figure out the Korean attitude towards what is appropriate for women to wear. Even this late in the year, with winter quickly approaching, girls around campus are wearing itty-bitty short skirts and baring an awful lot of leg. However, they all have very high necklines on their shirts, not showing even a hint of cleavage or shoulders. Even the hottest weather, back in August, I never saw even one girl in a tank top, either. Apparently one is considered appropriate, but the other is not?

Also, on a practical note for those of you packing to come to Korea: you may want to bring lots of deodorant and, if you're female, tampons. For some reason, these two things are very hard to find in the stores here! I think with the tampons it is because they are considered sexualized objects. You can find every hair product known to humankind, but you have to search high and low for those two things.

Just in case you get the wrong idea, let me repeat: I am having a wonderful experience in Korea so far meeting kind and friendly people! But when entering another culture, there is always bound to be some culture shock as you slowly discover what different values people have and struggle to adjust to them. And it may seem strange to you, but in the end, that is exactly why I would recommend this experience to others. Too many people around the world -- and especially, I'm ashamed to say, in my own country -- are convinced that there is no way to do things but their own. In my opinion, all of us could benefit from expanding our horizons a little and learning from what others have to teach us, and for me, Hannam has been a great place to begin that journey.

-- Becky Francisco

Meet the Writers

Yeseul Park: I am a graduate student in the English department of Hannam University. I study linguistics, in particular phonetics, the study of the sounds of human speech. I like to communicate with people and share the love of God with them. Be blessed!!

Soo-min Kim: Howdy! Welcome to Hannam Madang :D I'm Soo-min. I am studying Global Communication & Culture at Linton Global College, Hannam University (HNU). I am originally from Daejeon where HNU is. I hope you guys who are exploring another part of the globe enjoy our school blog and find out what's going on this campus. Thank you and God bless you.

BoRa Kim: My name is BoRa. I'm from Daejeon. I'm studying communication and culture in Linton Global College. I like taking pictures, and I like traveling.

Vicky/Jihye Lim: Hello. I am Vicky. I'm Korean and my Korean name is Jihye Lim. I'm a Linton Global College student. I'm from Gongju, which is a historical city!

Becky Francisco: I'm a college graduate from the U.S.A. I majored in linguistics and studied Russian and Japanese. Right now, I'm in Korea for the year, studying the Korean language at Hannam and working at a children's center in Daejeon. I hope you enjoy our blog!! Thanks for reading!

From left to right: Yeseul, Vicky, BoRa, Soo-min, Becky

Hannam dorm life

What do you think about dorm life? You probably think it is a free and fun life, don’t you? I have been living in a dorm for about five months. My dorm life is very exciting, and it is full of memorable experience. In Hannam University, there are three different dormitories. And I am staying in the “new” dormitory, so I’ll tell you about my dorm life.

The new dormitory is a 10-story-building. Four students live in one room which has a toilet and a shower. Although living with three other people is less comfortable than being in my own home, there are some exciting things. For instance, dancing secretly, eating midnight meals, and watching movies with the sound turned up loud. Other fun things are coming into the dorm at 11:00, sleeping in another room, and meeting your lover on the stairs. In particular, the 11:00 curfew is a really big deal. If you want to have a party, and if you miss the 11:00 curfew -- and 12:00 last time when the door opens -- you have to choose an all-night party, which earns you some demerit points which harm your chance to stay in dorm.

 

The laundry

 Other places in the dorm are the laundry room and the public toilet. Since this dormitory has no rest room, we use the laundry room as a play room. The laundry room is both our dining room and meeting room. In the laundry, we dance and talk and talk, and eat some cookies. And the public toilet is source of the tissue which is used in the private toilet. We don’t like to buy tissue using our own money, so we take some tissue from there. 

The toilet

Lastly, this dormitory’s hot place is the terrace. The terrace is made of wood, so you can feel comfortable there. So, you can see many lovers at night on the terrace. But you should be quiet there, because it is connected with the Global House where foreign professors live. That place is a smoking place, also. Because the dorm rules forbid smoking in the dorm, you should smoke outside. If you are found smoking in the dorm, you should prepare to pack.

The terrace

According to the dormitory rules, if you get 10 demerit points, you can’t stay there anymore. It is a very important thing, so you should not overlook the dormitory rules and should observe them. I knew a person who was in this situation, so I know that it will be really hard work for you. Therefore, the only thing that you can do is to watch your demerit points!

When I first started living in this dorm, I was very nervous and uncomfortable. But, after I adapted to dorm life, I realized that there is no place that gives us the same chance of making close friends, sharing useful information, and increasing the time spent on campus. And I can experience new culture and learn how to socialize efficiently. Once you’ve lived in a dormitory, you can understand what I’m saying. Listen up, boys and girls! Here is a dorm where you can get a memorable campus “dorm” life.

-- Vicky Lim

School festival

In Korea, from middle school to university, students study hard at ordinary times and enjoy their freedom to the fullest at the school festival. During the festival, a lot of events are organized and offered. On October 27th, Hannam’s festival began. The motto of the festival is “Good, Better, Best.” It means “we challenge ourselves and become different in a good way. The atmosphere of the campus started to get more excited. The festival ran until October 29th.

During the festival season, one of the most interesting events for students is the performance of famous singers. This time, Seven, Rainbow, Geomy, Ruby, Mighty Mouse, and 4men came to our campus and sang amidst hearty cheers. Hundreds of people were gathered and united as one. Sweet music touched hearts of the people packing the square.

Plus, there was special event zone which gives opportunities for students to experience various activities. There was a booth which is made for collecting money to help people who suffer from malaria. This picture shows sweet messages which deliver hope and love. Right next to this board, volunteers were making hotteok (a delicious, chewy kind of snack which is stuffed with brown sugar) and trying to sell them for fundraising to help Africa. It was very touching that most of the festival events are held just for fun, but this event was really impressive.

There were also other booths for getting your nails done and getting your hair cut. It was good chance for girls to get their nails done for free. Pastel-colored nails made every girl feel great. Plus, in Korea, trimming one’s hair is quite different from place to place. Some beauty salons which are famous or located downtown have high prices for trimming hair. However, this event booth also gave chance to get a free hair cut from professional hairdressers. These two booths were mainly crowded with girls who were interested in getting a makeover.

Besides this, Superstar H, a singing competition (similar to the famously broadcasted TV show ‘Superstar K’) was also part of the festival. If you didn’t attend this time, don’t worry. It’ll continue next year. The more years pass, the greater ideas come true.

A lot of events were successfully and safely organized. The hidden heroes of the Hannam festival were the Marine Corps who controlled and managed traffic. Without them, the three days would have been out of control. Also, I want to give a big hand to the student body of Hannam, who managed all of these events.

-- Hyojae Lee