Photologue @theuostimes7
Living in a foreign country as a foreigner is never easy, but it is also fascinating.
Laura Kim (Dept. of English Language and Literature, 20’), who came to South Korea from Kazakhstan last year, shared the story of her life as a sophomore at University of Seoul (UOS).
Her last name is very familiar; Kim is the most common last name in Korea. This is because she is a Korean-Russian-Kazakh girl as her father is Korean-Russian, and her mother is Kazakh.
In 2018, she joined the program for overseas Koreans and visited South Korea for the first time. Because of the impressive sceneries, cultures, and nice people here, she decided to study abroad. She mentioned how Koreans are friendly and always interested in her nationality as well as her country’s own cultures.
On the other hand, she has faced several difficulties as a foreigner. First, the language barrier makes her life in Korea uneasy, especially at the hospital and during classes taught in Korean. Also, she added, “it is difficult to find a part-time job; some people do not want to hire foreigners, which I fully understand.” Loneliness and homesickness are of course, the two main problems as well. However, she has been enjoying the new chapter of her life in Korea and at UOS with amiable people around her.
Pretending not being able to speak Korean in front of soliciting people, and accidentally arriving outside of Seoul by train are fun experiences foreigners often have. Kim is looking forward to making more fun and happy memories in this country. Furthermore, she wishes good luck to every other foreigner living in Korea.
