Seoul Exchange Program

Logan Ward~

My step signature project was a student exchange program with a school called Sogang University located in Seoul, South Korea. Because I am minoring in Korean, I knew that I wanted to spend at least a semester abroad in Korea learning the language and culture. As an exchange student, I took classes like Accounting through the university and also participated in the Sogang Korean Language Education Center’s language program. For the language program, I was in the classroom for four hours a day Monday through Friday with students from all over the world. My experience as an exchange student has been by far my most influential experience as a student and individual. I was very lucky and blessed to get to go on this program.

Although I had studied Korean language and culture for two years before going on the exchange program, my first month and half was a major culture shock. Language was probably the most difficult. I had never lived in a country where English was not the primary language, and I learned that two years was still not enough to be able to do everything necessary for survival. In language class in the United States, I was able to learn new material quickly and tended to be in the top of the class. In Korea, I was comparing my language ability to that of native-speakers and speakers who had much more experience than me. I had to accept that I was not going to be the best at everything and I also had to adapt to being patient with myself when the language became difficult. There were many times I wanted to quit, but I was lucky enough to have Korean friends and my family back home who supported me and maintained my drive to learn the language and adapt to the culture.

Korean Class

Another major shock was going from an ethnic majority to an ethnic minority. Korea’s population is overwhelmingly less diverse than that of the United States. Because of this, many Korean people have never seen or interacted with a foreigner. I am a white male and the friend with whom I was in the program from the United States was a black female. When we traveled around Korea together, people would stare at us, come up to us and ask questions and on some occasions refuse to communicate with us. Aside from the stares, the other two were rather rare, but this was still a major shock to both of us. We were treated differently from Koreans and because my friend and I spoke Korean we could definitely tell that we were treated differently. Many people thought we were an interracial couple while we were traveling. Although that does not sound bad to an American, many Korean people, especially older Korean people, are very much against interracial dating and marriage. There is also an underlying notion that white people are superior and that black people are inferior. Although this seems archaic, diversity is lacking in their society so many social conventions from imperialism are still left in their culture. I am not saying this to deter anyone from going to Korea or to say that Korean culture is bad, because Korean culture is not bad. No culture is bad. This was simply a major shock to me and required that I re-examine society.

My friend Andrea with I went on the program from OSU

My favorite time in Korea was when I spent a week living with my boyfriend’s family in Pusan. My boyfriend is an only child and lives with both his parents who are happily married and have been for quite some time. I was rather impressed that, although his parents did not know about our relationship, they knew that he was gay and interested in dating other men. Queerness in Korea is very unspoken and many Korean people never come-out so they live their lives within heteronormative standards. I met many Korean people who were queer and struggling with their families and even their friends. Although cisgender standards in Korea are different from those in the United States, if a queer couple holds hands in public it could warrant a beating from anyone who disagrees with that lifestyle. Although my parents are not supportive of my queer identity, I have never lived somewhere that I could be attacked for it and that person not be subjected to any consequences. I have also never lived where people my own age were a majority against queerness. Although I love Korea, it is no secret that Korean society has a long way to go concerning social freedoms.

Boyfriend and I at a diorama museum

While staying with him and his parents we did a lot of sightseeing and I got to see what it was like living with a Korean family. His parents were extremely welcoming of me and were eager to take me around Pusan and show me what it was like living in Korea. We went shopping, went to temples, went to the beach and of course ate tons of great food. I was one of the first non-Korean people they had interacted with who also could speak Korean, I was also definitely the first foreigner in their house, and this was the first time that I had stayed with a Korean family. The experience was amazing and special for all of us. When I go back to Korea, if it is for academic purposes, I definitely want to do a homestay program.

Going abroad allowed for me to review how I fit into society from a global perspective. I was in Korea during a very politically interesting time for both the United States and South Korea. I learned that regardless of where you are in the world, politics will definitely be a major issue. I also came to understand the extent of American influence abroad more thoroughly and how to go about discussing it with other Americans and non-Americans. In spite of all the cultural differences between Koreans and Americans, I also learned that really there are a lot of basic similarities between peoples. Everyone still worries about money, their job, going to school, food, their children, their family etc. I realized that when I learn about languages and about other cultures, I tend to tunnel-vision myself to focus on it only academically, causing myself to forget that these are also human-beings. They have problems in every aspect of their lives like I do, and they also have worries like I do too. They care about the same things, even though they grew up differently from me. I learned that there really is something human about being a human.

I think this change is crucial in how I understand myself, because it allows me to consider other perspectives more thoroughly. I am now able to analyze major issues by considering culture and also society as a whole. It is important that one can analyze situations from different perspectives and also understand why that perspective thinks a certain way. Being able to do so allows one to make more educated decisions. You definitely cannot make everyone happy, but it is definitely important to realize that not everything is so black and white.