LEE SHARON/MY EXPERIENCE IN KOREA (FINAL)/THUR 13-15 PM

First

Do you know how it feels when you should have to move to another country for a long time and leave behind your family and friends? I'm gonna explain you my first experience when I was arrived at this country called South Korea. It's so awkward because my parents are totally Korean, but I was born in Spain and when I was younger, I learned Korean but not at all. Only the simple things. But suddenly, I was very curious about the country of my parents because all of my friends asked me from there, but I couldn't answer anything for the reason that I didn't know it any kind of thing about Korea.

So, my decision was moving to Korea alone for learn by myself all of the country with nobody's help and I tried to situated in the asian culture. I took the opportunity for study here and now is my third year since I came at Seoul. It's really long time but, it was so hard for me that I feel like this was my first year. 

I had many complications living here. First, I couldn't be able to talk very well Korean and I used to communicate with signs. You can saw this like a very common problem between foreigners, but for me was more sad because I have the asian features and all the citizens looked me like "She's Korean.. How she didn't know this?". Because of this reasons, I tried to learn speedly the language.

Second, I really didn't know anything about the culture and costums. In the special dates like Chuseok, I went to the grandparents house and there, I met all my family for part of my parents that I didn't saw them since 12 years ago. They really care about me, but a lot of times they didn't understand me because of my different culture and attitude. I can do things for help them but they can receipt this information in another way. Actually, it's still hard to tract them, but when you are in another country, you need to mentalize that you are the stranger and strive for make clear your purposes.

I will never forget my journey about living here because it's being a very good experience for myself and living without my people forces me to grow more fast for my future independent life. And I think that live in another country helps you to have a broader view.

Final

Do you know how it feels when you should have to move to another country without nobody for a long time and leave behind you your family and friends beause of your hard curiosity? I'm going to explain to you about my first experience when I was arrived in this country called South Korea. It is so awkward because my parents are totally Koreans, but I was born in Spain and when I was younger, I learned Korean but not at all because when I went to school and met my friends or teachers, they talked in Spanish or Catalan and when I talk with my parents, also talk in Spanish and with my brothers too, of course. I really like the Catalan language so, it's so difficult use another language when with my nearest people I used to talk with them in Spanish or Catalan. In short, I'm still feeling comfortable talking with my native languages. But I wanted to learn more languages and I felt that I needed to learn Korean because is the native language of my parents and being curious of their backgrounds. So, I had the opportunity to travel to Korea. I was very curious about the country of my parents because all my friends asked me from there, but I couldn't answer anything for the reason that I didn't know it anything about Korea.

So, my decision for moving to Korea alone when I was eighteen was for learn by myself everything about this country with nobody's help and I'm still trying to understand and focus more attention in Asian culture. It has been a great amount of time that I took the opportunity for study here and now is my third year since I came at Seoul. It's really long time but, it was so hard for me that I feel like this was my first year. 

But like all things, I had a lot of troubles living here. First, I couldn't be able to talk very well Korean and I used to communicate with signs. You can saw this like a very common problem between foreigners, but for me was more sad because I have the asian features and all the citizens looked at me like "She's Korean.. How she didn't know this?". Because of this reasons, I tried to learn rapidly the language. My first year in university I was only concentrated in learning Korean.

Second, I really didn't know anything about the Asian culture and costums. In the special dates like Chuseok, I went to the grandparents house and there, I met all my family as a representative of my parents that actually I haven't seen them for 12 years. They really care about me, I can do things to help them but there is a misunderstanding about my real intentions. I can do things for help them but sometimes they receipt this information in another way. Actually, it's still hard to tract them. For example, in Korea is very important be respectul, but where I was born it's totally different. In Spain, I tract with a lot of confidence with all the people without measuring differences of age. But I know that I need to work this case, because when you are in foreign country, you need to mentalize that you are the stranger for make clear your purposes.

I will never forget my journey about living in Korea because it's being a very good experience for myself and living without my people forces me to grow faster for my future independent life. And I think that life in another country helps you to have a broader view.