What a ride, the life of an individual who lives in South Korea is very intense. As a Latina and an Americana I am astonished at the type of lifestyle you live in this country, it is so hard and admirable. My time abroad has been full of lessons and experiences that I am so grateful to be learning. South Korea is, I would say 90% how I expected it to be before arriving, and the opportunity to come and sit among locals, walk through their day to day streets and shop at their favorite places is something amazing to be able to experience. Your identity coming in definitely affects your experience as one would expect however it is not a limit unless you allow it to be. Specifically related to who I am, I learned that several Koreans are interested in learning Spanish and that was something very unexpected. One of the hardest struggles I encountered, I would say, is realizing the pressure people carry around you and not letting it into your head.
As I mentioned before, the life of someone living here is very hard because of the go 빨리 빨리 current that has been established. For those who don’t know, 빨리 빨리 means “hurry hurry” and it is taken very seriously. It is like entering a world where everyone is expected to have a gold star on their forehead that labels them — successful — and those who don’t have that gold star yet, should be focused on working hard towards earning it. Learning about the importance placed on this idea of being deemed successful definitely came into my mind to create a panic spiral. With questions like, "Oh my gosh, am I on track as well? Should I be doing more? What if I’m not doing enough? Are my goals big enough?" That was stopped, and I am so relieved that I could halt these thoughts from inundating my head. I was able to remind myself of the effects of switching between cultures and how it can affect us if we come unprepared. At that moment I was happy that I could calm myself by thinking stop, breathe, remember who you are and what your goals mean to you. Now as I prepare to wrap up my time here in Korea, I stand at a bittersweet position as one would expect.
When you go away to somewhere new to learn about new flavors of life, you realize how wonderfully big the world is, and how just traveling a couple hours can take you into completely different settings. At this point in time of my study abroad I have learned so many new things, but my favorite new realization is the understanding that you are not wrong for wanting something different, you are simply in a different community. What you can do is learn from it and continue your path. Because your type of life current is out there too, you just have to continue to go out and explore.
할수 있어요!!
By Jazmin Hernandez-Espinoza, Diverse Ducks Ambassador
Korea University Exchange, Fall 2023
Read More from Jazmin Hernandez-Espinoza
The Ending of my story with South Korea