Emilee Coleman, TEAN: Seoul Spring 2025
Being in South Korea, I have had many friendly interactions with the locals; especially with elders. Whenever we were lost or having a hard time trying to find our location, the locals gladly stepped up and pointed us in the right direction! Regardless of any language barriers that may exist, they will help out, and if you know Korean, even better! Many of the elders are excited when you know Korean and will often give you compliments, or hold lengthy conversations about where you come from, if you’re a student, and if you like the country. When I went to the Gamcheon culture village in Busan, I was ordering ice cream, and even asked a question about payment in Korean, and the older lady who was taking my order complimented me, and said, “Beautiful people are good at speaking languages”. So, depending on your intended destination abroad, the locals won’t be too difficult to interact
with, and will potentially be thrilled to see foreigners in their country! And, as Korea has become a big tourist destination in the past couple decades, most young people will typically treat you just like everyone else in the city, which is often quite nice and helps you adjust to the way of life abroad.
While attending school in Korea, I have made many friends with students from my host school! I was able to make these friends by participating in clubs that paired me with Korean students through a buddy system. The first club I participated in was called KUBA, which stands for Korea University Buddy Association. They paired us exchange students with Korean buddies, as well as hosted events and dinners for all of us to participate in and get to know both Korean and other foreign students as well. The other club I signed up for is called LTE and is a language exchange program. After signing up for this program, I was paired with a Korean student at my host university. Through that program, I not only learned more Korean, but made a good friend at my host university! So, I would highly recommend participating in language exchange clubs and programs.
Through these various clubs and ventures outside, I’ve been quite aware of my own American identity and “Americanness” while interacting with this new culture. Due to being American, I am of course going to have differing perspectives and ideas about what I’m experiencing compared to my friends from Korea and other countries, but this hasn’t impacted me negatively. Because I am away from my own culture, I have been able to welcome many new ideas and world perspectives that have helped me grow into a better and more developed version of myself. While I still hold onto being American, I can also learn from and accept another culture into my heart that will forever positively impact my worldview and sense of American identity. This is how I have viewed being an “American” abroad.
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