Dee Friesen | Arts & Life Editor
Sulhee Park
Seoul, South Korea
Art Management, Senior
Storm Lake, Iowa is well known for its diverse community. BVU reflects that of the town in which it resides by also having a diverse student body. With diversity surrounding us, it is necessary to learn about, understand, and respect individuals and the cultures they are familiar with. With this series, I hope to increase my understanding of culture with the help of our international student body as well as help other students on campus discover more about their fellow classmates.
Fellow student Sulhee Park transferred from college in Seoul, South Korea to Buena Vista University after participating in the exchange student program in 2012. Park explained that a lot of Koreans choose to travel to America, but most of them go to big cities such as L.A. and New York. Park chose Storm Lake, Iowa because she desired a quiet and safe place to study English and focus on her major. After living in loud and busy cities in South Korea, Park looked forward to the tranquility Storm Lake offers.
Park had to overcome obstacles in order to adjust to life in a foreign country. She shared some of her struggles as an international student.
“I’m really shy. In Korea it’s hard to make new friends,” Park said.
She began to recognize how relational the community is at BVU and has made many friends as a result. She has met so many people that they’re hard to keep track of.
“I’m really bad at remembering people’s faces,” Park said.
The language barrier is an obstacle that most students attending BVU don’t have to overcome or even think about. As an international student, most use English as a second language. One of the reasons Park transferred to a college in America was to study English.
“Every time I wrote something, I’d have to think, ‘Oh, is this right grammar or not’. Most students in the US know basic grammar naturally but I have to take it sentence by sentence,” Park said.
Values vary from place to place based on history and culture. Park shared with me some values South Korea embraces and how it compares to her experience in America.
“Most Korean students go to college to get a degree and then they get a job. College is really important,” Park said.
She shared about an American friend who decided to get a job after high school in order to decide whether college was the next step or not. This decision is common in America. In South Korea, the goal is to finish school, find a good job, and support your family. Rarely would a high school student skip college to explore other options. Here in America, we offer many different opportunities to those who choose not to participate in higher education.
Park shared the importance of family. In America, parents tend to promote independence; encouraging their children to attend college or find a job that will allow them to afford moving into their own place. In South Korea, Park shared that parents really focus on their children and their success. Korean parents tend to encourage their children to attend college and then find a good job upon graduation, supporting them the entire way through.
“There’s a difference between Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan. Some people think, ‘Okay, it’s Asia’ and that’s all. Even Vietnam and the Philippines. Every country has differences,” Park said.
Cultures everywhere are unique in their own way and it’s time we stop placing people into boxes that only make sense to us when in fact it is much more intricate and interesting than we assume.
“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.” – C.S. Lewis
Photos by Dee Friesen
