Language learning journal 250223
Throughout February, we have been meeting frequently to discuss news articles I read and other things I got to know better about. We usually started the meetings with casual talks, which was also a big part of the fun since she is an exchange student from Yonsei, and I realized (again) that there are a lot of differences in class structures, school culture, and atmosphere from our school. One of the events that I was impressed and admired genuinely was the university festivals (대학 축제) there. During the festival that lasts usually for three days, the school hosts celebrities (mostly singers) to have performances and students from different majors and clubs make booths for various entertainment and stalls with drinks (since the legal age in Korea is 19). Besides festivals, they also have more social events. For example, MT is an event similar to ‘retreat’ where students rent a lodge in the countryside to do some games, have Korean barbeque (which usually involves drinking), and make fun memories. I thought this provides a uniquely different experience from what we can experience in the University of Richmond since we do not have such a strong bonding or the sense of belonging in student clubs, not to mention it is hard to get off campus if they do not have a car. It does make sense that I admire those experiences in Korean universities since I was raised in Korea, often exposed to those typical Korean university cultures. Although I was not able to experience them myself, I had much fun asking her questions and listening to her experiences.
On the other hand, we kept pushing forward my learning journey on politics and economics. One side thing I noticed was that there were some occasions where my friends asked me about what happened in Korea and I had never known before they told me. I felt that I get more disconnected from social issues in Korea when I am in the US since I have less sources that are easily exposed to me. For this reason, I realized that I should keep putting efforts in reading/watching news articles consistently and diversify the topics of news articles I look at.
I have been carefully looking at the currency these days since Korean Won has been on the decline since Martial Law, which is pretty critical to Korean students outside Korea. I did not the importance of it, but there were much more impacts in economy due to the decline. This topic was more intriguing and engaging since I am also one of the people who get affected by it.
Throughout February, we have been meeting frequently to discuss news articles I read and other things I got to know better about. We usually started the meetings with casual talks, which was also a big part of the fun since she is an exchange student from Yonsei, and I realized (again) that there are a lot of differences in class structures, school culture, and atmosphere from our school. One of the events that I was impressed and admired genuinely was the university festivals (대학 축제) there. During the festival that lasts usually for three days, the school hosts celebrities (mostly singers) to have performances and students from different majors and clubs make booths for various entertainment and stalls with drinks (since the legal age in Korea is 19). Besides festivals, they also have more social events. For example, MT is an event similar to ‘retreat’ where students rent a lodge in the countryside to do some games, have Korean barbeque (which usually involves drinking), and make fun memories. I thought this provides a uniquely different experience from what we can experience in the University of Richmond since we do not have such a strong bonding or the sense of belonging in student clubs, not to mention it is hard to get off campus if they do not have a car. It does make sense that I admire those experiences in Korean universities since I was raised in Korea, often exposed to those typical Korean university cultures. Although I was not able to experience them myself, I had much fun asking her questions and listening to her experiences.
On the other hand, we kept pushing forward my learning journey on politics and economics. One side thing I noticed was that there were some occasions where my friends asked me about what happened in Korea and I had never known before they told me. I felt that I get more disconnected from social issues in Korea when I am in the US since I have less sources that are easily exposed to me. For this reason, I realized that I should keep putting efforts in reading/watching news articles consistently and diversify the topics of news articles I look at.
I have been carefully looking at the currency these days since Korean Won has been on the decline since Martial Law, which is pretty critical to Korean students outside Korea. I did not the importance of it, but there were much more impacts in economy due to the decline. This topic was more intriguing and engaging since I am also one of the people who get affected by it.
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