What do you think about ? And how do you feel ? Kim (21) said, “Above all, I think that it is one highly developed country. Above all, their orderly usual life proves this fact. Their orderly usual life proves this fact. In addition, there are a lot of good quality electronics and famous cars in .” Lee (20) said, “I usually enjoy a lot of interesting dramas of . I see most of them through Internet. But in these days, Japanese drama filled with pretty guys and an interesting composition began a few days ago, and I’m falling into it. There is also a different attraction than Korean drama definitely.” Shin (20), often participating in costume play said, “I enjoy comic books and animation. In my opinion, content and pictures hold my eyes stronger than others.”
Actually, whatever image you draw of , the best way of understanding is to look at it through the eyes of a native. Perhaps the best example is costume play. “Actually, I am not concerned with costume play at all. Also, I don’t have tendency to enjoy Japanese animation. As a matter of fact, most costume players get together in Akihabara; exclusively.” Kamada Yurie(21) distangled some Korean prejudice about costume play.
The two girls from
Story 1. School System
They have been staying in for 5 months. Relying on questions about difference between life in and , Yurie spoke first about the Korean school system. “I was surprised that there are two exams during each term in . In , just one exam is taken each term.” Yoshimi said, “In my case, I think there are plenty of assignments that are beyond my capacity. That’s because there is a lot of homework almost every day in . In , instead of frequent homework, students have to do one report each term.” Again, Yurie said, smiling, “One class time is 50 minutes in SMU, but in Kinjo, my school had hour and a half classes. In addition, in , my school has a different lunch time. But in SMU, there isn’t enough time to eat.”
Story2. Making a Date in SMU
Yurie said, “There is only a little meeting between men and women in my school, but in SMU, there are a lot of meetings and datings. In addition, there are no blind dates in my school. Actually, in my case, I already have a boyfriend in .” Yoshimi added, “Between Korean university students, especially my surroundings in SMU, I saw that there was an obvious culture of dating. By the contrast, I think that relatively fewer university students work as part-timers than in .” Yurie said, “In my opinion, Korean university students seem to do part-time jobs mainly during vacation, not during they are studying in the term. When I was in , as a clerk in cafeteria or cafe and as a teacher of an extracurricular lecture, I worked as a part-timer with schoolwork. But we never are workaholics or grinders. If you spend more than three hours in your pastime, like Japanese Noraebang from 12a.m. to 6a.m., you don’t need to pay the excess cost. Of course, I often used to take advantage of this opportunity with my friends in .”
Story3. Take the Bus and Subway
“In , normally, taking transportation is quiet and static. While using public transportation, most Japanese exercise restraint in trivial things such as using their cell-phone. In addition, I was surprised that there are many merchants in Korean subway,” Yoshimi carefully expressed her opinion. Yurie said, “In a bus stop, people often stand in an orderly line in . But actually, in , it is the first big problem to catch a bus for passengers. In addition, there is no time table which estimates the time of arrival.” Yoshimi added, “What’s more, when I use the subway, same as bus, I feel uncomfortable because there is no time table. In the subway, most people are quiet.”
Story4. Crazy for English
“As the raging storm blows for English in , so too does it rage in . “Of course, there is another need for learning other foreign language such as Japanese, Chinese and French for many people. But English is one of my endless problem awaiting a solution and most of Japanese may want to talk to freely in English, not others,” said Yoshimi.
“There are some jobs preferred among Japanese as well as . For example, teachers, public service personnel, doctors and lawyers, and working for a large enterprise are all popular dreams of university students in . But I haven’t decided my future dream, definitely,” said Yurie. They are in Department of Public Administration in SMU, interested in international sociology. Above all, they seemed to bloom their potential, using simple yet sincere Korean words.