Hi class!
A couple weeks ago I told you all that I would be interviewing a Korean student your age and I asked you to come up with some questions for me to ask her! I asked one of my best friends, 이태영 Taeyoung Lee, if I could interview his niece and I was able to skype with her this week. Her name is 김하영 HaYoung Kim. HaYoung is in the 7th grade and lives in Seoul.
A quick note on Korean names: In Korea, the last name comes first! So in the case of my friend, 이 [Lee] is his last name and 태 [Tae] 영 [young] is his first name. So in Korean I would call him 이태영 [LeeTaeYoung], rather than 태영이 [Taeyoung Lee]. Same with his niece: 김 [Kim] 하영 [HaYoung]. Another fun fact: “Kim” is the most common Korean last name. 22% of Koreans have this last name! Needless to say, this can get pretty confusing, as my first name is Kim.
Above are two pictures of HaYoung with her dog! And also one of me and my close friend and HaYoung’s uncle, Taeyoung!
What is your daily routine? Can you tell us what a day at school is like? Do you like your school and your classes? What’s your favorite subject?
일과표 어때요? 평일 어떻게 지내는지 말 해 줘요. 학교이랑 수업을 좋아해요? 제일 좋아하는 과목이 뭐예요?
“I wake up at 7 am and go to school by 8:30. I am at school until 8 pm and come back home. I go to Art middle school and I like my school because I can take a major class. I like P.E the most because I can wear comfortable clothes and move a lot.”
“나는 7시에 일어나서 8시 30분까지 학교에가고 저녁 8시까지 학교에 있다가 집에옵니다. 나는 예술중학교에 다니는데 수업중에 전공수업이 있어서 좋습니다. 체육을 제일 좋아합니다. 편한 옷을 입고 웅직여서 좋습니다.”
What do you like to do for fun? What do you do with your friends? What are your hobbies?
주로 여가로 뭐해요? 친구랑 뭐해요? 취미가 뭐예요?
“I usually watch TV or take a nap in my free time. I go shopping with my friends around school. My hobby is dancing. My major is Korean traditional dance so I like dancing.”
“여가 시간에 TV를 보거나 잠을 잡니다. 친구랑 학교주번에서 쇼핑을 합니다. 취미는 춤추는 것입니다. 나는 무욤을 해서 춤추는 것을 좋습니다.”
Here’s an example of traditional Korean dancing!
What’s your favorite food? Favorite music? Favorite tv show?
제일 좋아하는 음식? 음악? 텔레비전 프로그램?
“My favorite food is ddokbokki (spicy rice cakes) because it is spicy, chewy, and sticky. My favorite music is idol music and I love BTS! ❤❤❤ My favorite TV show is ‘아는형님’ (Bros who I know) because it is really fun and funny comparing to other shows.”
“제일 좋아하는 음식은 떡볶이입니다. 뗙볶이는 매곰하면서로 쪽깃해서 맛있기 때문입니다. 제일 좋아하는 음악은 아이돌 음악입니다. 방탄소년단 팬이기 때문입니다. ❤❤❤ 제일 좋아하는 TV 프로그램인 ‘마는형님’ 입니다. 다른 프로그램과 다르게 재미있기 때문입니다.”
HaYoung’s favorite food, spicy rice cakes, and a music video by her favorite group, BTS:
What do you think about America? Do you like American food, books, movies, music, etc? Is there anything about America you think is weird?
한국 학생 생각에는 미국이 어때요? 이상이나 신기한 게 있어요? 미국 음식, 음악, 책, 영화 등을 좋아해요?
“I think the U.S is really open. It is very surprising for me that eating bread and bacon for breakfast every day. I like hamburgers and I like Marvel movie series. One more thing, I do really love Finn and Jake from Adventure Time ❤❤”
“제 생각엔 미국은 개방적인 나랑인 것 같습니다. 아아싱으로 빵이나 베이컨을 먹는게 신기힙니다. 미국 음식인 햄버거로 좋아하고 미국 영화 마블 시리즈를 그리고 미국 만화인 핀과 제이크의 어드밴처타임을 좋아합니다. 공장히 사랑합니다 ❤❤”
Are there any questions you want to ask the American class?
미국 학생에게 물어 보고 싶은 말이 있어요?
“I heard from my friend that in America, you can choose and take the classes that are related to what you want to do in the future. Is that true???”
“친구에게 들우건데 미국에서는 자신의 잔고에 대한 과목안 맞충 수업으로 가르쳐 준다는데, 사실인가요??”
I’m not 100% sure what HaYoung meant by this question. I think for the most part you get to pick some classes (like electives) but there’s certain guidelines. Once you get to college you have much more liberty! In Korea however, I believe that you can focus your studies on certain things as early as in middle school! Even HaYoung said that her major was Korean dance!
Well everyone… That was our last big blog post! Keep your eyes peeled for one more picture of week but other than that, we’re done! I just wanted to say again that I’ve enjoyed sharing my blog with you guys so much! Writing the blog has been such a great way for me to reflect on my experiences and I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts as well! I hope you all learned a lot and enjoyed the blog as much as I did~ Remember, I’ll be coming to Cheldelin after winter break to meet you all in person! I can’t wait! Also, if you guys have any final comments or questions, leave a comment!
Kim Dodds Reporting Live from Korea 
Hi Kim!
Thanks for all of your blog posts over the last few weeks! I have learned a lot about Korea. I might want to go there someday! I can’t wait when you come to Cheldelin so I could meet you! Hope that you could be safe when flying back to the U.S. I will see the picture of the week and leave a comment, so keep your eyes peeled for that also! Just two questions: how much English does he know? And how did you translate it?
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It is his niece tha was asking and answer in questions.
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*asking and answering*
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Thanks Harry, that means a lot! I think her English is kind of intermediate… we didn’t speak in English so I’m not sure but she’s been learning English since probably 3rd grade! I translated everything with the help of my friend Taeyoung ^^
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Hi Kim! I wanted to thank you for taking the opportunity to teach us all about a culture we may no it be familiar with. I have learned alot about Korea and think it sounds like a wonderful place to visit someday! I enjoyed learning about the different cultures and things about Korea.
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Thank you Riley, that really means a lot!
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Hey Kim!
I just wanted to say how much fun it was for me to learn about Korea! I had fun seeing all the pics you posted and I would watch the videos if I could but our iPads restrict them. But the pics gave me enough info! I can’t wait for you to visit! I do have one question: is there a reason you went to Korea and not another country? If you could choose what place you went to, where would you go?
Well, that’s all I have to say! See you later!
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Thanks Wendy, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I actually chose korea because I’ve been learning Korean for a couple years and have been really wanting to come. If I could choose another place though I would probably go to… New Zealand!
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Thank you so much for devoting so much of your time to this wonderful blog. I have learned a lot about Korea and it’s great attributes to this diverse world. I hope that you can continue blogging and your studies of other cultures. Again thank you so much and I can’t wait until you visit some time in January!!
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Thank you Blake!!! ❤
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I really appreciate, as with the others. The time and effort in traveling and blogging at the same time! I’m so happy you enjoy blogging as much as I enjoy reading more cool traditions of Korea. Question; is there anything in America that is not in Korea that you’re used to or miss? Thanks again for all those many in depth articals and explanations of the culture! I’m very excited to meet you in January!
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Thanks Meilin! Hmm… yeah there’s quite a few things! I would say the thing I miss the most is different types of American food and especially Mexican food! I also miss having a car because having to rely on public transportation when you don’t speak the language very well can be difficult!!
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Thank you so much for doing this blog! I have never really been exposed to other cultures/countries, so this was a good example of how other people live in different places. I found much of this blog interesting, and loved seeing the pictures from all the places you went (the island, bathhouse, etc.) Anyway, thanks again! See you in January!
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Thank you Marla! I’m glad you enjoyed it ^^
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Hey Kim!! First I want to thank you for taking the time to share your experiences with us as well as knowledge we probably learn. I really think that this showed how different many cultures be but similar in others. I also have a question; Did you miss something in America or in general America itself, Or did you not mind much and ended up fully not thinking about America much at all? I have been to Tennessee for a week, without my family. ( was there for a competition)I had some friends and I was so busy as well as really having so much fun in the sun, and learning about their culture. Even though it was just a week I still missed them very much, I called and texted them a lot too. You stayed so much longer than I did!!!!
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Hi Arissa! At first, I was really home sick and I missed a lot of things from back home. It was really hard because it’s SO different here and I had to make all new friends! After a while though, I got used to it here and made some really good friends – now I’m really happy and I’m really sad to leave! I know I’ll be happy to be back in America but now I think I’ll miss things in Korea!
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Hi Kim! I had trouble reaching the website but I finally got it and so I’ve been reading almost everything today😂! I loved reading them all, and learned a lot. I love learning about different cultures, it’s very interesting to me. I’m hoping to make a career out of it. I’ve always wanted to travel to another country since I have never been outside of the US, but I do get very homesick easily. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!
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Thank you so much for taking the time to make this blog and for taking the time to show us more about Korea! I don’t really have many opportunities to learn more about other modern day places and cultures so this was really fun and interesting. One question I have is, are you are going to really miss Korea when you come back to America? I’m excited to see you in January, and thank you again for making this blog and sharing your knowledge and experiences about Korea!
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I really enjoyed your blog and I hope that you had fun in Korea. I liked learning about the Korean culture and I’d really like to go to Korea one day. I can’t wait to meet you
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Thanks Samantha!
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Hi Kim!
I just want to say thank you for the blog, it’s really fun to learn about Korean and what their culture is there. The videos and pictures help a lot, I like visuals, it helps me imagine what it would be like to live there! It’s great reading about all the things they do there.
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I’m glad you enjoyed it Sean ^^
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Hi Kim, I was just wanting to thank you for telling us so much about Korea and even taking the pictures helped me learn. Well I was wondering about what do they think the worlds cultures are like if there are very few other ways to learn other cultures.
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Yo Kim! Thanks a lot for doing this blog!!! I have enjoyed learning a little bit about Koreas culture. I think my older sister, Sharee, has to. She loves Korea. She says she wants to travel there some day and so sharing this with her made her happy. Which is a good thin, I guess… quality bonding time? I don’t know. Well anyways, thanks again and I can’t wait to hear from you after I have lots of fun drinking hot chocolate and completely slacking of for to weeks. A.K.A. WINTER BREAK!!! Well I guess I won’t type to you later, but I will talk to you later, so talk to you later!!!
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Thanks eve! I’m so glad you were able to share this with your sister – that’s really cool! Have an excellent winter break!
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Thanks for giving us all this info. have you gotten used to Korea? Do you think you will do things different in America now? Anyways thanks! 🙂
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Hi Aiden! I’ve definitely gotten very comfortable here. Somethings are still hard but overall I like living here and I want to come back! I think that after 4 months of being very polite and doing some gesture I’m not used to – I’ll probably go back to America and do that out of habit!
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Thank you for doing this blog. I thought that it was a great idea to do. I actually don’t have anymore questions. You pretty much have answered all of them throughout the blog. Thank you for doing this! You rock
Vincent
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Hi!
Thank you for taking your time to teach us about the Korean culture and helping us learn some daily things and customs people do. I love this blog because it shows us a different daily life of another person that lives in a different continent. To think of it I love all your blogs and the time and work you have put into it. I love how you not only had fun, but you are teaching us about a different culture and way of life. I hope our class can one day meet you and thank you in person for the wonderful blog and lessons you have shown us. Have a safe flight home and on my behalf thank you very much.
– Sarah
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Thank you Sarah – I’m glad you enjoyed it, that means a lot!
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Hi thank you for all the effort you put into this. Your blog in my opinion is a huge success and really amazing. I loved the pictures of the week, they showed even more culture than expected. I already knew a little about Korea before the blog, but this has really widened my knowledge. I have one more question. It is about the pet cafe. Can you bring own pet the cafe and both you and the pet have coffee or you have coffee while looking at pets up for adoption.
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Thanks Yael – I’m so happy you said that! ^^
About the pet cafe, I’m not sure what the rules are about bringing your own pets but I would guess it’s probably not allowed at most of them. At the cafe we went to the pets weren’t up for adoption so we just had coffee and played with them but there was a pet store downstairs so you could also look at pets to adopt!
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I appreciate your dedication to teaching our classes about Korea. It has been great to compare a different culture to our lives. I hope that someday that I can have such a cool experience like you did travelling somewhere else and learning about it. I hope we can talk more and you can share some more interesting experiences about your trip, in person!
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Thanks Cade! Can’t wait to meet you!
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I loved reading and learning about Korea.
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It was fun to learn about a different culture. Learning about daily life of someone my age and their interests. Thanks for sharing your travels and the new things you learned.
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