A Japanese Student’s Year in Korea

Takako Watanabe, a Japanese national who became fascinated by Korea when she was studying there, has been posting journal entries about her stay in Korea on her personal homepage (photo).

Watanabe is a 29-year-old employee of a trading company in Tokyo who covers business in Korea and China.

Interested in Korea ever since receiving Korean music records and videos as present from a friend, she studied Korean at the Korean Language and Culture Center of Korea University for a year until December 2003. Coming back to Japan in early 2004, she has been posting photos and journals she took during her stay in Korea on to her homepage (taka76.hp.infoseek.co.jp).

With so many people from different countries asking about studying in Korea these days, her homepage is effectively promoting Korea.

Logging on to the homepage, the first thing one hears is a song by the Korean pop singer BoA. Her website is full of good memories of Korea. She uses photos to introduce the Korean language course that she took, do’s and don’t’s of studying in Korea, how to find housing, how to make Korean friends, tourist attractions that she visited, and uniquely Korean things.

“When I was preparing to study in Korea, it was hard to get detailed information on life there,” she said. “I want to give students planning to study in Korea some know-how about living in that country.”

She said that her first impressions of Korea were not all good at first.

“The roads were dirty and I was surprised to see Korean men and women spitting in the street. I was offended by reckless bus drivers and unkind taxi drivers who charged extra fees and urged me to get out of their cabs quickly. And Koreans weren’t punctual for appointments.”

But she added, “I learned that Koreans are kind after I got to know them better. I was increasingly attracted by Korea as time went by. I can’t forget the warm feeling that I had when lying in an Ondol room. Korean restaurants offered a lot of side dishes. I appreciated it when I got extra service in Noraebang [a karaoke club]. And I felt the warm hearts of Koreans when I saw how they cherish family and take care of each other.”

After returning to Japan, she missed Korea. She cried because she missed her friends in Korea and often dreamed about Korea. She visits three or four times a year. She has also created a space, titled, “We in Japan,” which introduces her friends in Korea about life in Japan on her homepage.

Her advice to foreigners who are preparing to study in Korea is: “Don’t worry before you go. Prepare to be immersed in Korea’s culture and habits, rather than just thinking about learning Korean during your stay.”

Jae-Young Kim redfoot@donga.com