Collecting this data from Sang Min was very easy going because he is my own age and it was like just having a conversation. The format is question and answer and I tried to reproduce his answers as best as I could.
Consultant: Sang Min Seo
Date: 02/23/03
Subject: Experiences of international students in LA
Collector: Sung Jung Hong

When did you first come to the US?
6 years ago

Where?
Utah first and then LA after 8 months.

What was your first impression?
In Utah it was bad because you can’t see people. There is no one walking on the streets, the place where I went to was like a deserted country side.
I was forced to come to LA by my grandmother so I don’t really have good memories of first impressions. One thing I remember was that I was very glad to see people.

What school did you go to?
I went to Melrose High first and now I go to Santa Monica College.
When I was in high school, it seemed like I was back in Korea because the vast majority of the kids in school were Korean. I didn’t learn much English but I was able to make a lot of friends.

Did you experience any problems with the language?
When I first went to school in Utah, I did not do any math homework because I had no idea that we had to do homework since what we were learning was very easy for me. When the teacher asked me why I didn’t do my homework, I answered “because I don’t understand” when I really meant to say that I didn’t know that we had to do it. So, the teacher bumped me to a lower math class which was not very nice.

How did your life change since the first time you came to the US?
The mentality I had when I first came, has changed. I used to think that in the US, if you had something in mind, it was very easy to accomplish that. Now, I realized that this is definitely not the case. It is very hard to attain a goal and then you have to work very hard to accomplish that goal. Right now, I just find myself going with the flow. Whatever comes I do, even working, I don’t really work because I have tosave money, I just work because I have to make my car payments.

Do you think you would be able to live in Korea now? Why?
No, I don’t think that I could live in Korea. My parents have come here too and we are currently waiting to process our residency. I am not a resident yet so I can’t really do many of the things that I would like to do because of the high cost for international students. I think that if I go to Korea, it would be crazy trying to get back to the fast pace that people over there live under. Life here in the US is more easy going, you don’t really depend on what other people are doing, in Korea however, there is the constant rub with people so I don’t think that I would be able to get used to that life again. I like the easy work at my own pace that I have now.