Dankook University Cheonan Campus Institute of Korean Studies

One of the things I need to do in order to get my Ph.D. degree is pass Level 5 of the TOPIK test (Test of Proficiency in Korean). So far, I passed Level 3. Because of cost and time I usually study by myself, but this past fall I decided to take a course to give me a much-needed boost.

I was lucky to find a class at a university here in Cheonan. There are two that I know of--one at Sun Moon University and the other at Dankook University--where I ended up going, again mostly because of cost and because it's much closer to where I live.

Soon enough, I was on campus every day just like in under-grad, with students in their early 20's (no mature students that I could see). I often experienced people nodding at me, probably thinking I was a teacher, although they also probably wondered why I was usually wearing a sweatshirt and jeans.

All of my classmates were from China, taking the class so that they could pass the TOPIK exam in order to get  into university here in Korea. As the only "westerner", I felt like I was representing my whole country and all westerners every time I answered a question. Since we were learning about Korean culture and issues as part of the class, my teacher would often ask what it was like in China and Canada to compare. In Korea, it is more common to have one kind of standard or accepted way of doing things. Not that everyone follows this, but you can speak more generally about Korean culture than you can about a Canadian one, I think. I kept saying, "It depends on the person." "Every family is different." or more often, "I'm not sure." Mostly I was afraid of speaking in case someone used what I said to tell others what all Canadians are like.

Anyways, I was thankful that my classmates and teachers tolerated me. I was older than all of them and the only "westerner" so they had to make adjustments for me. For some reason, I never felt old or conscious of my age in Canada, but I often do in Korea and I definitely did taking the class. One of the teachers decided that since I was older, that everyone including her should call me "Onni" or "Nuna" (meaning older sister, depending on if you are a girl or a boy). I've never had this happen in Korea before. It felt strange. I just wanted to be a student like everyone else.

Despite all of the challenges though, I learned a lot. I had practice doing presentations in Korean, discussing different topics, and did a lot of writing and preparing and homework each day. I think I definitely improved my Korean grammar, vocabulary, and study habits. Hopefully, it will help me when I go to write the TOPIK test at the end of this month. I guess I will find out soon!