My name is Marisol Rodriguez and I will be your reporter from South Korea!!! I hope you are all excited because I am going to work hard to help you understand Korea, the people, and me. I'll start off by telling you all a little about myself. You might find that me and you are not that different. I went to Ron Russell Middle School too (I probably still live in your neighborhood haha). Ethnically, I identify as Mexican-American and I am the youngest of four. Growing up, I went to church, took road trips with my family, and every Sunday my parents would get together with our godparents and play domino while me and my cousins road bikes and asked for money to go to the mini mart. I am hoping that some of you all can relate.
Photo: MHCC Graduation '16In terms of my education, I graduated high school in 2014 from David Douglas High School and began my college educated at Mt. Hood Community College. I graduated with my Associate's Degree in 2016 and then continued my education at Portland State University. Here I specified my undergraduate major to be Environmental Studies because I believe that helping people starts with protecting the environment. Anyway, I was a few months away from graduating from Portland State University when I decided that I wanted to study abroad.
What better way to see the world than to study abroad! What I think is even cooler, is that I get to experience a foreign school and the dorm life! I don't live in the dorms at PSU because I live with my parents 😇. I've been here in South Korea since February 22nd and it has been a truly worthwhile experience. Just like college, financial aid, etc, etc, there was an application process, but when it comes to getting what you want - do not be afraid to put in a little effort! It will be worth it. I won't lie, there have been some really tough moments, like when I missed my connecting flight from Vancouver B.C. to Seoul. That was stressful. I cried. Have you ever wanted to just give up when life got really hard? Because that is how I felt. Unfortunately, that experience affected me a whole week into my trip. I had a hard time adjusting. I kept having some really negative thoughts like, “Why am I here?” and “What would happen if I just went home?” and so on. But guess what happened? It got easier. I took things one step at a time, kept myself busy, and figured out how to navigate my surroundings. Most importantly, I had a really great support system. My family talked me through my airport endeavor and checked in with me after. This whole time I have been in Korea up until now, my partner has been there to offer me kind words when I'm not feeling too great as well. He just went to Navy boot camp a few days ago so for the first time we won't be in contact for two whole months! We can write letter though, so I'm excited for that. The timing of things has been working out really well recently. I'm feeling good about my classes, I know how to move around the city, and have made friends. But...things may not always go so smoothly. Like right now, I am trying to figure out how to protect my face from the pollution because it's making my skin dry and giving me acne!!! You would think that you wouldn't get acne in your twenties, but some people do. *sigh*
If things get hard, can I ask y'all for advice? Midterms will be coming up in the next few weeks. Want to know what classes I'm taking? Aside from Reporting Live, I am taking: Understanding Korean Culture, Korean 1, Culture and Cognition (psychology), Society and Human Behavior (psychology), and Environmental Law and Diplomacy (law). I like to joke and say that I'm learning two new languages this term - Korean and Law. Heheheh… As I mentioned earlier, I am over a month into my semester abroad. It has been really interesting to take classes at a foreign university and explore a country like Korea. If you thought Portland was big with ~690,000 residents, Seoul (South Korea's Capital city) is home to ~9.77 million people as of 2017. Now, I get overstimulated easily and start feeling anxious around a lot of people so I was worried about coming to a megacity like Seoul. I'm surprised to say that once I figured out how to navigate the subway and got used to the "public norms" as I like to call them, my social anxiety improved. Some of the public norms include: -Squeezing by people without saying "excuse me" -being quick to get a seat when one opens up on the bus/subway -scanning your card before your bus stop so that your exit is speedy -watching for your bus, because it WILL leave without you -you are expected to give up your seat for your elders I include this because I have heard a lot of people say that this is "rude", specifically they say that about the squeezing past people without saying "excuse me". Really though, the culture here is very fast paced and people work a lot too! With such a dense population, it's hard not to be bumping into people on the subway or on the bus. In terms of general attitudes, I have seen all kinds of people. Some people have looked me up-and-down, others stare, I've gotten scolded for touching a mannequin (oops?), but then there are other people who have been SO friendly. They ask where I'm from, what school I'm going to, if I like it in Korea, and then they wish me to have a good trip. The point of this is to say that no matter where you go, you will meet friendly AND rude people. I try to remind myself that I don't know what they're going through or what kind of day they are having so I shouldn't take it personally. Plus, I probably won't ever see them again! When it comes to visiting another country, you can't control their beliefs or attitudes toward you. It's better just to smile and move on. :) OKAY! I'm not too sure what else to write about, but I want to hear what you all are interested in learning. In the comments section tell me: *A little about yourself (whatever your comfortable sharing and what your teacher finds appropriate) *What you know about South Korea *Your interests (history, science, culture, art, music, etc.) *Questions for me (Did I miss anything? Did something not make sense? Are you interested in knowing more about me? Is there anything that you want to know about Korea?) I look forward to meeting you all!
