3-week Observations

Good friend Sue Wilson asked how things were going now that 3 weeks have passed. A few observations:

• The first week was pretty hard. There were so many decisions to make with so little knowledge. Many times I felt lonely and anxious. I questioned whether I would be able to do this Korean adventure. How could I approach people, and present myself, and get what I needed? Each foray out was was filled with anxiety. Each time I felt that way, I thought about the newcomers in San Jose and how they must feel when they first get here and don't know how to do things and can't speak the language. Each smile, each word of encouragement, meant so much to me. I will always be grateful to Young Kim-Park and Mrs. Park, the contacts provided by John Song and his wife Clara, who I was able to visit with during those first few days, to Kyoung-min You, the real estate agent who showed me how to set up everything, and to Charles Montgomery and Yvonne Dominguez, who provided real company and friendship at the end of that long week. Without their help, I don't know what I would have done. How much power each of us has to make or break a newcomer's day. Even the smallest bit of help or encouragement means so much.

• Each of the last two weeks has been better (and certainly easier) than the first one. Settling in the apartment was huge; getting started in class, and finding the right class, was a big boost too. Now a routine is starting to settle in. I know where to shop for food. I'm slowly getting pans and plates and making most meals at home. I've found where to get scotch tape and a dictionary and contact solution and an iron and all the little things. I'm getting to know the city better each week. I have friends for an occasional outing or meal. I have something important to do (ie homework!) every day when I come home. And the weather has been great!

• However, I am not immersing into Korean as much as I had anticipated. Actually, the need for company is too great. I really don't know how to make Korean friends right now, so I have been spending most of my human-contact time with the English-speaking folks I have come to know. It is so comforting! How sympathetic I feel towards our ESL students back home who continue to hang around with each other, even when they know that it is at the expense of their learning English. I hope I will find a way for more Korean contact as time progresses, but for now I am grateful for the English-speaking company.

• About learning Korean: Actually, it is coming along, certainly at a much faster pace than at home. This Yonsei Level 1 class seems perfect for me. Most of the material is at least familiar, but only now do I feel that I am really absorbing and using it - at least in class. We spend the whole 4 hours hearing and using Korean - at my level. This was the pitfall of the 2 places where I studied Korean at home. At De Anza, the classes were conducted primarily in English, so I had little practice with speaking and listening. At Adroit College, the teachers used Korean in class, but it was usually at too high a level for me, and so I couldn't learn efficiently from it. I think Krashen is right (sorry, Kato Lomb!) - the value of just-right slightly challenging input (as opposed to overly challenging input) is enormous - so it seems to me now. The words and meanings just stick in my brain in ways they didn't before. And I feel so proud to be able to sit through 4 hours of class almost totally in Korean. And even though I'm not speaking a lot of Korean, I am surrounded by conversations I overhear, signs and notices I try to sound out, TV shows I watch - the whole environment certainly helps reinforce whatever learning is taking place in class.

• The best part of all: the endless surprises. Three weeks ago I could not possibly have imagined all that has fallen my way. Each discovery, each success, each kindness, each "aha" moment - each one brings a thrill of excitement. Wow!!! Like just this minute!!!! Clara Song just called this minute - she's in Korea, and has invited me to meet her and a Korean friend for dinner tonight!!!......................... I just got back from the dinner. Wow! One of the best surprises of all just happened as I was writing!!! We had a great dinner and great conversation; I met a wonderful Korean (!!) friend of Clara's and we have plans to go to a concert together on Thursday night. I will end this entry as I bask in the wonder of this evening.