International student interview

남한 매체와 생활
(South Korean Media and Life)

For my international student interview I interviewed Sujin who is from Pusan, South Korea. Unlike some countries, South Korea is lucky and has a no control government. It is a democracy like the U.S. In South Korea, it is very similar to our country but with some slightly different laws. There is not any control over the press nor censorship, so you have the freedom as in America, to write about anything and not worry about getting thrown in jail. In this country, you can even find many U.S. shops such as Starbucks and Mcdonalds and also well known stores at the local malls. During school uniforms are required, but outside of school Koreans can wear whatever they like. Koreans have their own style of clothes but that doesn’t mean they stick to just that style. Teens and younger adults love our style of clothes here as well. Many young teens look up to and copy the styles of popular Korean and U.S. singers that they watch on T.V. and on the internet. South Korea is very internet literate. Also, surprisingly, South Korea is a very industrialized county. The country as a whole is generally well-informed of foreign news; it is a media-rich country. Korea’s interactions with the world are expansive. Many Koreans travel and pursue advanced studies abroad. They have several different newspapers; all in Korean but with one or two in English for tourists. Although newspapers are huge deal over there, I learned that T.V. is the primary source of news to most Koreans. South Korea has over forty cable channels and even digital satellite. Sujin even told me that a lot of South Koreans know about and follow the news of our candidates McCain and Obama through T.V., internet, and newspapers. In regards to movies and music, South Koreans are fascinated by our movies and T.V. programs. Besides Korean artists, many people listen to the same artists we listen to. The same movies show there except they come out later than our movies and have subtitles. One popular T.V. show that South Koreans love is Prison Break. Another is Sex and the City. Even though Koreans follow their culture, South Koreans like America and so the country is becoming more Americanized. An interesting fact that I learned is until a few years ago, South Koreans did not know what “brunch” was. Now, with the U.S. as an influence, Koreans started opening up restaurants to serve brunch and even older restaurants followed the trend. South Korea isn’t so different after all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z1lMuuYads

("Show me your love"- KiBum)

KiBum