From one world to another

Geon-hui Kim came from Paju, Korea to Gonvick, MN on August 23. It wasn’t from one world to another but the change was very different. 

Paju is a city of over 420,000 and he came to live in a city of less than 300 people. The city is located just south of Panmunjeom on the 38th parallel. It is just an hour's drive from Seoul and the city is packed with artistic and creative restaurants, dozens of coffee shops, and stylish stores attracting visitors of all ages. This was a filming location for TV dramas such as ‘The Master's Sun (2013)’, ‘My Love from the Star (2013)’, and ‘The Girl Who Sees Smells (2015)’. One thing he misses is the bus and train transportation that he used all the time in Korea. Here the family uses cars for the main means to travel. He says it is strange to see 16 year old people driving as they have to be 18 before they get a license in Korea. 

He left Incheon International Airport just south of his city in Seoul, Korea and 14 hours later he was in Detroit, MI. From there a short two hour flight to Minneapolis where he met his American Host Family, Pastor Kris Snyder and his two daughters Kjersti and Ambjør.

They took him from the airport to grandpa and grandma Snyders in Otsego where he was treated to his first American meal. It was meatballs, potatoes and gravy and all the trimmings. Quite a different menu than his Korean diet. He was hungry and he enjoyed the treat.

The fifteen year old is attending school in Clearbrook-Gonvick. In Korea, teachers for each class come to the room you are in. Here one has to go from room to room and he said he only has three minutes to get from class to class. He has to rush from the shop where he is taking small engines with Ross Faldet, clean up the area and hurry to get to his next class on the other side of the building. He is taking World History, Computer Math, Biology, Algebra II and English. Some of the Algebra he has had in school in Korea but it is a good review. His English he wants to improve as his father Hyun-chol Kim is a High School English teacher. He only knows a little Chinese and Japanese and they are quite different languages. His mother Kyong-im is an elementary teacher. 

In Korea they live in an apartment and in Gonvick he lives in a four bedroom large house. Wages are a bit different as next year the minimum wage was set at 7,530 won or about $6.64 per hour in Korea.

He came into a family in Gonvick with two girls and he only has a brother Jun-hui Kim who is 11 years old. Every week he goes with his new family to Bemidji to Headwaters School of Music where he has been taking acoustic guitar lessons. His host sisters are taking piano lessons at the same time. He has more free time in Gonvick. He enjoyed watching the Minnesota Twins play baseball this year. 

In Korea he doesn’t have time to do things like that as he goes home and studies all the time. He has had extra evening “self-study” sessions,  as he will be taking final tests in the near future to determine what school he will be attending. The academic year in state schools starts at the beginning of March and runs through mid-July. The second semester starts at the end of August and continues until mid-February. 

He has learned to get up early to use the bathroom each morning before school because if he doesn’t the host sisters take up too much time. It is really different with two sisters than a brother. The school bus comes each morning at 7:27 to pick them up for the trip to school.

Rice is a staple food in Korea but he has been learning and helping to make different foods in Gonvick. He does enjoy Kimchi (Fermented Vegetable) and they found a place in Minneapolis where he could get the Korean dish. But they now know that there is a place in Solway that also sells Kimchi, either by the pint, quart or gallon. They won’t have to travel to Minneapolis to get that. Other traditional Korean foods are Bibimbap (Mixed Rice), Bulgogi (Marinated Beef Barbecue), Japchae (Stir Fried Noodles), Hoeddeok (Sweet Syrupy Pancakes) and Ddukbokkie (Spicy Rice Cake).  There will be some experimenting done in the Snyder household in Gonvick during the year as far as the food menu.

Geon-hui and his host family go to Park Rapids to meet with Lisa Johnston with International Student Exchange, ISE each month. That is the exchange program that he came with. Geon-hui had requested a family in America that attended church regularly. Pastor Kris being a single father was only able to have a male student so he was fortunate to be placed in Gonvick in the Lutheran home.

There is another Korean boy that attends school in Bemidji who meets with them as well. A picture was taken and he sent that to his mother and she recognized one of the girls in the picture as coming from their area.

At 15 he is not sure what he wants to do in the future as it all depends on his scores when he finishes high school back in Korea.

Welcome to the area Geon-hui.