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Gwangju Abroad
COMMUNITY
Life in the USA
United States Capitol Building
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
December 2020
Experiencing the Most Diverse World
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Written and photographed by Kim Sohee
ast year, I had an opportunity to stay in the United States for about eight months for my scholarship program. I knew nothing about the States when I first arrived. Soon after, however, I began to learn about the country while encountering new cultures and perspectives. The process of understanding, accepting, and blending into this new world inspired me in many ways and made me fall deeply in love with the country. In particular, if somebody were to ask me what I liked most about the States, my answer would be “diversity,” without any doubt. The United Sates is the most diverse and dynamic place I have experienced in my whole life in terms of its ethnicities, cultures, behaviors, and values. I realized the power of diversity that can be transformed into inclusivity and tolerance, which helps you to be your true self and the society to be more dynamic. In this article, I would like to share my life in the USA, focusing on the power of diversity. Above all, the world of diversity helped
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me to understand and define myself. For the first three months, I stayed in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States where various people from all over the world gather, making the place the most diverse and vibrant place in the world. Being surrounded by people of different races and with different languages and cultures inspired me every day and broadened my perspectives. Moreover, I felt that people were not afraid of expressing themselves and showing their own unique identity even if it might sometimes being regarded as different or even abnormal from a conventional view. I still remember the day when I witnessed countless people riding bikes naked as part of a protest. It was so surprising to me in that it was socially and legally acceptable, and people seemed to have so much freedom to choose their own way to express themselves. Overall, these experiences made me more open minded and tolerant. They even encouraged me to no longer be afraid of trying something new in many areas. For example, I learned skateboarding, which
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