50 GFN Radio
Hello Korea Interview with Kayla Nicholls
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
October 2021
CULTURE & ARTS
In continuing its collaboration with the Gwangju Foreign Language Network (GFN), in this issue the Gwangju News offers an interview with Kayla Nicholls, the host of Hello Korea, the radio show that brings you “Korean history, culture, food, music, people, movies, and more from past to present!” — Ed.
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wangju News (GN): Thank you for taking the time to do this interview for the Gwangju News, Mrs. Nicholls. First, please introduce yourself; tell us a little about your background and about your career at the radio station. Kayla Nicholls: Thank you for thinking of me. But let’s get this out of the way first: I just go by “Kayla.” “Mrs. Nicholls” was my grandmother, and even my mother. And although I never changed my last name once I got married, it was more to do with the amazing amounts of time, energy, and paperwork involved in doing so. So, I go by “Kayla Nicholls,” no “Mrs.” added. As for me, I’m a Canadian expat, living, working, and raising a family in Korea. How I got here is rather a bit of luck. I was going to be an au pair in France, but the girl I was going to go with could no longer go, so I took a job as an usher at the POW Theatre for the show The Lord of the Rings. When the run went dark, someone suggested teaching English as a way to travel and earn at the same time. I was interested and ready to spend a year in Japan. I had everything lined up till my recruiter asked if I’d be willing to try South Korea. I thought, “Well, why not!” Same geographical part of the world, right? Three weeks later, I found myself in Incheon with severe culture shock and an inability to eat most of the food here due to spiciness. I promised myself to stick it out a year, and then I found GFN on the radio, and... here I am, close to 14 years later, still here.
GN: Please tell us about Hello Korea and your duties as the host of the show. Kayla: So, Hello Korea is a radio show that plays Monday through Friday, at 10:05–11:45 a.m. However, in light of global situations, and how things have been playing out here in Korea, our show’s been temporarily shortened to give live updates to the public so that people can get the information they need, when they need it. But the primary focus of Hello Korea is to educate, entertain, and explore
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the cultural side of life in Korea, for both Koreans and expats who call Korea home. We have information about customs, food, jazz, Goryeoin people, movies, Korean authors, sports in Korean history, different perspectives on Korean life and culture from foreign nationals, and of course, a little bit of K-pop as well. As the host, it’s my job to make our guests feel comfortable in sharing and opening up about the things we really want to know. I feel like it’s a conversation I’m having with friends, and the audience is our friend. There’s so much that people might find interesting or wonder why we need to know about this. It’s my job to keep them interested, on topic, and to make our audience feel like they’re a part of the conversation. GN: Before Hello Korea, did you do other shows at GFN? If so, please tell us about them and explain how they helped prepare you for your current position. Kayla: Before I joined the Hello Korea team, I was the host of Weekly Review/Sunday Talk for about three years. Being the host of that program taught me how to talk with people of many different walks of life and how to really listen. It also taught me that being on the radio wasn’t as easy as just speaking into a microphone. Before that show, I did a segment for the City of Light program with Michael Simning. The name of the segment was Living Tips. I learned so much more than I ever wanted to about ways you can use lemons. But it was also what first interested me in being a host. Michael made it look so easy. But perhaps, that’s just the kind of guy he was. My very first time on GFN was being interviewed by Michael about being pregnant and part of a multicultural family living in Korea. GN: Hello Korea has a strong cultural focus. What personally draws you to being involved with this sort of programming?
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