DUNES – AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN
South Korean students at King’s imbue campus with empathy, cultural understanding, and a plethora of fascinating life stories
BY AHMED KHALAYLEH ’15
Some consider South Korea home. Others have yet to determine what home is. Some were surrounded by peers from all walks of life. Others stuck out like a sore thumb. The paths that King’s Academy’s Korean students have taken to get to where they are now could leave one’s head spinning, but their experiences add a depth and richness to the community. King’s Academy is not a typical boarding school, and these are not your typical boarding school students.
Growing Up in Transit
For most people, growing up is simple. You live in the same place, surrounded by the same people, with the occasional switch in schools. But for most of the Korean students, it was far from simple. While Seungming Hong ’23 and Seunghyeok Lee ’24 may have spent most of their childhood in South Korea, studying the Korean curriculum, the rest found themselves in a different country every five years or so.
Shihun Lee ’23 was born in Austria, attended kindergarten in South Korea, and continued her education in Switzerland and then the Philippines, where Yoonhoo Kim ’25 spent his first through fourth grades.
Hyeyoon “Haily” Cho ’23, Minseo Kim ’24, Heejae Shin ’25 and Seonju Ko ’25 were all born in South Korea, but within just a few years, their paths diverged drastically. Cho spent more
than five years in India, Shin spent her early school years in Dubai before returning to South Korea, while Ko bounced back and forth between Iran, South Korea and Saudi Arabia, before they all found their way to Jordan. Kim, on the other hand, lived in Syria until the war broke out, after which she moved to Jordan and attended elementary school, studying all subjects in Arabic under the national curriculum. Meanwhile, Jason Lee ’24 was born on US soil, spent six years in India, and the next five years moving to South Korea, South Africa, Lebanon and Jordan.
Fitting In
“I wanted to be like one of them,” says Minseo Kim, describing her early school years in Jordan, “but it was really difficult.” Being the only non-
Arab in her school, Kim never felt she could truly fit in, despite her fluency in the Arabic language and culture. “I didn’t have many friends because of my nationality.”
Students at the time brought their own lunch to school, typical Arab food prepared by their parents. Kim, on the other hand, brought in Korean food prepared by her mother, which led to unwanted attention from her peers. “Because they lacked information about where I was from, they would assume things about me and would mock my language,” she adds.
Kim later spent a year studying in New Haven, Connecticut, where she found herself surrounded by students from other backgrounds. Despite this year of respite, it would be some time before she truly felt she could fit in anywhere.
It wasn’t until she came to King’s that she felt she could finally be seen beyond her appearance and be known for who she is.
Having to change schools and friend groups so much, Jason Lee learned to become very sociable to accommodate his rapidly shifting social life. “I liked experiencing new culture, and I take it for granted sometimes, but I remember crying moving from Korea to Lebanon because I was tired of moving around too much,” he says.
As the daughter of an ambassador, Shihun Lee also learned important social skills, but for very different reasons. “I always had to go around with my parents on these official visits with diplomats. I couldn’t act like a crazy child, because I was representing my parents, who were representing Korea.” These visits, in addition to her exposure to so many cultures during her youth, forced Lee to grow up fast, developing a strong sense of empathy and an ability to communicate effectively at a young age.
Arriving at King’s, some students found that their struggles, academic or social, were due to language barriers. Hong was the first to point out that classes were much harder now that they were in English, and it would take a couple years before he was again comfortable with his academics. Despite his year in New Zealand that bolstered his English, Seunghyeok Lee echoed this sentiment, adding that the challenge was not only in relearning everything in English, but also in simultaneously trying to learn Arabic.
These struggles extend beyond the classroom, bleeding into social circles and leading to linguistic exclusion, an issue Cho is attempting to address as proctor. Cho designed a training in which proctors sit in groups, in which two or three students have an entire conversation in a language the others don’t speak, in an attempt to bring attention to the experience of international students who don’t speak Arabic.
A Korean Subculture on Campus
Staying in touch with Korean culture looks different for each of these students. While some were immersed in it during their youth, others had to take extra steps to maintain their language, such as attending “Hangul Hakkyo,” a Korean language school designed for heritage speakers in foreign countries. Some relied on their time at home with
their parents, Korean church-goers, or other Korean students at their international schools abroad to maintain that connection with their language and culture.
At King’s, the Korean students have each other, describing the “subculture” they have amongst themselves as being very similar to what they would experience in South Korea – albeit slightly modified. While back home students would bow to their older peers, at King’s Korean students have dropped that habit, but continue to refer to each other as “older sister/brother” or “younger sister/brother.” They can bond over Korean pop culture, stay upto-date on the latest trends, and even celebrate their culture through the
Cho designed a training in which proctors sit in groups, in which two or three students have an entire conversation in a language the others don’t speak, in an attempt to bring attention to the experience of international students who don’t speak Arabic.Jason JW Lee ’24 (center) and Seunghyeok Lee ’24 (right) in class. Minseo Kim ’24 (center) and other international students are invited to lunch by a local student’s family as part of the Al Beit Beitak (my home is yours) initiative.
school. “I felt like I bonded a lot with other Korean students during the Lunar New Year event,” says Ko. “I didn’t really know the Korean juniors and seniors, but during that week, I got to have a lot of conversations with them.”
They also reflect on the differences in social dynamics between King’s and Korean schools. Seunghyeok Lee explains, “in Korea, there’s a linear feedback loop; the teacher would teach the students and the students respond to the teacher. Here I feel like the teachers try to foster a sense of debate between students.” Shin also took some time to get used to this different relationship with her teachers. “The teachers thought I didn’t like them, because I was so silent,” she says, “and when they ask me a question, I answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”
Home and Identity
Understanding what home and identity mean is a lifelong journey, one that many of these students have already begun.
“In my sophomore year, I had a huge identity crisis,” says Shihun Lee. “One of the English units was on identity. Is it compartmentalized? Is it a mixture of stuff? I was confused. When someone asks me where I’m from, my go-to answer is Korea. Now I just don’t care.”
Minseo Kim says “I think I consider Jordan home. I feel the most
comfortable in Jordan. Korea’s more of a ‘cultural home’. So 80% Jordan, 20% Korea!”
“My room in Mizan is home,” Hong says. Jason Lee shared this sentiment, adding “wherever I am in the moment is home.” Lee further explored the concept of identity, referring to his time in India. “We were doing introductions, and I said my nationality was US. When we got home my parents were like ‘why would you say you’re American? You’re Korean!’” He then concludes, “I am Korean, but I think a part of everywhere I’ve been is part of my identity.” Yoonhoo Kim agrees, “yeah, I think there’s a little bit of the Philippines in me too.”
As these students’ paths converge at King’s, they bring much more than their own cultural heritage to the community. The colorful paths that led these students to King’s — the cultures they’ve explored, the struggles they’ve faced, the lessons they’ve learned — imbue the campus with empathy, cultural understanding, and a plethora of fascinating life stories. As their paths diverge, these students will once again find themselves scattered across the globe, with Shihun Lee aiming to study international relations in the United States and Hong hoping to pursue engineering in South Korea. Ultimately, whatever path they take, they will be taking one step further on becoming global citizens.
I am Korean, but I think a part of everywhere I’ve been is part of my identity.South Korean students meet South Korean Ambassador to Jordan HE Lee Jaewan during a visit to King’s Academy. Shihun Lee ’23 (left)