NAME: Seyoung Park

AGE: 27

HOMETOWN: Seoul

OCCUPATION: Engineer

Why are you here in America?

I was working for Samsung Electronics in Seoul, but I wasn’t making as much money as I wanted. It was very hard work, and there wasn’t much room to move up. I wanted to work for a larger company, like IBM, because you can make a very nice living in Seoul working as an engineer for a big company like IBM. But in Seoul, you have to know English to get a very good job. If you know this much English, then they will pay you so much, and if you know more English, your pay will increase. So I came to Wisconsin to study English.

Why did you choose Madison, Wisconsin, as opposed to say, New York or San Francisco?

It would be too expensive to study in New York or San Francisco, though I would love to visit those places. My brother came to the Wisconsin English as a Second Language Institute (in Madison), and he said it was very good. Madison can get boring, but it’s safe and not expensive, so I came here. My parents don’t have much money, but here in Madison the price is very good.

Peace from Seyoung Park of Seoul, now studying English at the Wisconsin English as a Second Language Institute in the college town of Madison.

Do you eat mostly American food now that you’re in Wisconsin?

No, every week we take the bus to the Korean grocery store in Madison, and we cook Korean food every day. In Korean culture, we like to eat together in large groups, so we eat Korean food together every day.

Do you wish there were more Koreans in Madison?

More Koreans? No. Actually I wish there were less Korean students at WESLI. There are around 150 international students here, and almost half are Korean. I don’t want to meet other Koreans because I want to practice my English. Right now I only have one roommate, a Japanese American guy who is studying to be an English teacher, but he will go back to California soon. Next session, I’ll have three new roommates. I always joke that if my new roommates are Korean, I’m going to tell them I’m from Taiwan, so we can speak English. I want to practice my English all the time. Even with my Korean friends, we try to speak English when we’re together.

What do you do for fun in Madison?

I play basketball almost every day at the park. Sometimes WESLI has activities for us, like we’re going canoeing next weekend on the lake. Me and my friends also have parties at the dorm every weekend. We drink a lot and listen to Korean music.

How long do you plan to study English in Madison?

I’ll be here for maybe one more session, and then, at the end of the year, I will go back to Seoul and look for a better job. I would like to stay longer, but my family cannot afford it. I have to get better scores on English tests to get better jobs. I don’t know if I’m ready for it. Every day, I study for hours. It’s so hard. I feel like my English has hardly improved. But maybe I can get good test scores. I don’t know.