Bo-won Kim/ Ch5 first draft/ Tues 1pm

Recently, I've read an article while doing some research about life in USA. This article, titled "Foreigners share what they find most surprising about America" was posted on Business Insider, a news website issuing about American business, celebrity and technology. In the article, there were some interviews from foreigners from different backgrounds. However different their experiences were, they all shared one common experience, hardship. Lots of them were faced with hard times while they were adjusting to the new lives and new lifestyles in USA. I felt pity for them but seeing their interviews, I could not hide my fascination. For I've always dreamed of living in New York since I was young. I wanted to have an indirect experience for just a moment so I've decided to focus my interview topic on this. And for that moment, one person popped up in my mind, Jieun Kim. She is one of my friends from the college and we've been friend since we were freshmen. She is a very diligent, hard-working student and is very fluent in English. Back in the days, I asked her how she could speak such perfect English and she answered with her face blushing. "Don't you say like that        I remembered that she had lived in USA before and scheduled to have an interview with her right away.    The first question I asked was how she got to live in USA since very young. I was curious how she had the opportunity. She blinked her eyes for some time as if she was bringing back her old memories that were put aside in her brain. She told me that she went to the United States when she was 3years old which was the year, 1997 and went to back to Korea at 2001. The reason for her staying in USA was that her father was transferred to Oregon. It was just 4years of staying in USA for her. But I remember her saying something about camp she went in USA few years ago. So I asked her about the camp she told me long ago. "Oh, you remember it. It's the fort jackson youth center in South Carolina. After 2001, I went to United States every summer vacation to my aunt and uncle's house. They live there" she added with a faint smile on her face.    I wanted to ask her the most important question for my interview, the one I want to focus on most. I asked her if she could tell me her hard times back in the US. She replied instantly, "Sure, why not? What's your question?" "I cannot leave out the word, racial discrimination when talking about foreigners living in other countries. So do you have any experiences of discrimination?" I asked carefully since it is somehow a sensitive issue. I expected a story similar to what I've seen in the article. However her answer was totally different from those. She told me that she can't think any particular experience of being discriminated. She said in the interview, "Maybe it's because I was too young to remember… but I think the other kids were also too young to have a stereotype or prejudice towards Asians." "Then how about some difficulties or hardships you faced in the USA? It must have been quite tough to adjust in foreign country." I asked her. She thought for a moment and nodded a few times and said "I think this question would be more relevant with my parents than me." She told me that because she was in US and said, smiling "We know that kids don't really know what they're confronting. But my mom had some difficulty learning English and adjusting to new life in Oregon. I heard there were a lot of frustrating situations that she couldn't solve cause of the language barrier." After a few seconds, she had a deep breath and said, "I can't imagine how hard it had been for her but it's a relief my parents didn't face nasty discrimination."   Time passed rapidly and it was already time for us to go to the next class. "Thanks for the interview and thanks for answering the questions with all your heart and thanks for your time." I wanted to end the interview with some meaningful question. "Can you think of one word that can describe your life in USA?" I asked her for the last time. She thought for a long time with a serious look on her face. "Wow, it's really hard to describe it in just a word." She thought for more and finally came up with her answer. "Let me describe it in two words. It was a life-changing opportunity for me. The experience of living in States has helped me a lot in Korea where English fluency is very important. And I still thank my parents for that."