Dohoon Hong/Chapter 5 First Draft/Tuesday 1p.m.

 I was raised in Gimhae most of my life, but now I live in Seoul, for I was accepted to Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. I lived about a year in the dorm and another year by myself. Living alone with only financial support from my parents was a hard task, but I was able to mature in many ways. For my interview, I hoped to ask questions to one of my friends who live in a similar environment to figure out what kind of changes happened to her life while living in Seoul by herself.

 I met Seongeun, my interviewee, in a café near her university. For I was very curious, I quickly asked her what kind of challenges she faced while living in Seoul all by herself.  With a sigh as if she had a lot of things to say, she said, "Cooking, doing the laundry, paying the bills, keeping track of my spending, and so on." She had so many things to think about compared to her life as a high schooler. During her high school life, all she had to do was just study and not worry about anything else. However, when she became a university student and started to live by herself, she came to realize there are many things to worry about in the world other than studying.

 I went on to ask her about her way of spending money and how she manages her allowance. She is receiving money from her parents, but to lessen the burden of her parents, she is working in a part-time job. With anxiety shown on her face, she said, "The first thing I do when I receive my allowance is taking out the estimated amount of cost of the bill. I need to do this so I don't over spend my money and later have to worry about the bills." She was a very tidy person and she said that she was able to learn some skills with coping with money.

I further on asked her what the most challenging thing to do is. She said, "Eating is the major problem right now. If I cook food at home, it takes too much time, and I have to wash the dishes, too, which is more time consuming. But if I were to eat outside, it would cost too much money, and I would get stressed out." She added, "With all these things going through my mind, I can't focus on my school work!" In high school, Seongeun did not have to worry about food since her mother would prepare it for her. However, after a year of experience living by herself, she came to realize the hard work of mothers and that their love for their children is great.

 I enjoyed interviewing Seongeun, because I was able to totally sympathize with her. When we parted, Seongeun said, "I was very happy to talk about my hardships," she added, "I feel like I can mature further!"