Tomi (Interviewer): Where are you from?
Kristine Choi: South Korea
T: What is your class year?
K: 2016
T: How long is the flight home?
K: 20 hours
T: What’s the temperature in the winter/summer?
K: Both are similar to Boston
T: Even the Winter?
K: Yep
T: Does it Snow there?
K: Yeah
T: What do you do at home on a typical Saturday night?
K: Ummm…I guess now I would be at a bar with my friends because we are all over age now
T: What about before you became of age?
K: Before that, I would be home, with my brother, watch television (laughing)
T: How did you hear about Amherst? What influenced your decision to come here?
K: Well the high school I went to was specialized for sending students abroad. It was either Ivy or Liberal Arts College and Amherst and Williams were at the top of the Liberal Arts list. And my mom really liked Amherst.
T: What are some differences that you’ve noticed between home and Amherst/what have you found surprising about Amherst?
K: People are a lot more diverse than you would find anywhere in Korea. But I guess that is just a part of being in a college like this. I guess people are a lot more open minded. In Korea people are all trying to be kind of the same. Everyone is trying to get surgery
T: That’s interesting you say that!
K: Like parents even get it for they’re daughters as graduation presents. Even when you’re trying to be different, you are being the same. Here everyone is a lot more open about their appearances.
T: What sports/extracurricular activities are you apart of here at Amherst?
K: Intramural Volleyball and I did dance last semester.
T: Did you find it difficult to assimilate into the culture in this new America and more specifically at Amherst?
K: It was not that difficult to get comfortable in the culture because I used to live in Indiana so I was familiar with the culture already. And for Amherst, not so much because I have been living in dorms from middle school until now. But the classes are more challenging which is something I like.
T: How Long did you live in Indiana?
K: Six years. From when I was 5 to 7 years old and then again from 4th to 7th grade.
T: What do you miss most about back home?
K: My mom….’s food (laughing) and my brother and my family in general. And the Korean things that you can only do with other Korean people. You know?
T: What do you mean? Give me an example
K: There’s an entirely different Korean drinking culture. You get together at a bar and play these drinking games that you can’t do here. And that’s where most people bond
T: At the bars?
K:(laughing) Yeah and also that’s where most people become couples
T: Do you plan/hope to stay in America after you finish after school? If so, for how long?
K: I plan to work here.
T: So for the long term then?
K: Yeah and my parents both want me to work here…and go to grad school or law school
T: Are they going to move back here again?
K: My parents?
T: Yeah, or your brother?
K: Yeah they want my brother to come here, because they think that me coming here when I was young really helped my english and they want to do the same for my brother. They might also come if my Dad relocates from where he is working in Korea to the same place here in America. My mom really wants to! (laughing)
T: Do you tend to find yourself more drawn to other International students or domestic students?
K: International Students
T: Why’s That?
K: I guess that we share the experience of being in a different country. But in most of my classes there are almost no International Students so that is where I meet my other friends.
T: Anything else you want to say about your experience as an International Student so far?
K: Umm… I like it here!! (Smiling)