I bumped into Tae Wan at a club in Tokyo not too long ago. It was a brutally hot summer, and the inside of the club was even worse. It was swarming with sweaty people trying to forget the heat. Amidst the crowd, I spotted Tae. He’s a hard guy to miss: well-built, tan(ish), and tall. More than anything, you could feel his vibe, his energy from a mile away. People naturally gravitate towards him and it’s no mystery as to why they do. His infectious smile and attitude just makes you want to be his good friend. At the time, however, I only knew Tae as “that kid in one of my classes.” I did know that he spoke his mind without any hesitation. Heck, he even started debates more than once. Despite his friendly demeanor, he was one of the intimidating guys in my book (probably because of his height). But his familiar smile at the club told me otherwise. We said “hey!” and shouted over the music but did nothing more than exchange a few words along the lines of “what’s up?” and “it’s so hot in here.” We said bye and not much happened after that encounter.
Fast-forward a month or two; I got the opportunity to interview him for Her Campus Waseda. I knew his name and his nationality and…what else? Oh. He’s a Her Campus contributor. Check. But other than that, I realized that I didn’t know much about him. I did know that he was quite similar to myself. We were both critical of well, virtually everything, and we were both constantly looking for the next person to argue matters with. In an academic way, of course. Instead of interviewing him conventionally, I decided to have a conversation with him through Facebook. Why not use the tools you are given? I didn’t write down the questions beforehand and I didn’t necessarily premeditate on what to talk about. Enjoy our free-flowing conversation about Korea, Japan, amongst other things.
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10/13/15, 9:46am Lena-Grace Suda
Alright. So, could you tell me a little bit about yourself?
9:49am Tae Wan Kim
Well… I’m South Korean. Left when I was 4 for Egypt, did a year there, then left again for Guam for a year, and finally landed in the Philippines, where I stayed for 12 years. I went to American international schools while I stayed in those foreign countries, which I am incredibly grateful for almost every day, especially since I’ve been staying in Korea. I’m also a SILS (School of International Liberal Studies) student trying to advance in Economics.
9:51am Lena-Grace Suda
Ah I see. So you’re what people call a TCK (Third Culture Kid). I went to an international elementary school in Tokyo too. How did living in those countries affect you?
9:54am Tae Wan Kim
Yeah, that’s about right. Ah, so I bet you kind of get me. It really gave me a better sense of cultural and societal awareness. Especially since friends from multiple national and cultural backgrounds in international schools constantly surrounded me. Also, the Philippines really gave me a proper taste of what poverty and corruption really is, which I won’t forget for a long, long time. It just gave me a whole lot of perspective on things.
10:00am Lena-Grace Suda
I always have this affinity for kids that went to American/ international schools. It’s like a community. I grew up with a lot of kids from the Philippines and they would have huge houses but right out of their property, they would have street children and their families. You don’t see that kind of disparity between the rich and poor in Japan or Korea, do you?
10:05am Tae Wan Kim
Yeah, definitely. It’s such a tight-knit community. Everytime I find out someone I know has a mutual friend from my past, it just keeps on reminding me how small this world is haha. Yeah, the wealth gap in the Philippines is just abhorrent. The place where my school was built on is one of the wealthiest districts in Manila, the capital city, and right next to it are basically lower class areas and slums. I remember our school being built right next to a slum too. Every physical education class, the poor kids would climb and sit on top of our fences and see us do sports and all that. It was really one hell of an experience. Korea and Japan have their own baskets of problems altogether. East Asia is in a tricky place right now in my opinion.
10:27am Lena-Grace Suda
Wow that’s crazy. I feel like growing up in Tokyo has sort of made me blind to blatantly obvious poverty. That story of yours was sort of like a pinch on the arm for me. We need to constantly remind ourselves about things like this. East Asia is quite tricky, I agree. I feel like there’s this veil that nicely conceals real, hard problems. What’s your take on East Asia’s position right now?
11:03am Tae Wan Kim
Yeah. With our recent rise in our economy, people just assume we should be like everyone else. They forget how homogenous we are. It’s a bit disturbing you know? Seeing all the western tourists come along and complain about how one thing is not like this or that. They’re not complaining about the right things like how homosexuality is incredibly frowned upon or how the education system is systematically allowing our youth to end their own lives. Don’t get me wrong, I love my country, I really do, but we have so many problems that can be solved so easily if we get the nation’s attention on the right spot. The only time Korea rallies is when the government tries to mishandle our money. Korea, right now especially, is so zoned into economic development and just wealth in general. We’re literally becoming inhumane.
And oh, don’t even get me started on foreign cultural encroachment in East Asia. That just gets my blood boiling haha.
11:36am Lena-Grace Suda
I’ve never been to Korea, so I can’t say I completely understand but I do think there are similar problems in Japan as well. So many kids commit suicide because schools dismiss bullying quite often. The education system is definitely something that needs improvement. About people becoming inhumane, do you think we should focus more on issues directly dealing with people rather than the economy?
12:14pm Tae Wan Kim
Yeah. I think Korea and Japan are really similar in those sad ways. And oh yeah. Definitely. I think those things go hand in hand actually; treating people with some basic dignity and focusing on the positive development of the economy. It’s been constantly proven that overworking employees in workspaces can be very counterintuitive most of the times. They lose concentration, the will to work harder, and fall sharply in creativity. By respecting the people, I honestly believe the people will reciprocate by working harder to better themselves and their society.
4:03pm Lena-Grace Suda
It’s funny how something as basic as humane treatment could be such a hard concept to grasp. Be kind and be gentle. It shouldn’t be so difficult. Do you feel the same way about college? Can our school improve how they treat its students?
5:36pm Tae Wan Kim
Yeah. But the funny thing is it’s really hard to do myself haha. There are moments when I just want to… yeah, there are some people that make that motto incredibly hard to accomplish. Yes, I definitely do. Especially in Japan. Japan is an economic powerhouse in the international eye, so it should also have a pioneering field in education too that includes respecting its students. I think SILS, however, sadly fails to meet most of the ‘pioneering’ criteria.
6:12pm Lena-Grace Suda
Could you expand on that? The ‘pioneering criteria’?
6:20pm Tae Wan Kim
Trying to instill passion into the students. Or at least trying their best to let students engage and find their calling. SILS is so broad in terms of the different types of educational fields it offers; however, I think SILS lacks that pioneering drive to allow students to fully emerge in a final topic or area of knowledge that they are interested in. College professors most of the time seem uninterested, and even when I do come across a very engaging and passionate professor, one professor really isn’t enough to make me into a suitable graduate in that field.
12:37pm Lena-Grace Suda
I feel the same way. I feel like passion is so vital. How can we keep on studying if we aren’t passionate about the subject? I also wish we have the option to fully engage ourselves in a certain field. We have knowledge regarding different things but most of the time, I think a lot of students don’t feel like they specialize in one subject. How can we as students instill passion? Is it possible?
2:52pm Tae Wan Kim
Yeah. I really feel you. I feel like most of the students there are studying for a SILS degree, not for a long lasting education that will benefit it us all the way to our deathbeds. Education is so precious not only because it makes us smarter people, but also it helps us define who we are as mature adults in the future. That being said, no age is too late in my opinion; however, we pay for the education they promised, and I don’t think our SILS faculty is living up to their own expectation.
2:54pm Tae Wan Kim
Also yes, it’s definitely possible. We don’t have democracy and free will for nothing. We need to voice our opinions and our thirst for a better and more passionate form of education so that the people with influence will actually listen.
From my year in Waseda, I don’t think it’s possible yet. People are just too reluctant to speak up to a higher power, even if most of the students in SILS grew up in a western part of the world. However, I do have hope for future generations to come.