EDMONDS – Jae-Won Kim left his home in Seoul, South Korea, five years ago, just before he began eighth grade.
First, Kim, now 18, enrolled in a boarding school in Canada. The next year, he transferred to a boarding school in Georgia. Three years later, he moved into the dormitory at Solomon Christian School in Edmonds.
“The main reason is to learn English,” Kim said, brushing a thick lock of black hair out of his eyes. “I want to be a businessman when I grow up.”
In South Korea, the siren call of English fluency lures parents into life-altering decisions, and beckons children, sometimes as young as 12 years old, to early independence.
They become “kirogi” – wild geese, pushed out to learn to fly over an ocean that separates them from their parents. If they succeed, their sacrifices become a status symbol and a pass to the pinnacle of Korean culture.
“There’s a sense that unless you can speak English fluently, you’re going to be left behind, even in Korean society,” said Timothy Lim, co-director of the Center for Korean American and Korean Studies at California State University at Los Angeles. “It’s those with fluency who will have the greatest opportunities.”
On Thursday, nearly two dozen Korean students gathered around a table laden with symbols of traditional American bounty. Turkey, roasted yams, pumpkin pie. The students stared, inspecting each dish. They laughed when they saw a bowl of kimchee, a traditional Korean dish of fermented cabbage, among the feast.
“We’ve got two turkeys, so eat a lot!” said Richard Lee, the school’s Korean-born founder and principal. He directed the students on the finer points of Thanksgiving eating.
“You have to put the gravy on.”
“This isn’t a sweet potato. It’s a yam, actually.”
“Hey, guys, get some vegetables. They’re good for you!”
Some students seemed unnerved that they were celebrating a holiday their parents had never experienced. Don Kwon Kim, an eighth-grade student, said he called his parents to tell them about Thanksgiving.
“I told them I want them to come to America,” he said quietly.
Experts say they don’t know how many Korean students live in Snohomish County or elsewhere in the United States.
The Korea Herald, a Seoul-based English-language newspaper, reported last year that an estimated 16,000 South Korean students left the country for middle and high school in 2004. Another 150,000 students attended foreign universities.
There are more than 2,000 Korean students at the University of Washington, said Yeo Yun, publisher of the Korea Times, a Seattle-based Korean-language newspaper.
A common scenario is for Korean mothers to travel to the United States with their middle and high school children. Fathers are left behind to continue working.
One family, two households. More than 5,000 miles apart.
It’s a sacrifice that thousands of families are willing to make. Their reasons are complex.
Despite vast economic growth, South Korea remains little sibling to powerhouse sisters Japan and China, Lim said.
“There’s a sense that Koreans are disadvantaged compared to Japanese,” he said.
Many Korean families see a Western education as a way for their children to prepare to become globetrotting businesspeople.
It’s also a way to sidestep one of the world’s most intense and competitive school systems.
“Korean society only cares about the best,” said Kim, the student.
It’s not unusual for South Korean children to study for 12 hours each day. Some wake up as early as 4 a.m. to study before school and then attend cram sessions and do homework until 11 p.m. or midnight.
“You don’t have much opportunity to exercise or do sports or any other activity other than just studying,” said Jean Rhee of the Korean Community Counseling Center in Edmonds in an August interview.
Lee runs Solomon Christian School on a rigorous schedule.
Classes begin at 7:30 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m. The next hour and a half is spent in mandatory clubs – journalism, soccer, community service and others. College prep class begins at 4 p.m. and ends at 6 p.m. Dinner break lasts until 8 p.m.
The next three hours are dedicated to homework. Dormitory lights go out at 11 p.m.
For some students, long holiday weekends don’t ease the pressure.
“I feel kind of sorry for my parents,” Kim said. “They spent a lot of money for me, and I don’t want to disappoint them.”
One year at Solomon Christian School for an international student costs more than $11,000.
Lee opened the school in 1994 to give Korean and other international students a family atmosphere. It’s unrealistic to expect middle and high school international students to succeed without a nurturing, structured atmosphere, he said.
He hopes the Thanksgiving feast, which is cooked each year by his wife, Sang Lee, helps the students feel at home in a foreign land.
“We’re a family here,” he said.
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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