I started to learn English when I was about eight years old. One day, my mother gave me a video called The Beauty and the Beast. I loved it so much that I watched it every day so I almost memorized everything. Then my mother bought me another video called Ice Age. I also liked it and watched so many times I could not even count. Also, I sometimes talked to an American who lived across my house. Since I loved learning English, I always wanted to go abroad to learn more and experience a different culture. So I asked my parents and they said that they would send me abroad if I was top of my class. Then I tried my best to study to get good grades and finally my dream came true!

When I was 13 years old, I went to Mission, British Columbia and Canada by myself and stayed there for ten months. Mission was a small city so people there were very kind and the environment was so beautiful. The area surround with blue sky, green trees and fresh air. I felt like I was in a fairy tale. It was one of my favorite moment of living in Mission. In the Mission Elementary School where I entered, people were nice and there was a big playground with both grass and sand shaded by tall trees. At first, however, I had a hard time adapting because talking with natives was much harder than I had thought and I felt very lonely. However, since my teacher and friends always helped me whenever I needed them, I was able to enjoy my school sooner than I thought. They always answered and explained some questions gently. I went to the movies with my friends and I participated in clubs with my friends too. I was a member of the girlsʼ basketball and volleyball team of our school. So I usually had practice in the morning before the class or after school. Also, I studied hard by doing all of my homework and keeping diaries in English every day. So I graduated from Mission Elementary School with many awards and all Aʼs on my final report card. It was very rewarding for me.

I lived with a homestay family and it was a great opportunity for me to learn English because I could listen and speak the language even when I came back home from the school. At first, actually it was hard for me to live with foreigners because they have different lifestyles. For example, they usually went to bed at 10 p.m. and that was very early for Koreans because they often go to bed over 11p. m. Also, eating Canadian food for every meal was very tough for me but I got used to it and I got to like some of them as time passed. My favorite food was turkey and pie or chocolate cookies with ice cream. I especially liked pumpkin, apple and blueberry pie and chocolate cookies. People have them eat something special on special holidays such as New Year or Thanksgiving Day. I also had some fun with my homestay family. I went to swimming pool, many parks, movie theaters and some restaurants with them and spe together on holidays. My favorite holiday was Halloween. I wore a witch costume composed of a black dress and a black hat. We went to many houses, said, “Trick or treat” and got a whole bunch of bags of chocolates, candies and snacks. It took me months to eat all of them. From these experiences, I learned not only English language itself, but I also learned cultural differences such as individualism, table manners, and holidays and so on. All the experiences I had in Canada were my best memories I had ever. I will never forget them.