Y/N didn't realize that being an exchange student in South Korea will help her make incredible memories with her little group of friends.
She definitely didn't plan on falling in love with the mysterious and arrogant pianist who seems to have an int...
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When a wide variety of people with different perspectives and personalities come together in different environments, it's kind of interesting to see how this works out.
It can cause trouble sometimes but it can also show that some people are more open and understanding of the differences between cultures.
Even though my parents emigrated from Romania to Sweden they never changed their identity in order to fit into the society's system. Of course they were showing respect and even "hosting" Sweden's culture and social norms when they were in public places but deep down they were always trying to stay authentic in their culture.
My father always told me to not trade my personality and my identity for acceptance. It's important to stay true to yourself and then eventually people who really love you will accept you as you are.
My mom always said to me that respecting social norms in a new country it's a must. Right after I decided to go study abroad in Korea that was the first conversation me and my mom had. She said that I'll definitely be hard in a new country with totally new people and a new culture. She was talking from personal experience , I could tell.
But the most important part it's to respect the rights and beliefs of others. I knew that moving to study abroad would force me to face some challenges and cultural clashes but I was really willing to learn the social norms to avoid disrespecting the people who live here. Not all the people in a new country are willing to teach you the new social rules and of course that not just the culture but even the personality differences can cause friction and frustration. It can even lead to bullying especially when you don't know the language.
We had a lot of episodes with "culture clashes" in a rather short period of time, especially me and Sarah because we were the ones with the bubbly personalities. It was easier for Lucas who was an introvert who mostly talked to us.
Today I was alone in the university cafeteria. Sarah and Lucas were both sick that day and I just wanted to eat alone. I thought that it was a perfect time to call my mom and talk to her. The food was amazing like always and I really enjoyed eating and catching up with mom. I tend to speak louder when I'm enjoying a conversation and I did not realize that this may disturb others. In the corner of my eyes I saw the other students looking at me and whispering.
I figured out that maybe I was not allowed to talk on the phone in the cafeteria and I told my mom I'll call her later. The lady from the cafeteria who was responsible for cleaning came to my table and asked if she could clean and if I'm done with the food. "Yeah,thanks! You can clean up"
She looked at me very suspiciously and started to clean my table very fast.
I was looking for my book in my purse when my table suddenly moved. When I looked up catboy was sitting on the chair across from me. I was so confused that I couldn't even say a word.
"You really need to learn about Korean etiquette rules. You're extremely bad and people will take your behavior as offensive and disrespectful towards them."
