Korean high school students preview Princeton experience

Surrounded by classmates dressed in traditional Korean clothing, high school freshman Kwan Jin Rho sang a rendition of Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" while walking through the University's campus.

Rho visited Princeton with 83 schoolmates from the Korean Minjok Leadership Academy near Kangwon, South Korea — one of the nation's top boarding schools.

The academy's freshman class — a total of 84 students — is on a two-week tour of top universities in the United States. The trip, which students paid for themselves, is intended to prepare them to study abroad after high school at the best universities in the United States.

While on campus, the students took an Orange Key tour and saw Nassau Hall and Prospect Gardens. The thing they seemed to have the most fun doing was photographing the squirrels, however.

One student, Seung Hee Hong, said she liked the University, and might be interested in applying here once the time comes.

But more than learning about Princeton, the students found their trip to be an interesting cultural experience. They discovered that many aspects of American culture are part of their daily lives in Korea.

Hong said the boys like Britney Spears, and the girls like *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, much like teenagers in the United States. Koreans mainly like American pop music, she said, though they also like rap and hip-hop.

Hong said dating is much the same in Korea as in the United States. Teenagers go out to the movies frequently, and see Hollywood films more than Korean ones. The films are rated using colors, which correspond to age groups, just as American films are rated R or PG.

The students have Internet access in their dorms at KMLA, and they check their e-mail frequently. Usually, they check it several times a day in order to avoid work, Hong said with a smile.

The students have all taken English since middle school, and some have been taking it for even longer. Their school has what they call an English Only Policy, which requires them to speak the language all the time.

"At least we're supposed to speak it all the time," Hong said, adding that there is a court at the school that holds them responsible when they do not.

During the visit, members of the University's Korean American Students Association acted as guides throughout the day, showing the students around campus and answering their questions.

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Students and faculty from KMLA arranged the trip primarily through e-mail with KASA. Moonsun Kang '01 served as the main KASA liaison, along with Gene Kim '01 and David Choi '01, the vice-president and president of the group.

University Korean language professors Gwee-Sook Kim and Eun Joo Kim, as well as Serena Castellano from the admission office also helped plan the trip.

After Princeton, the group will visit Harvard, Yale, Brown, MIT, and Stanford.