Personal Narrative Draft

           “Hwajung, you are so beautiful.” This is was what Benjamin said when he held my hand. He was taking a Korean class after he got back from his mission in Korea and we were a study buddy. When we met first, he asked me to be his study buddy, and I answered “yes, I will.” Since it was my first month here at BYU, everything was new and fun for me, and I was glad to have a study buddy to learn how to speak in English better. When we had our first study time, he kept saying that “you are so pretty” and I did not believe what he said because it sounded as a matter of courtesy.

            “What are you doing tonight?” he asked me after our second study meeting was over. “I will do my homework” I answered, and he asked me again, “where?” I said “in the library.” He smiled and said that “then let’s study together. I want to see you again tonight.” I was surprised when he said that, but I pretended to be nonchalant. We met again at that night and study together in the library until midnight. While studying together, he often stared at me but I tried to do not care about him. “Where do you live?” he questioned me after getting out of the library and I let him know where I lived. He said that he would take me home and I did not refuse his kindness. Walking with him to my home made my heart flutter. When we reached my place, he asked me again, “what is your plan for tomorrow?” “I will go to my class and study as usual” I said. He laughed and said “good night” before he left.

            Next day, He sent me a message to ask where I was, and we studied together in the library again. As I guessed, he took me home again, but it was kind of different from yesterday. While we waking to home, he wondered that what I think about getting married American guys. “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about that before.” I replied. On our way home, there was a duck pond where a lot of ducks live, and he asked me take a walk for a while over there. Being with him made my heart beating. And all of a sudden, he held my hand and said that “Hwajung, you are so beautiful.” It was sweet and I liked what he said. I was shy but I said “thank you” and we walked with holding hands. He took me home still with holding hands and gave me a big hug before I got into home. After that night, we often had dinner and watched movie together. We enjoyed taking a walk after studying together. Sometimes, we drove to Y Mountain which is the representative place of BYU to see the night view. The night view of Provo was amazing and romantic. I was happy for being with him.

            One day, one of my friends told me that she saw Benjamin having dinner with a girl. She said that it looked like a date. She recommended me to ask him about it. I hesitated for few days because it could be just a dinner with a friend, not a date. When we went to drive to Y again, I could not resist the curiosity and questioned him about that dinner. He was kind of embarrassed about my questions and he said “Hwajung, we are not a boyfriend and girlfriend, and we are just dating to get to know each other.” This was a huge shock to me because Korean people never hold hands or hug if they are not in a relationship. Holding hands, hug, and kiss apply to only couples. Thus, I considered our relationship as a boyfriend and girlfriend naturally. I was really shocked and embarrassed but I could not berate anyone. It was just a cultural difference between two different countries. 

           Cultural differences and culture shocks exist in every country when anyone visits a different country. 

According to all of countries’ different history, environment, and education, their table manners, greeting 

manners, and lifestyles are different. Although it is always hard to accept different culture as I also 

experienced when I came to the America first, people can get used to experiencing different cultures and 

understanding the differences by accepting them with open mind.  People should accept the differences as 

cultural differences, not discriminations