#2 KF-EAI Korea Friendship, What Comes After!

Hello. I am Luiza Sahabutdinova, a graduate of the second cohort of KF-EAI Korea Friendship, aspiring to be a true educator who pursues novelty and innovation.

What are your dreams? What efforts are you making to achieve them?

I started studying Korean in middle school and dreamed of becoming a Korean language teacher when I was in Uzbekistan. In 2009, I came to Korea as a government scholarship student, completed my undergraduate studies in Korean Language and Literature at Yonsei University, and then enrolled in the Master's program in Korean Language and Literature at Ewha Womans University in 2014.

While living in Korea, majoring in Korean language, participating in various extracurricular activities, and meeting foreign friends, I was able to learn about the cultures, traditions, languages, values, and worldviews of Korea as well as various other countries. Therefore, in my third year of university, I decided to graduate from my undergraduate program and pursue a Master's and Doctoral degree to continue specializing in the Korean language. Before majoring in Korean Language and Literature in Korea, I learned Korean as a foreign language. However, through my undergraduate studies and my current Master's program, where I research Korean as a native language, I have gained the opportunity to view the Korean language from a different perspective and to deeply contemplate and research the nuances between language and culture. As language and spirit, language and culture, and language and ethnic identity are closely related, I am resolving various questions about culture and values through language. Consequently, through these experiences, I have developed a unique interest in linguistics, cultural exchange, and education. As a result, my previous dream of becoming a teacher has evolved into a broader aspiration: to work in a field that connects education, culture, and language exchange. Thus, I have slightly altered the direction of my educational path.

I have been active in various fields, but those related to my interests include my work as a multicultural instructor at organizations such as the UNESCO Korean National Commission, MIZY Center for Youth Culture Exchange, and Multicultural Families Support Center; the development of a multilingual support application for foreign workers and translation of Russian and Uzbek textbooks for elementary school students; and the translation of Korean fairy tales into Korean for Uzbek elementary school students at the Asiana Friendship Foundation. I have also introduced Uzbek culture in Korea and introduced Korean culture to foreigners. For example, I worked as a docent at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, giving English tours about King Sejong and Admiral Yi Sun-sin to foreign tourists, and worked as an intern at the Hanyangdoseong Institute, assisting with an exhibition on the history of the Czech Republic and Korea. Additionally, I organized a meeting for high school students as an Ewha Womans University promotional ambassador in Uzbekistan. However, the most important of these is my Master's thesis, which I am currently writing. My research topic is a comparative analysis of the sense of humor and content of jokes between Koreans and Uzbeks from linguistic and cultural perspectives.

What kind of work is done at the Seoul Global Center Business Support Center?

The Seoul Global Center Business Support Center is a place where foreigners doing business in Korea can receive business consultations and attend business classes. Additionally, businesspeople use the business lounge at the center for purposes such as office space and seminar rooms for planning and conducting their businesses. My responsibilities include working at the information desk and providing Russian and Uzbek translation services. Russian and Uzbek are among the languages offered at the Business Support Center, and a business support center for Russian, Uzbek, and Mongolian entrepreneurs will open in Dongdaemun at the end of August. While I have only met students during my time as an international student in Korea, through my global internship, I have had the opportunity to interact with foreigners actively engaged in business in Korea, gaining valuable information and learning a great deal about doing business in Korea.

Was the KF-EAI Korea Friendship program helpful?

For over six years of studying in Korea, I have learned about Korean society both inside and outside the campus and have experienced it firsthand through various opportunities. By participating in lectures, discussions, and conferences on the changing aspects of Korean society and various topics within the KF-EAI Korea Friendship program, I gained novel and insightful ideas and information that I had not previously considered. I particularly remember the free and active discussions between lecturers and participants. Furthermore, the most impressive event was the meeting with author Kim Young-ha. As I major in Korean Language and Literature, I value meetings with authors and received valuable advice on writing. Today, I am active as the president of the alumni association for the second cohort of KF-EAI Korea Friendship and continue to maintain precious connections with the executive committee.

A message to your juniors

"Carpe diem! (Seize the day!)"

Lately, I often see friends, not only foreigners but also Koreans, around me who are fearful of the future, lack confidence, and feel frustrated. As this is youth, these emotions and mental states are natural and understandable, but the longer they persist, the weaker the hope and belief in the future become. Therefore, I hope they find solutions as quickly as possible.

As long as you are an international student in Korea, I hope you seize every opportunity, engage in various activities, and challenge yourselves to learn about yourselves and find yourselves. Try various activities, do not fear failure, attempt new things, and keep moving forward. I, too, found my aptitude and rediscovered my dreams by engaging in various unrelated activities. I believe the KF-EAI Korea Friendship program played a significant role in achieving these results. Through this program, by attending lectures on topics I had never been interested in before, I broadened my horizons and learned the importance of having more creative thinking, which inspired me.

As the Korean proverb says, 'Pleasure follows hardship,' it is certain that today's hardships will return to you as tomorrow's success and happiness. Like my mother's words, 'It is not regrettable to live each day for the happy moments of the future,' I hope that you too will look back on the difficult times with a happy smile, without regret, when you reflect on your past!