Meet My Friends, Jeeyoun
An interview to a friend I met during my trip in Seoul.
Welcome to Meet My Friends, a series of interviews with people I met during my trips, special people who became my friends. I enjoy meeting new people while travelling, so I often volunteer during my trips. I think it is important to meet local people to know more about the culture of the place you visit, and sometimes you meet people with fascinating stories. In these interviews, I want you to know a bit about my friends and their countries, their stories and why they are special to me.
This interview is with Jeeyoun. I met her the first time in Seoul, and thanks to Couchsurfing, we spent a nice afternoon together visiting the city. The second time we met in Rome for a weekend, we explored the city with her students. She is a very friendly and interesting person, and I’m happy I stayed in touch with her. Hopefully, we will meet again somewhere soon.
Please meet my friend Jeeyoun, I hope you enjoy this interview.
Please introduce yourself, including where you are from, where you are right now, what you do, and how your typical day goes.
Hello, I'm Jeeyoun Oh from South Korea. I'm a tutor who teaches math to high/middle school students. I have 3-4 classes in the afternoon every day for 6 days, and I volunteer to teach English to housewives once a week in the morning.
I have another important project every year, which is travelling to Europe with some of my students or the children of my neighbour during winter vacation.
What does travelling mean to you?
More than anything, I would say it’s another chapter of my life. I didn't travel a lot before I got married. Have only experienced a 20-day trip to Europe with my best friend when I was a freshman in university. After I gave birth, I got to think more about myself and to explore the world with my son.
I've made a plan for a trip to Europe with my son and some of my students. The challenges made me change a lot, and I think it’s kind of a turning point in my life. Since I got married so early, I think I was lacking experience compared to people of my age.
Travelling with my son and some teenagers is a lesson to me. Sometimes it teaches me patience, but also gives me frustrations, sometimes it draws me creative ideas, and it ends up making me feel like I get some achievements. I always welcome unexpected happenings and experiences. Such diverse experiences might make me stronger, more resilient, flexible and more thoughtful human.
So I want to say ‘travelling’ is a part of my life, which can make me richer. Of course, I sometimes travel to relax with my family or friends.
What is your favourite destination? Why?
I have many favourite places to visit again. But if I pick only one, I will choose Italy. Why? I don’t know. I just love the vibes the different cities give me. There are different cultures, people, architecture, and nature from the south to northern Italy.
Especially, I love people. I can say that every Italian person I’ve met is loving and passionate. I think Italian and Korean have many common characteristics, and I feel comfortable and at home in Italy, anywhere.
How do you describe Koreans to someone that never been to South Korea?
Very smart and passionate, but be aware, they do not look that nice and kind at first, but if you keep getting to know them, then they will change, open their mind and end up being your bestie.
Based on your experience on Couchsurfing, what did you like the most about meeting travellers?
What I like most about Couchsurfing is that the virtual people can be my real friends, someone who can connect heart to heart. So, I could say I have many sisters and brothers around the world. That sounds funny, though. Those people, I can say, brothers and sisters, are very valuable people to me in Korean culture.
What are the must-see places in Seoul?
The Five Royal palaces, Jongmyo Shrine (one of the oldest and best-preserved Confucian royal shrines in the world), and local markets.
What are the must-see places in South Korea?
Seolaksan in Kangwon province, a rural house in the countryside, if you have an opportunity to visit there, you must be very lucky. You can feel the traditional and unique ‘Jeong of Korea’.
Can you suggest one or two dishes you shouldn't miss while visiting South Korea?
Ganjang gejang: the crab is cut into pieces and aged in boiled soybean sauce. If you are a seafood lover and brave enough, try this!
Grilled Korean beef – Hanwoo
What do you see tourists doing that they shouldn't do while visiting South Korea?
In Korea, people surprisingly follow rules well; they respect the traffic light, don't cut while they are waiting in a line, and they don’t throw trash around. So please do the same.
Can you tell us something common to do somewhere else, but weird to do in South Korea?
The first thing: blowing their nose at the table or in front of people. Another cultural point is the portion size of food in Korea. There’s something called "Ssam culture" (쌈문화), where you wrap different ingredients — like meat and vegetables — together in a leaf. The wrap can get a little big, and it might feel challenging, but you should eat it all in one bite without cutting it. That’s the proper way in Korea. In fact, cutting it in half would seem strange!
If you could be a character in a movie, what would you be?
Interesting question, I’ve never thought about this. Even though I’m not a perfect human, I love who I am. I just try to be a gorgeous and elegant human being and keep trying to be.
Thank you to Jeeyoun for participating in Meet My Friends. If you enjoyed it, please consider subscribing, upgrading to a paid subscription, or buying me a coffee. You can also share it with people you think might like this content.
