Shin So Yeon（辛沼沿） was a national civil servant in South Korea four years ago, but now, she is a graduate student learning Chinese in Kunming. Six months in Kunming makes her curious and hungry for more local snacks as well as the culture in Yunnan. She is just starting a new chapter in the city.

It was a sunny afternoon on August 6. Lynn, a reporter from InKunming met Shin So Yeon in the northern urban area of Kunming.

Speaking fluent Chinese with slightly "foreign accent", she majored Chinese in the college, as she was convinced that learning the language would open up good future. Having worked in her country for four years, she is learning Chinese language again at Yunnan University now with an opportunity for state-financed student studying abroad. Thus, different from many Korean students here, she is paid to study for two years.

Nearly half a year is spent on learning the language in this city. She is now ready for her major, international politics, in the upcoming two years .

When she just arrived in the city, she found herself ardently loved the blue sky and the snow-white clouds. "My home is Soeul. Kunming is different from Soeul. Looking up at the sky, I found the clouds closer to the horizon than any other places on the earth." said she.

Learning Chinese is seemingly an unending job for her, since she spends most of her time with the language. It is with this type of determination and endeavor, Shin is completely able to talk in Chinese in the interview which lasts for nearly four hours. She is now in an advanced-level class of 9 students. Learning Chinese can not be a challenge for her any more, but she assesses her language skills with a simple sentence, "they are all great, except me."

Learning Chinese, for Shin,brings her a plenty of joy. Students are given an abundance of opportunities for discussion in class. A Chinese teacher has encouraged them to present themselves in Chinese, even at the price of the absence from class. "I got surprised at his decision, but was happy. I traveled to Guilin before the Dragon Boat Festival. It turned out that the teacher was right." She shared her trip with other students, both of which lengthened her life journey and enriched others’ traveling dream.

Though having been focused on practicing English, she is not satisfied with her Chinese, especially the speaking Chinese. "In my class, European students are better at speaking and expressing ideas. I feel enlightened when I am having a discussions with them. They are very competent in expressing what they want to say. They are not shy at all." Shin said as many Chinese students she is more skilled at writing but comparatively weak in speaking at class.

The nearly-six months have affected Shin. She gets to further understand herself and the other eight classmates from different countries, including those from Southeast Asia. "In South Korea, many people have kind of bias on the Southeast Asians most of which are less-educated and live in poverty in our country. Now, I think they are people from different countries and have different culture. They are all my friends."

She often smiles. And it is easy for her to attract others’ attention while smiling, just like a magnet.

She also takes a shine to the rice noodle, a local snack in Kunming. "I have the Korean cuisine for maybe one day a week, because I found many good local snacks. I like the rice noodle cooked in pots a lot."

"Now, my flavor of food forces me a Kunmingese. I will recommend the food to more friends when I return to Korea. We stir the pepper powders on the pork then get the pork roasted over the fire. But in Kunming, I dip the barbecue in the pepper powers. It feels really good."

She said she has been used to the life here and enjoys living here. "My choice to Kunming is right. I like here."

In addition, the fruit price is half of that in her hometown. Maybe the fruit price is no more than common for the locals here, but this is a big surprise for Shin.

Shin grades the life in Kunming into 88 with a full mark of 100. The minus 12 stems from her homesickness partially, since she has never lived far away from home for such a long time. On the other hand, the pollution in the city has tarnished her first impression. She mentioned that she has not washed her shoes for nearly 3 years before arriving in Kunming. The urban construction has produced dusts, a result of the muddy shoes for a few days.

"The experience in Kunming will be branded in my life. As majority girls in our country, I attended and, then, finished the elementary school, high school and the college in a normal way. But my experience in China differs me from many Korean girls at the same age, though we were all encouraged to marry early and to have a baby, I have been dreaming of going back to the campus to learn more. Now, my dream comes true in Kunming."

When the interview is nearly ending. She recalls the February day when she, in down jacket, stepped off the plane departing from South Korea and was "attacked" by the heat wave of the so-called Eternal Spring City. Though it was uncomfortable to wear a winter clothes at that time, she saw the twinkling stars in the clear sky. It was beautiful.

Li Han（李晗） also contributed to this article.

(Editor:Lynn)

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