Korean student enjoying US culture

This sweet faced kid is a drummer in a punk rock band at home in Seoul, South Korea. The band is called Zesture and he started it with his friends when they were in middle school. Now 16, Kyou Heon Kim is enjoying his first trip to the U.S. and he’s already certain it won’t be his last.

“I wanted to learn about a different culture and experience a different education system,” Kim said. “Everything is very free in the U.S. At home, teachers tell you what to do and you do it. If you want to move, you have to wait for permission.”

“I like it better here,” he grinned.

Kim's favorite classes are math and pep band. His favorite teacher is his conductor, Mrs. Darla Mead. Along with the drums, he’s spent the past five years learning to play the violin. He’s been practicing a solo performance for the coming spring concert, which he hopes people will attend.

He’s also been active on the track team and turned out for basketball, a sport he loves.

He has been staying with Dixie Kolditz and her family. In South Korea it’s just him, his little sister and his mom and dad. The Kolditz family includes eight children and it’s been a very different experience.

“It’s very crazy,” Kim said, “but it’s a lot of fun.”

The formality he experiences in school in South Korea extends to all his daily interactions and has been a source of confusion here in the states.

“Americans are very different,” he said. “We say ‘Hi’ at home but here, everyone asks how you are. ‘How are you? How you doin?’ I don’t know what to say. It’s very difficult for me.”

He has also noticed that people are friendlier here.

“We don’t talk to strangers,” Kim said. “We have to be introduced. If I know you, I talk to you. If I don’t know you, we don’t talk. We don’t feel that freedom. Here I can talk to you.”

Kim's father is a minister at a Christian church, and his family lives in the parsonage nearby. He can look out his window and see tall buildings and people and traffic, so the size of Cathlamet has been another adjustment.

Nevertheless, he’s having a good time.

He will return to high school in Seoul when this adventure is over and then continue on at a university, but he hopes to eventually return to the U.S. to study medicine and become a doctor.

“I want to help people,” Kim said.

With his kind face and easy laugh he is already doing that.