Kim spent the first year learning Chinese. Life was not easy at the beginning when Chinese was totally alien to him. “Once I wanted to cut my hair short, but my poor language expression misled the barber and he shaved off all my hair. I remained bareheaded for a long time.” Kim told the story, laughing. To improve his language skills, Kim watched a lot of Chinese soap operas and movies. After a while, he overcame the difficulty in communicating and started to enjoy his life in China. “I traveled a lot and have a great fancy for Chinese food. Suan Cai fish (water boiled spicy fish), Jing Jiang Rou Si (sautéed meat shreds with soy bean paste) and Peking Duck are my favorite dishes.” Through traveling, Kim learnt a lot about Chinese culture and has many good memories. “I love China, and I will definitely miss the days spent here.”
Kim showed gratitude to Tianjin University and his teachers. “TJU is a great university that offers a very good education. I’m most impressed by its practice of precise learning and strict teaching.” He noticed that the university had zero tolerance for cheating on exams and academic plagiarizing. “TJU students are very diligent. They learn very hard. Actually, most Chinese people I know are hard workers. That’s what I should learn from them.”