What it's like growing up and living in Seoul, South Korea?
My neighborhood was a poor ghetto. Bongcheon was its past name, which means "the area where it's the closest to the sky". However, it was changed to Haengun, meaning "luck".
10 years ago, when I lived in the U.S., people asked me where I was from. I said, "Korea." And then they asked, "South or North?"
10 years later after Psy's Gangnam Style, BTS's popularity and all the Korean movies, they say, "I enjoyed watching the Squid Game."
Seoul is the capital in South Korea where 10 million people live, which is 1/5 of South Korean population. I grew up in the Southern part of the city nearby the Seoul National University, Gwanak Mountain, Nakseongdae, and Han River.
I went to the Moonyoung Girl's middle school and high school where it had too many rules and regulations against students. I had to buy a pair of uncomfortable black shoes, my skirt had to be longer than my knee line, and my hair had to be 20cm and always tied to look "polite" and "neat". We had to arrive the school before 8:50am, otherwise, we were punished. My mom drove to pick me up at 11pm when the self-study time was finished at schools.
Private classes outside schools were necessary to pass the exam for universities. All I wanted was to get A for all exams, which was too much pressure for myself, not considering my own ability and mental health.
(To be continued...)
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