S3E20: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Mia Kim of South Korea

In this our twentieth (20th) episode of Season 3, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Mia Kim of South Korea about her experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

1:19 - Meet Mia!

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Transcript

Evan Franulovich  0:05  
Welcome to Seattle Colleges International Programs and our show 'Conversations with!', where we talk to people that help you understand how you too, can be an international student in the United States and why Seattle Colleges should be your first choice. We'll talk to students and staff and agents and government folks, all kinds of people about what you can expect when you're getting ready to apply or travel here, what you'll experience while you're with us, and how it can all lead to an amazing life. Don't forget to check out the Seattle Colleges International Programs website at intl.seattlecolleges.edu where you can find a treasure trove of information about the school, the programs here and best of all, fill out and submit your application. Again, that's intl.seattlecolleges.edu.

Evan Franulovich  1:08  
Welcome back to Seattle Colleges 'Conversations with!'. It's time. It's Wednesday, anotherepisode, this time from the country of...?

Mia Kim  1:20  
Republic of Korea. 

Evan Franulovich  1:21  
The Republic of Korea!!! Annyeonghaseyo!

Mia Kim  1:23  
Annyeonghaseyo!

Evan Franulovich  1:27  
So why don't we get started by having you introduce yourself - where you're from, not just... we already said Korea. Tell them what city you're from, and tell them your major and maybe how long you've been here your total.

Mia Kim  1:40  
Okay. Hi, I'm Mia Kim, and I'm from Republic of Korea, South Korea, and the city I came from called Pyeongchang, it is in the province called Gangwon do, and we had 2018 Winter Olympics. 

Evan Franulovich  1:57  
Oh, that's good to know. 

Mia Kim  2:00  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  2:00  
And did you actually get to see the Olympics? 

Mia Kim  2:03  
I saw the Paralympic opening ceremony, and, I was working there. And my part time, I worked at the pub and cafe at the same time. It was like, part time job. And, it was, like, only Canadian restaurant around there. So, yeah, I saw a lot of athletics and workers. 

Evan Franulovich  2:30  
Right. That's very cool. It was, what, 20 days? 30 days? That was a lot of... 

Mia Kim  2:36  
Like, a month. 

Evan Franulovich  2:37  
Yeah, yeah, that's a big commitment. Wow. I'm very jealous. I've always wanted to go to the Olympics, haven't made it yet. But it'll be what LA next time, so maybe I'll make it down there. So, but this was Winter Olympics. 

Mia Kim  2:50  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  2:50  
So it's obviously pretty cold where you're from. 

Mia Kim  2:52  
Yeah. So like, my hometown has, it's like Washington we have, like, lots of mountains, and most of ski and board resorts are in my hometown.

Evan Franulovich  3:06  
Are you a snowboarder skier?

Mia Kim  3:08  
Ski.

Evan Franulovich  3:09  
Now have you gone skiing since you've been in the US? 

Mia Kim  3:12  
I didn't ski for like, four or five years. 

Evan Franulovich  3:17  
What? 

Mia Kim  3:17  
Yeah, and, you know... 

Evan Franulovich  3:21  
Why not? 

Mia Kim  3:22  
I don't have a car. 

Evan Franulovich  3:23  
Oh, you don't have a car. 

Mia Kim  3:24  
And it's pretty far away from here, and I cannot ride it Uber.

Evan Franulovich  3:29  
No friends with the car?

Mia Kim  3:32  
I was thinking about rent because I have a driver license, but the time and everything's overlapped.

Evan Franulovich  3:40  
So, you still haven't been? 

Mia Kim  3:42  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  3:42  
Oh, well, we got to fix that. We'll get you up on the mountain, no problem. Very cool. Well, now you just said something that makes me wonder how long you've actually been in the United States. 

Mia Kim  3:52  
Oh, it's a long story. So I came to the States in 10th grade. 

Evan Franulovich  4:01  
10th grade? 

Mia Kim  4:01  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  4:02  
So, 16? 15?

Mia Kim  4:05  
15. 

Evan Franulovich  4:06  
15, okay. 

Mia Kim  4:07  
And then I graduated here.

Evan Franulovich  4:10  
Okay, cool. But why did you come? Were you an exchange student or something?

Mia Kim  4:15  
Um, I was in the International School back in home. It was a Canadian International School, and they I was able to transfer to the states directly. So I did it.

Evan Franulovich  4:31  
Not Canada, but the US. 

Mia Kim  4:32  
Yeah, the US. 

Evan Franulovich  4:33  
Interesting. So, and where did you go? 

Mia Kim  4:37  
Um, so in 10th grade, I was in Michigan, oh, and then I moved to North Carolina.

Evan Franulovich  4:48  
How long were you in Michigan? 

Mia Kim  4:50  
One year. 

Evan Franulovich  4:51  
Oh, just one year. And then, so in 11th grade you went to...? 

Mia Kim  4:55  
North Carolina. 

Evan Franulovich  4:56  
North Carolina, just you? 

Mia Kim  4:58  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  4:59  
Your family is back in Korea. 

Mia Kim  5:01  
Yep.

Evan Franulovich  5:01  
That's crazy. 

Mia Kim  5:03  
I know.

Evan Franulovich  5:03  
So did you just have host families that took care of you? 

Mia Kim  5:06  
I had a host family. 

Evan Franulovich  5:07  
Wow, that's great. And then you did two years in North Carolina, and graduated from a U.S high school.

Mia Kim  5:13  
And then I went to the NC State University. 

Evan Franulovich  5:17  
North Carolina. 

Mia Kim  5:19  
And then I spent there, like two years. But personal things happened, so I dropped out. I did from my school, and then I went back home, and when I decided to come back, COVID happened. Yeah, so I worked back at home for like, two years, and then while I worked, I thought, 'Oh, I think I don't have to go back to school'. So I just dropped out. And then, um, while working, um, like, getting a job, I realized, um, I think it's some Korean thing, but it is better to graduate school. And I don't know, at first I thought, I don't have to continue my study, but I think maybe going back to school and graduate and get a better degree and get a better job might help me. 

Evan Franulovich  6:29  
Might be, yeah. 

Mia Kim  6:30  
Might be. So that's why I decided, 'Okay, I'll go back to states', but I can not go back to the four year college right away, because I didn't start it for like, two years, and I was not sure, how is this the right choice for me? So I decided to go to the community college two years college. 

Evan Franulovich  6:51  
Right. 

Mia Kim  6:52  
Yep, so I came here. 

Evan Franulovich  6:53  
Well, that's great. Your parents must have been okay. They didn't pressure you to go back. They're like, good having you work. 

Mia Kim  7:02  
No.

Evan Franulovich  7:02  
That's great. 

Mia Kim  7:03  
But they were really glad that I said, 'Mom, Dad, I think I have to go back to school'. And  they were happy.

Evan Franulovich  7:10  
That's really great. I mean, I would, you know, a lot of parents would give a lot of pressure to a kid, in fact, that they didn't do that, that's really nice. Shout out to your family. That's really cool. Do you have brothers or sisters? 

Mia Kim  7:23  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  7:24  
Just you, huh? Very cool. All right, so the first time you came you what kind of a visa did you get for that? 

Mia Kim  7:32  
F-1.

Evan Franulovich  7:33  
You got an F-1, okay. 

Mia Kim  7:34  
Yeah. So I'm like an interesting case. 

Evan Franulovich  7:37  
You are. 

Mia Kim  7:37  
Usually they get J-1, right?

Evan Franulovich  7:39  
Yeah, maybe. So you got an F-1 visa to come to an American high school in Michigan. So tell us, how long did it take for you, if you remember, how long did it take for you, once you got your I-20 to get your interview? Did it take a long time?

Mia Kim  7:58  
It's been like 10 years. 

Evan Franulovich  7:59  
It's been a long time, yeah.

Mia Kim  8:00  
I think it really didn't do that. 

Evan Franulovich  8:03  
Oh, okay.

Mia Kim  8:04  
And, yeah, and also, the interesting thing is, after that, um, except when I was getting a new I-20. Um, usually when you have F-1 visa. I think this works for Korea, I'm not sure about other countries. If you are still a student, like you're attending the same school, and you have your I-20, and you had F-1 visa, and it's almost expired, I was able to just send my passport and all of documentation to the embassy, and then they will just automatically renew it. 

Evan Franulovich  8:42  
Okay. 

Mia Kim  8:43  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  8:44  
So you got an F-1 visa. Do you remember your interview at all? Because you're pretty young. 

Mia Kim  8:51  
I guess, I guess. It was pretty interesting experience. 

Evan Franulovich  8:56  
You got it on your first try? 

Mia Kim  8:58  
Yes.

Evan Franulovich  8:58  
Nice. 

Mia Kim  8:59  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  8:59  
Do you remember any of the questions they asked you? Why do you want to go to the US and study or?

Mia Kim  9:11  
Not really. 

Evan Franulovich  9:12  
No worries. 

Mia Kim  9:13  
I think they just the only question I remember is like, other than your parents, who is gonna sponsor you? That was the only question that I remember.

Evan Franulovich  9:26  
Okay, yeah. So, you got your visa, came over, spent a few years, went back, worked a couple years, then you had to get a new F-1 visa, or are you saying that they just renewed the other one?

Mia Kim  9:39  
Oh, so I renewed, like in 2020 so when I was still in the four year college, because my visa was still alive until 2026 so I didn't have to renew it.

Evan Franulovich  9:55  
You didn't? 

Mia Kim  9:56  
Yeah, I just came in. 

Evan Franulovich  9:57  
You had to bring, you had to take your I-20 from this school, though. 

Mia Kim  10:01  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  10:01  
And have them do whatever needed.

Mia Kim  10:02  
Yeah. So when you're doing screening, they're gonna ask, so your visa is saying NC State, but your I-20 is Seattle Community College. So, yeah, that happens, but sometimes I got caught, but it really doesn't matter. And for the visa, I want to say something. 

Evan Franulovich  10:23  
Sure, yeah, go for it. 

Mia Kim  10:24  
Okay, so when you renew your passport, you have your visa passport. So I have two passports right now. And when, and like it happened in here. So like it thing is, like last winter, I was trying to go back home, and I had two visa, I have two passport, oh, two separate visas. So one is for visa and one is for passport.

Evan Franulovich  10:53  
Okay, that makes sense. 

Mia Kim  10:55  
I left my visa passport in my apartment. 

Evan Franulovich  10:59  
Oh, no. 

Mia Kim  11:00  
And then I just realized it in my departure airplane. So I was sitting there in the seat, and I said, 'Oh my god, I forgot my visa passport, and my airplane just took off'.

Evan Franulovich  11:15  
Yeah, so how did you get back? 

Mia Kim  11:17  
That's what I want to say. So if you forgot your visa passport in the States, there are, like few ways, but the one that I use was because I had the visa photo, I scanned it. If you have a visa file, print it out. 

Evan Franulovich  11:33  
Right. 

Mia Kim  11:33  
And just print it out and have your passport and your I-20, and your SEVIS. 

Evan Franulovich  11:41  
This is good advice, guys. 

Mia Kim  11:43  
All documentation you can. And also I brought my class schedule from the school. 

Evan Franulovich  11:50  
Oh, good. 

Mia Kim  11:51  
So they can know that I am still going school. 

Evan Franulovich  11:55  
Right, right. 

Mia Kim  11:56  
Yeah. Anyway, I have to go to the additional screening and stay in that cold, dark room with police officer, and security, and the people. But still, I brought everything. 

Evan Franulovich  12:13  
Yeah. 

Mia Kim  12:14  
And I went to additional screening, and because I had the record that I came to the States lots in the past.

Evan Franulovich  12:21  
Okay, that's really good lesson to be learned here. So make sure you always have print outs of all your stuff, passport, visas, SEVIS, whatever, I-20s. Good. That's really good. Well, cool. And so how did you hear about, because you were on the East Coast, how did you hear about Seattle Colleges?

Mia Kim  12:42  
The reason why I chose Seattle was, I was tired of rural area, and the only thing that I heard of Seattle is one of the like most Democratic... 

Evan Franulovich  13:00  
It's progressive. 

Mia Kim  13:02  
It's pretty open minded. And because I'm from East Coast, rural area, so everybody is Christian, everybody's white.

Evan Franulovich  13:14  
Yeah, yeah. 

Mia Kim  13:15  
So I mean, I was like, so rural area, and I'm here, and it is, like, really queer friendly, and I don't know it is because the time, because when I was in other states, it was like, 10 years ago, 5 years ago, but, um, I feel more welcomed here, because even though I'm different race and also usually the things that I heard when I was in other states, it was like, Chinese, 'Where are you from?'. In here, most of people I met, they never asked where I'm from. 

Evan Franulovich  14:10  
Interesting.

Mia Kim  14:10  
And, yeah, they just treated me, like just a person, yeah, so that was really nice. 

Evan Franulovich  14:19  
Are you gonna stick around Seattle? Because you're graduating now, right? You graduated. 

Mia Kim  14:26  
I graduated. 

Evan Franulovich  14:28  
And tell me again what your major was? 

Mia Kim  14:30  
Biology.

Evan Franulovich  14:31  
Biology. What do you want to do with that?

Mia Kim  14:34  
Um, so I'm transferring and like, my major gonna be animal science and about productions and welfares.

Evan Franulovich  14:42  
Cool. And where are you transferring to? 

Mia Kim  14:45  
Wazoo. 

Evan Franulovich  14:45  
Wazoo. 

Mia Kim  14:46  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  14:47  
You going to Pullman? Are you going to stay here now? 

Mia Kim  14:49  
Pullman.

Evan Franulovich  14:49  
All right, when do you go? 

Mia Kim  14:53  
Next spring, like this spring.

Evan Franulovich  14:55  
This spring. So, during the winter quarter. Will you have classes with us? 

Mia Kim  15:02  
Yeah, I had. 

Evan Franulovich  15:02  
You had. 

Mia Kim  15:03  
And I finished.

Evan Franulovich  15:04  
Well, this is fall, so we still have winter quarter. 

Mia Kim  15:07  
Yes, yes, yes. So I finished full quarter and like, I'm now transferring. 

Evan Franulovich  15:11  
Oh, so you'll be there for winter. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. 

Mia Kim  15:14  
Because they are full quarter and spring quarters. 

Evan Franulovich  15:16  
Yeah, yeah, cool. Well, good luck, and you'll be a cougar. How exciting? 

Mia Kim  15:21  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  15:23  
Why did you choose Wazoo?

Mia Kim  15:26  
Okay, so main reason was scholarship. 

Evan Franulovich  15:29  
Oh. 

Mia Kim  15:29  
Yeah, because Udub doesn't give scholarship to international students, but Wazoo was great deal. They are giving me scholarship.

Evan Franulovich  15:42  
It's called the Transfer Scholarship, yeah? 

Mia Kim  15:44  
Yeah. They have international scholarship. So, um, depending on your GPA, they're gonna give the Transfer Scholarship, and then you're also open with amount of opportunity to apply the scholarship. 

Evan Franulovich  15:57  
Oh, cool. 

Mia Kim  15:59  
That was, like, the main reason. 

Evan Franulovich  16:01  
Yeah. 

Mia Kim  16:01  
And also they had really, they had like... So, animal science has, like few, how can I say like, concentration of studies? So they are, they have, like, some region of focus, so some, some are pre vet, and some are others. And that happens to like most of the animal science major and all other university and Wazoo had animal science focused in production. 

Evan Franulovich  16:34  
Cool. 

Mia Kim  16:34  
Yeah, it was pretty good deal. And also, Washington has pretty high rate with employment rate.. 

Evan Franulovich  16:41  
Oh, it's true. 

Mia Kim  16:42  
... after graduating in animal science. 

Evan Franulovich  16:45  
Right. Yeah, yeah. How did you hear about that program at Wazoo? Did you just in your own research, or did you meet someone at a transfer fair?

Mia Kim  16:53  
Oh, I did all my application by myself. 

Evan Franulovich  16:58  
You did?

Mia Kim  16:59  
Yeah, I looked up and the and also, I focus on the DTA. 

Evan Franulovich  17:04  
Yes. 

Mia Kim  17:06  
What was it? Direct...

Evan Franulovich  17:07  
Direct Transfer Agreements. So those are, so if you have a DTA, your credits will transfer, which is really important so you don't lose time and money. 

Mia Kim  17:16  
Because I'm like restarting, retrying in the university, so that was why.

Evan Franulovich  17:23  
Yeah, it's kind of important. So, where did you hear about it? Then you did all your own research, but so you just use the web. You just were doing research. 

Mia Kim  17:34  
So, I looked up the Seattle College Transfer website. 

Evan Franulovich  17:39  
Gotcha. 

Mia Kim  17:39  
They had, like a list of schools that I can do DTA.

Evan Franulovich  17:46  
Right. 

Mia Kim  17:46  
Yeah. And then I looked up each schools majors, like animal science, how were they ranked? And, like, what kind of studies they have? 

Evan Franulovich  17:55  
Oh, it's great. 

Mia Kim  17:56  
I decided, yeah. And I applied some other schools. But Wazoo was the best deal. 

Evan Franulovich  18:01  
Okay, where else did you apply? Did you apply to Oregon State? 

Mia Kim  18:04  
Yeah, I did. 

Evan Franulovich  18:05  
I knew it. 

Mia Kim  18:06  
I did. 

Evan Franulovich  18:07  
They have a great program down there. 

Mia Kim  18:08  
They had really good animal behavior and welfare programs. But, um, they are quarter, they are, like a community college, like they are doing quarter system. 

Evan Franulovich  18:18  
Yes. 

Mia Kim  18:19  
And yeah, I looked about it, but scholarship. 

Evan Franulovich  18:24  
Sure, scholarships are really important. 

Mia Kim  18:26  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  18:29  
So, talking about scholarships. Here at Seattle Colleges, we offer a foundation scholarship every year in the winter. Did you ever apply for the Foundation Scholarship?

Mia Kim  18:37  
I applied it, and I think I got one of the like, in 2023 to 2024. Yeah, I applied.

Evan Franulovich  18:49  
Applied in one this scholarship. 

Mia Kim  18:51  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  18:51  
That's great.

Mia Kim  18:53  
It was not really big, but it helped. 

Evan Franulovich  18:54  
Sure. 

Mia Kim  18:55  
It definitely helped.

Evan Franulovich  18:56  
Yeah, it's a range. The scholarship depends on a lot of factors, but it's anywhere from, say $500-$5000 so that's really great. Did you ever work on campus as well?

Mia Kim  19:09  
Um, no, but there were some documentation process that I had some mistakes, so I got in, but I was not able to work. 

Evan Franulovich  19:23  
You mean, like on the social security side or something? Or was it with the application process? 

Mia Kim  19:29  
It was application. 

Evan Franulovich  19:30  
Okay, sure. But now you're done. So will you be able to work at Washington State? Do they have, they have a lot of opportunity for you.

Mia Kim  19:39  
I have a social security number. 

Evan Franulovich  19:41  
Oh, cool. 

Mia Kim  19:42  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  19:43  
Very nice. Now you are graduating, so do you plan to come back in May to walk for the graduation?

Mia Kim  19:55  
My graduation was in last summer. 

Evan Franulovich  19:59  
Yeah. 

Mia Kim  20:00  
And I didn't know that I was graduating in summer. 

Evan Franulovich  20:04  
Oh, no!

Mia Kim  20:05  
Yep, so, but I have my certificate. 

Evan Franulovich  20:09  
Yes, you do!

Mia Kim  20:10  
And I have my that little paper thingy. 

Evan Franulovich  20:14  
Cool! 

Mia Kim  20:14  
I will be okay. 

Evan Franulovich  20:15  
So, the degree you got here is in biology. What was your favorite course that focused on biology? Did you take any interesting courses?

Mia Kim  20:28  
Okay, so for this, I was a pre-vet student when I was at NC State (North Carolina). I was still thinking about working with animals, but I wasn’t sure which part of it. I didn’t want to go to the vet course because I was pretty stressed out. Maybe in the future, but not at this time. Then, I took an Introduction to Animal Behavior with Professor John Movid. That class made me interested in animal behavior and welfare. And, yeah, that class...

Evan Franulovich  21:04  
And that class was here? 

Mia Kim  21:06  
Yeah, it was, like, turning point, it was the only class, and I feel pretty sad about it, but it was really interesting. And, yeah, I really enjoyed that class. 

Evan Franulovich  21:19  
That's cool. 

Mia Kim  21:19  
And it was like a turning point. 

Evan Franulovich  21:21  
When I'm traveling, I serve Latin America, Middle East, Africa. I don't get very many students who come up to the table that are thinking about coming to the US, and they ask me about either agriculture or animal science. It's an unusual request. Most people are like, engineering, business, you know, medicine. So that's really awesome that you're doing something a little bit different. What got you? I mean, what can you do with that degree when you go back to Korea? 

Mia Kim  21:50  
Oh, okay, so usually when you're focused in agricultural animal science, it's better you to get a PhD. We work in the food companies. 

Evan Franulovich  22:07  
Oh, sure. 

Mia Kim  22:08  
And though there are some livestock companies. 

Evan Franulovich  22:15  
That makes sense. 

Mia Kim  22:16  
Yep. Animal scientists, you can be animal scientist working in a zoo or a farm.

Evan Franulovich  22:22  
Sure, sure. Is your part of Korea tend to be rural? Is it a lot of rural? Is it pretty rural?

Mia Kim  22:30  
Yeah, my hometown is really famous for Korean beef. 

Evan Franulovich  22:34  
Oh, no kidding. 

Mia Kim  22:36  
Like Korean barbecues. 

Evan Franulovich  22:38  
Oh, yeah. I've been to Seoul, but I've never been outside of Seoul. So is the food different from kind of province to province? Does it change a lot? Or is Korean food, Korean food? 

Mia Kim  22:52  
I think it is a little different, like, um, because, my parents are from the southern area, from Busan, so, their food is, like, a little more spicy, a little more salty than the hometown that I'm like, living right, living right now. That is because of the weather differences. 

Evan Franulovich  23:20  
Sure. A lot colder up north than down south. 

Mia Kim  23:23  
Also, because we are a peninsula, and my hometown is surrounded with mountains, and my parents, where they are from, is surrounded with ocean, sea. 

Evan Franulovich  23:36  
Sure. 

Mia Kim  23:37  
They use more seafood. 

Evan Franulovich  23:38  
Yeah, yeah. How far are you from the coast? 

Mia Kim  23:42  
Um, with a car, like, 5-6 hours. 

Evan Franulovich  23:46  
Oh, it's still quite a ways. Oh, I'm gonna have to look at a map. Wow. Okay, cool. I grew up on the coast, so I love seafood, but five hours is a long way. 

Mia Kim  23:55  
Yep. Also, because it is peninsula we all have sea.

Evan Franulovich  24:00  
They bring it up, and everybody, yeah, that's cool. Well, cool. Well, like, what'd you do for fun? Or, what have you been doing for fun In Seattle? You don't have a car, so is it easy to get around town and then do things?

Mia Kim  24:13  
Yeah, I usually ride a Lime. 

Evan Franulovich  24:17  
Ride a what? 

Mia Kim  24:17  
Lime.

Evan Franulovich  24:18  
Oh, those are the little scooters, yeah. 

Mia Kim  24:21  
And because, like, they have pretty good bike roads, so when I want to go to downtown, I usually ride a lime. And I told you, I'm from the rural area. It was pretty interesting that, like, everywhere they have trains, street car, busses. 

Evan Franulovich  24:38  
Yeah. 

Mia Kim  24:38  
Without car, you can do a lot of things in Seattle. 

Evan Franulovich  24:42  
It's true. 

Mia Kim  24:43  
And I'm an indoor person. 

Evan Franulovich  24:47  
Okay. 

Mia Kim  24:48  
Yep, most of my fun things are happening in my house. 

Evan Franulovich  24:51  
Nice. 

Mia Kim  24:52  
Yep.

Evan Franulovich  24:52  
So I was gonna tell you, since you ski, I think you can actually catch a bus downtown that will take you up to Stevens Pass. Yeah, but like,

Mia Kim  25:03  
I told you everything over a laugh and, like, right after I finished, like, my old school works and this vacation, I'm gonna chill in my home. Sounds good, playing games and watch movies. Yep.

Evan Franulovich  25:18  
All right, fair enough. Oh, you hear that? It's Trivia Time. 

Mia Kim  25:23  
Okay.

Evan Franulovich  25:24  
Trivia Time is part of the show where we ask you five questions. If you get them all right, you're on our wall of fame. And if you don't, then you'll just cry yourself to sleep tonight. It'll be pretty tragic. Okay. Question number one: There are three national parks surrounding Seattle. Can you name one of those national parks?

Mia Kim  25:50  
Um, mountain, something. Mountain... I forgot. 

Evan Franulovich  25:57  
Oh, you're close. Mount Rainier National Park, yes, and you haven't been to Mount Rainier yet. So sad. We got to find someone with a car to take you up there, because it's really nice. 

Mia Kim  26:09  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  26:09  
Yeah, Mount Rainier National Park that's off to the south and east. Olympic National Park, which is over there. You can see them from the water down there, and then North Cascades National Park up in the north. So boy, if you get a chance to see any of those very nice.

Mia Kim  26:24  
I gotta to rent a car. 

Evan Franulovich  26:25  
Yeah, yeah. I think I may have asked you this before, Taekwondo, did you do Taekwondo?

Mia Kim  26:30  
No.

Evan Franulovich  26:30  
Man, can't believe it. All right, but I'm gonna ask you a Taekwondo related question anyway, since it's the national sport of Korea, what is a 'Dollyo chagi'?

Mia Kim  26:43  
Um, you kick with turn?

Evan Franulovich  26:47  
Yes! Do you know the way we say that in English? 

Mia Kim  26:50  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  26:51  
It's a roundhouse kick. 

Mia Kim  26:53  
Oh! 

Evan Franulovich  26:54  
'Dollyo chagi' is a roundhouse. 

Mia Kim  26:56  
Interesting.

Evan Franulovich  26:57  
 There you go. All right, very good. Number three, if you are going to go on vacation, what do you have to do with your I-20?

Mia Kim  27:09  
I have to get a signature. 

Evan Franulovich  27:11  
Yes. 

Mia Kim  27:12  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  27:12  
You have to get a signature. Super important. It's no problem taking a vacation, just make sure you get that signature. This is a follow up question to that, how many semesters in a row must you do before you qualify for a vacation quarter? 

Mia Kim  27:28  
Three quarters.

Evan Franulovich  27:29  
Yes, I wasn't sure you're gonna answer. That's a tough question. Nice job. 

Mia Kim  27:33  
But...

Evan Franulovich  27:34  
What?

Mia Kim  27:34  
But if you're in the college level, and you started in winter or spring. And even though you have like, one quarter, you can still get the summer vacation.

Evan Franulovich  27:49  
Ooooohhhhh!

Mia Kim  27:49  
I did that.

Evan Franulovich  27:50  
There you go. That's pretty cool.

Mia Kim  27:52  
Even though you did two quarters, but it is your first summer, you still can have a vacation.

Evan Franulovich  27:57  
Oh, that's interesting. And then does it reset then? 

Mia Kim  28:00  
Yes.

Evan Franulovich  28:01  
Okay, gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, a lot of people do take vacation. Summer tends to be a little quieter, but we are open for business. You can come and take classes during the summer, but if you want to take a vacation quarter, you can. 

Mia Kim  28:13  
Yeah, but my recommendation is take a... Like, if you're rushing, like, you have to, like, retake the classes, or sometimes you have to take only online classes. You have to use your vacation quarter. 

Evan Franulovich  28:29  
Now, you've been to many parts. You've been in North Carolina, Michigan. Have you traveled just for fun to other parts of the US? Where have you gone? 

Mia Kim  28:36  
I went to LA, San Diego, New York. 

Evan Franulovich  28:40  
Nice. 

Mia Kim  28:41  
Chicago. 

Evan Franulovich  28:43  
San Francisco? 

Mia Kim  28:45  
Yes, San Francisco. 

Evan Franulovich  28:46  
I love San Francisco. It's probably my second favorite city after New York, and then Seattle is my third favorite. Nice. Okay, final question, this will be tough for you, since you're an indoor person, what was the last movie that you saw? 

Mia Kim  29:05  
Inside out 2.

Evan Franulovich  29:07  
That's what, last summer, maybe? How was it? 

Mia Kim  29:11  
It was great. I cried a lot. I cried a lot! 

Evan Franulovich  29:15  
So get the Kleenex, if you're gonna check it out, too. I think I saw the first one, which was really good.

Mia Kim  29:20  
I think, because I think that Inside out 2 is like, really, it is the movie for the 20-30s, adults, because it reminds me my teenage years. Yeah, like all the anxiety that I went through, it was great. 

Evan Franulovich  29:41  
And now you're chill? 

Mia Kim  29:44  
Pretty much. 

Evan Franulovich  29:45  
Nice! That's great. I'm curious, you know, we're the recipients now of a lot more Korean films and television shows. Do you watch a lot of that? I mean, Korean culture, seems to be exported quite a bit now.

Mia Kim  30:03  
Yeah, to be honest, I'm not a K drama fan. I like movies, but I don't really watch K drama. But, like, it was interesting because, um, I really like the comics, so we call it Webtoon and back in home. But it was really interesting that lots of people in here are now watching the Manha, so they are not calling it Manga in Japanese, they're calling it Manha in Korean. And it was that was pretty impressive. 

Evan Franulovich  30:36  
Yeah, that's cool. Couple years ago, one movie was up for Best Picture, I think. Did you see Parasite? 

Mia Kim  30:44  
Yeah, I did. 

Evan Franulovich  30:45  
What do you think? 

Mia Kim  30:49  
It was pretty realistic.

Evan Franulovich  30:53  
Was it? I haven't seen it yet. I've been wanting to see it because it was up for an award, and I just haven't gone around to it. 

Mia Kim  31:00  
It was humorous, but it was a little bit sad. 

Evan Franulovich  31:07  
Yeah, yeah. All right. Well, we come to the part of the show now where we ask you for your wisdom. You've been around the block for a while now. You've been to high schools, you've been to universities and colleges, and you're getting ready to go to Washington state, so you have a lot of experience. What kind of advice would you have for kids back home that are thinking about maybe coming to the US, becoming an international student? 

Mia Kim  31:32  
Yeah, you don't know what will happen, studying abroad and living by yourself and do things by yourself. It is not just lovely, fantastic, fun, you can face anything. So you can do anything by coming here, but you can also experience anything, and anything also includes the negative part, so you have to be brave.

Evan Franulovich  32:03  
Well, yeah, expect the unexpected. I think that's really good advice for sure.

Mia Kim  32:07  
Yep.

Evan Franulovich  32:07  
Yeah, you never know. All right. Well, the last thing I usually ask is for you to say a few words in Korean, in your case, in your first first language doesn't have to be anything big. You can just say hi to your family back home, or you can back home, or you can, you know, offer words of encouragement, or whatever you think is important. I think most people may have heard Korean before, but just in case.

Mia Kim  32:36  
I'll talk about the driver license. 

Evan Franulovich  32:38  
Sure. 

Mia Kim  32:39  
This is just a little tip so *Mia's advice in Korean*

Evan Franulovich  33:17  
All right. I'm gonna have to take your word for it, because my Korean is very bad. I can just say like, things like, 'Dollyo chagi' and 'Ap chagi'. 

Mia Kim  33:31  
No, you're good. 

Evan Franulovich  33:32  
Very limited. Nice job. Well, thanks so much for being on the show. It was great to meet you. Good luck at Washington State. 

Mia Kim  33:39  
Thank you. 

Evan Franulovich  33:40  
Hope you come back and see us when you graduate from Washington State, and let us know how it went. 

Mia Kim  33:45  
Maybe. 

Evan Franulovich  33:45  
Yay, that would be cool if you give her get back to Seattle. But otherwise, Pullman is really nice. I think Spokane is a nice little town, and Moscow's nearby as well. So you have a lot of great places to visit. So, cool. 

Mia Kim  33:59  
Thank you. 

Evan Franulovich  33:59  
Thank you. And you guys, don't forget to like and subscribe every Wednesday, we got a new podcast coming your way. Thanks so much for joining us. Have a great day! Bye-Bye!

Mia Kim  34:13  
Bye!

Evan Franulovich  34:13  
'Conversations with!' is painstakingly crafted for you by the Seattle Colleges International Programs department and supported by the lovely folks here on our campus. This show is produced and edited by me Evan Franulovich. We welcome your emails and questions about coming to Seattle Colleges. Please reach out to us via our website or just give us a rating and a review on Apple podcasts as this helps others discover the show. Also, don't forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or YouTube at Seattle Colleges Intl, that's Seattle Colleges Intl. And be sure to check out all of the shows here on 'Conversations with!' Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.