Yueyan Shi

My journey

My name is Yueyan Shi and I am from Jilin, China. Growing up in region that is known for its rich history associated with many ethnic minorities in China, I was able to experience and learn from the fascinating culture and history in Manchuria, especially those that are related to the Korean diaspora community in Jilin. Starting from my childhood, I was very interested in learning Korean language and culture with my fellow Korean Chinese friends. And since my family was doing work that requires traveling around Jilin frequently, I was often introduced to Korean language and culture by my family’s friends in Yanbian as well. These experiences at the early stage of my life deeply encouraged me to explore Korean culture, and if by any ways, a further exploration to Asian cultures in general. In this case, while I was completing the IB program in an international high school, which was fully done in English, I dedicated myself in the studying of Korean and Japanese language at the same time. The opportunity of being in a multi-lingual environment allowed me to realize my passion in educating myself with the fascinating culture of East Asia. However, language and culture were not the only thing I discovered myself being passionate at. Since high school, I was actively participating in volunteering activities related to helping children with autism. The experience of being able to see and understand the struggle of minority groups in my community allowed me to reflect myself, and realize that my understanding toward the society should not only be limited to languages and cultures. Therefore, on top of my passion toward languages and cultures in Asian community, I wish to educate myself about the community with different perspectives in my college life. Lastly, outside of school, I spent my private life discovering my interest in literatures, reading and getting inspired by different Asian literature, which allowed me to publish my own collection of fictions and poetries at the end of the school year.

I decided to pursue my passion in University of British Columbia in Canada, where I majored in Asian language and culture (focusing on Korea) under the Asian Study Department. Studying in the Asian Studies Department allowed me to be educated with Korean language and culture together with many other students from the rest of the world. It as well gave me the opportunity to learn many more things from other Asian communities as well, for example, the modern literature of Japan and China, the fascinating Persian world and many others. Other than life in school, I continued my interest in learning about languages and cultures in my private life. I took the opportunity of Vancouver being an international city to make friends from different cultural background, joining language exchange and culture exchange events.

Why Korea Study

I wish to pursue my interest in Korea studies in a master's program. I believe that I wish to dedicate myself in the studying of Korea due to many reasons. First, Korean culture was an important part of the community I am from. My hometown, Jilin, located on the northern side of the Paek-du Mountain, has a rich Korean diaspora culture being an essential part of it. Therefore, growing up in Jilin, I was able to learn about Korean language and culture with my fellow Korean Chinese friends and my family’s friends who speak fluent Korean as well. I would say my interest in exploring Korean language and Korean culture started at the very early stage of my life, especially when I was hanging around with my family in Yanbian, the one and only Korean Autonomous Prefecture in China, where both Korean language and Chinese language was largely used. I often wondered, even though I did not have the access to learn about these fascinating Korean culture in my community on the textbook and at the local school, I still wish to find a way to educate myself about them, so I would feel more connected with the community I am living in on a personal level. In this case, I started my journey in exploring and educating myself with Korean language and culture. By able to speak Korean language on a certain level and understand the culture in the Korean Chinese community in Jilin, I felt more connected to my community, and it further enhanced my interest in exploring the fascinating culture in Korean peninsula.

I was able to continue perusing my passion in University of British Columbia, under the major of Asian language and culture (focusing on Korea) in the Asian Study Department. The opportunity in studying in the Asian Study Department allowed me to further improve my Korean language skill and received a level 6 in TOPIK exam. More, I was as well getting to know about the development of Korean literature from traditional to contemporary time, Sino-Korean characters, medieval Korean language and others. These special experiences truly enhanced my connection with Korean language and culture. And as I wished for, studying in UBC allowed me to understand about Korean culture from multiple perspectives. I found myself getting to know about the history of Korean war, the Korean diaspora history. By educating myself about the Korean community on a deeper level, I found myself looking back at the time I spent in Jilin and feeling reconnected with my community.

During the four years I spent under the Asian Study Department, I was able to meet many friends and professors who dedicated their academic life on the study of Korea. Their passion on Korean culture inspired me to continue exploring what I have been fascinated with. In this case, after completing my program at UBC, I wish to continue my journey in the study of Korea in Korea, in a way that I can not only learn about Korean language and culture from courses and textbooks, but to feel the culture in Korea on my own. I believe, by allowing myself to be closer with the Korean community, I would be able to gain more knowledge and insights on Korean culture. More, I believe a master program on Korean study would allow me to dive into some areas of the Korean study on a deeper level. By educating myself with more knowledge about Korea, I might be able to truly participate in the celebration and advocation of Korean language and culture.

How my skills would be helpful for my future study

Since I took my major in Asian language and culture that focuses on Korea, I believe my major and the master program in Korea Study that I intended to apply are very much closely associated with each other. There are many courses I took during my major program that can be considered very helpful for my future study.

First, I am fluent in both Korean and English. Although I am not native in either English and Korean, studying in some courses that required me to be able to read both languages allowed me to have the ability to conduct academic research with both languages. In this case, I believe my ability in both languages would be extremely helpful for my future study, especially when these studies are often done in the English and Korean language. More, I was actively practicing my ability to read Sino-Korean characters during my major program. With me being native in Mandarin Chinese, I was able to memorize and read some Sino-Korean characters. I believe that the ability in reading Sino-Korean characters would be beneficial when it comes to reading traditional texts and understanding the formation of Korean words in a deeper level. Additionally, I took my time in UBC studying the romanization, interpretation of grammar and translation of Middle Korean. By learning middle Korean, I was able to understand how Korean language has developed since the middle period, and was able to understand and translate some of them into English. I believe when studying ancient Korean texts, the understanding toward Middle Korean would be very helpful for me in the future studies.

Other than the study of Korean language itself, I as well spent my time on educating myself with the history of Korea, specifically the history from Choson Dynasty to contemporary time, this allows me to have a better understanding on the development of Korea and a clearer understanding on the timeline when studying the language and culture in ancient Korea. Lastly, I was able to take many courses related to Korean literatures. These courses involve the study of traditional Korean literature, as well as modern literature works during the colonization period. What fascinated me the most was the study of Korean diaspora literature, in which I found it to be deeply associated with not only the Korean community in Yanbian, Jilin, but many other Korean diaspora communities around the world. I believe, by having the basic understanding on the Korean diaspora and Korean diaspora literature, it would be beneficial for me in the future when it comes to the study related to Korean diaspora communities.

My future plan in Korea Study

Among all the very interesting aspects of Korean language and culture, I am specifically interested in the Korean diaspora communities in Asia for many reasons, and would like to take a deeper dive into the study and research related to such topic.

Firstly, I believe the study of the Korean diaspora communities ties closely to my personal life. Growing up with the biggest Korean Chinese community in China, I was able to notice many unique expressions of culture and language within the community, which allowed me to apply them during my study in UBC, and potentially in my future study too. Having the opportunity to be closely associated with the Korean Chinese community, I am as well having many personal connections with many Korean Chinese families, their stories inspired me to dive in the study of the Korean diaspora history and reflect on the history of the Korean community in Manchuria. More, I was able to make close connection with some friends from the Korean Japanese community during my study in Canada, their stories allowed me to understand the Korean diaspora communities from a different perspective. I believe the study of Korean diaspora history is not only fascinating for me on a personal level, but can be viewed as important when it comes to understanding Korean culture from multiple perspectives, as well as looking back at the aftermath of the Second World War and the Korean War, as its impact stays remained in modern society.