How to make friends in South Korea? “We didn’t do it,” jokes influencer and International Relations graduate student Luca Tavares in an interview with CNN.
In the K-Tudo CNN section, which focuses on South Korean pop culture, he and businesswoman Thais Midori shared their experiences living in the country, which has increasingly attracted the attention of tourists due to the popularization of dramas and K-pop, for example.
But when you decide to move to a country on the other side of the world, with a different culture from Brazil, there are always some difficulties in adapting. Making new friends is one of them, especially when you have a language barrier in the middle of it all.
“I have few Korean friends. I made a lot more foreign friends, but I always say it’s because my Korean is really bad,” explains Midori.
Luca, however, had an easier time learning the language, but that didn’t help him much. On the first day of class at Hanyang University, where he studied Political Science and Diplomacy, he had high expectations.
“I got there and broke down because no one talks to you. Everyone is closed off,” she vents. “When working in groups, either you do everything alone or they do everything alone.”
k-pop friendship
During the years he lived there, Luca appeared on TV shows. Behind the scenes of “South Korean Foreigners”, he ended up becoming friends with a K-pop star without having any idea that he was famous.
But, in this case, it was not a Korean, but the Chinese Hendery, who is part of NCT. More specifically the WayV subgroup, whose members are all foreigners and live in South Korea.
See an excerpt from the program:
“I didn’t know who he was, he was in the same dressing room as me”, he says. “He was really cool, you have no idea. I talked to everyone.”
Luca only realized how famous he was when they followed each other on Instagram and saw Hendery’s millions of followers. Since then, they have been friends.
The best place to learn Korean is at the bar
Speaking of language barriers, according to Midori, everyone says that the easiest way to learn Korean is to drink with Koreans – which also makes it easier to make friends.
“But I don’t drink, so I end up missing the ‘rolls’ a bit”, laments the influencer. “If you are a person who drinks a lot, they admire you. They like you, they think you’re a nice person.”
She says she has friends who drink a lot and are therefore very popular. “They get asked out all the time, they go on a lot of dates”, she guarantees.
To watch the full chat, which includes travel tips for South Korea, watch the videos:
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
