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Eunji is teaching art to high school students at a private "academy". The students go there when they have finished school, around 6 and stay there untill 10 pm. They all want to enter university, that's why they are there. But actually it's not just high school students, Eunji told me she started to go there when she was 4 years old!

The students are amazing, they are 18 (they look like 16) and draw far better than many people after years at college in Europe.  

 

One evening some weeks ago I went to a café to hang out with Eunji and there I met for the first time her students. They were very cute and they said that they were studying, but it didn't seem to me. They were having fun, eating and studying just a little bit on the side. Time was passing and at 2.30 am I was tired and left them, but I couldn't understand why they didn't go home. To sleep before the coming schoolday. It just did not make sense. 

 

Now I understand! They don't have any free time to hang out with their friends. They are always studying something, so what I saw that evening was just a way of hanging out with the excuse of studying. One evening without being pushed or controlled by a parent or a teacher. Now I understand why they stay up so late in general, when I left the after school education place today at 10.30 pm it felt like school was finally off and I completley understood the feeling of wanting to relax for a few hours. And if you put together the ride back home, dinner and chilling out, it's already 2 am!

 

I also realized that this lifestyle doesn't really end after high school. Yes, maybe the pressure from the parents is a bit less but, nothing really changes. While I was working on a group project for my class I couldn't understand why all the korean students spend entire days in the classroom working on their projects. You could go there a wednesday night at 1am and you could still find people working. Why don't work very concentrated for some hours and then go home? Instead of sitting in a cold classroom tired, working not efficiently, sleeping half an hour, eating soething and working again, day and night. 

 

Joining my friend to her part time job made me understand. When the job was finished we went for dinner and that's where I found out that her boss gave her homework. So after the dinner she was going back to another place to carry on working. Of course this is a homework and she doesn't get payed for that. So that's what she was doing when I called her 5 in the moring and I was coming back from a party! The next day I was destroyed but she? She was rested and in perfect shape, i quote her answer when I asked her if she was tired "No! I actually had some sleep tonight. 5 hours!". Was she ironic? No she was not. After 5 luxurious hours of sleep time to start the day again! university, work, homework, sleep (eventually), university, work, homework... Once you finish university and start working, it just continues; just 2 weeks vacation/year.

 

The fact that makes this a big revelation for me is that it's not just my one friend who's like that. It's almost everyone! I really admire how devoted they are and of course how good they are in what they do. On the other hand many people don't get any experience in other fields. That's maybe why they sometimes seem naive. 

 

Anyhow, I'm starting to adapt. It's 2.42 AM and I'm writing on my blog! 

Cheers