Wednesday, December 22, 2004 10:19 AM CST
Aspiring artist: South Korean exchange student Ji won Kim says she would like to attend college in U.S.
By KRISTA LEWIN, Staff Writer
MATTOON -- Aspiring artist Ji won Kim proudly showed the portraits she painted of her host parents Alice Shirley-Hoover and Don Hoover.
"We are proud to be immortalized in art," said Shirley-Hoover as she pointed out that Kim even added crowns to both her and Hoovers' heads.
The portraits will stay in the Hoover household, but Kim, a South Korean native who has been an exchange student at Mattoon High School for the past year, will leave early Christmas Eve morning. Her final days in the United States before returning to South Korea will include a trip out east.
"I am going to meet my mom in New York and we will visit Niagara Falls and Washington D.C.," said Kim.
Kim, who would someday like to have her own design company, said she enjoyed attending school in America because art class was offered every day. At her high school in Masan, South Korea, it is only offered one day a week, she said.
"If you want to take more classes, you have to go to a private school," Kim said.
She chose to attend school in America because she wanted to learn to speak English. Although she had learned English during her elementary school years in South Korea, she wanted to learn more.
"When I first got here, I knew what people were saying, but I couldn't speak with them," Kim said.
Kim was serious about improving her English speaking skills, and for further study she attended an English As a Second Language (ESL) course at Arizona State University. While there, she visited the Grand Canyon with her host family and went river rafting.
"She saved my life," Shirley-Hoover said. "I about fell out of the raft and I saw this hand and I grabbed it. When I looked up and saw whose hand it was, it was Ji's."
Although Kim is homesick for South Korea, she jubilantly smiles as she talks about someday returning to America to visit or to attend college.
No dream is too big for this 16-year-old as she dreams of attending an Ivy League school.
"I would like to attend Yale University," Kim said.
Kim enjoyed spending time with friends at Common Grounds in Mattoon and liked playing with the Hoovers' dog.
"I don't have a dog or cat at home," Kim said.
Besides Kim, the Hoovers also are hosting Chinar Annageldiyeva, an exchange student from Turkmenistan. Annageldiyeva, a junior at MHS, will continue her studies here until the end of next semester.
Shirley-Hoover said Kim has been wonderful and has been an excellent student.
The Hoovers have served as host parents for many years and enjoy the experience as much as the exchange students.
"We gain more than we give," Shirley-Hoover said. "The students always teach us more. Because of the questions they ask us, we have to think more of the things we do. We have to be more critical of what we do."
Contact Krista Lewin at klewin@jg-t.com or 238-6858.
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MARYROSECOHOON1998@ATT.NET wrote on Sep 28, 2007 10:03 PM: