by Tae Kim
Staff Writer

When I assimilated into the Western culture and entered a college in the Seattle area five months ago, I immediately noticed major differences in the educational systems of Korea and America.

Having studied in Korea for the greater part of my life, I’ve seen that the Asian style of instruction focuses on teaching skills rather than freeing students to pursue their creativity like the American education system.

I learned how to play tennis in Korea for two weeks with a high school friend and while I stayed in Boston during the summer of my first college year. Both experiences were great, but what struck me the most were the differences in each culture’s method of teaching and training.

The Western culture placed more value on enjoying the sport rather than crafting a good player, like in Korean-style coaching.

In Korea, my instruction was mainly focused on technique. During the two weeks that I acquainted myself with the game, I felt like I was being drilled into becoming a professional tennis player.

I was literally trained to play with only my right hand for the first 10 days, and wasn’t allowed to try other skills. It was boring for me, but I found out later that it was precious, because what I learned were the fundamentals of playing tennis well.

In Boston, I continued to take tennis classes. I learned a new skill each day and had more freedom to experiment with my talents. All in all, I learned the basics of tennis within a week.

After that, I was able to play casual tennis matches with my friends. I noticed that after learning the basics of the game in a Western setting, I came to enjoy the game and saw it as a casual activity instead of a life-or-death chore.

I also took drawing classes in both at home in Korea and here in the U.S.

In Korea, instruction started from practicing straight lines and curves. Several days later, I was required to draw a cube. I was supposed to follow those guidelines. The class taught me the basics of drawing and created a baseline for me to develop my skills.

In the U.S., I took a non-credit beginner’s drawing class at Seattle Central Community College. From the title, one would expect that this class would be similar to the one I attended in Korea. However, they were totally different.

The class encouraged me to draw what I liked. Throughout the quarter, I was taught to draw with my left hand (and mind you, I’m right-handed). I was later taught to draw with contour and blind contour lines.

(Blind contour drawing is a way of drawing using contour lines, watching only the object, not seeing the sketchbook.)

Through this, I was able to see things very carefully and found that I had been missing so many details that I experience everyday. This helped me develop my own way of seeing objects and my own style. My experiences in the class contributed to my development of becoming a more creative and flexible artist.

By learning from Asian and Western-style classes, I developed not only the fundamental skills to pursue my interests, but also fueled my passion for creativity in a relaxed setting.

If I learned either only in Korean or in the U.S., I might not be as good as I am now. I could be better at playing the tennis because I consistently practiced fundamental techniques in Korea, and I could enjoy the game because I learned all the skills I needed very quickly in the U.S. and had fun with my friends at the same time.

I could be a better artist, not only because I was trained to examine objects carefully and develop my own of drawing styles, but also because I practiced basic skills with the utmost devotion.

What can I say? It never hurts to get the best of both worlds.