Bumkil has moved to Tokyo from Seoul. Since Bumkil speaks very natural Japanese, this interview was held in Japanese. He says that he started to study Japanese by himself, surprisingly during his military service in Korea.

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Name: Park Bumkil   Age: 30

Bumkil was born in Seoul, Korea. After serving in the military, Bumkil took a working holiday in Japan for about a year. Then he went back to Korea, entered a University and dropped out. After having several jobs, he returned to Japan and  now is a University student and also works as a messenger.

Taught himself Japanese while in the military

—————When did you start studying Japanese?

Bumkil: Before coming to Japan I served in the military for 2 years, I studied Japanese for 16months at that time.

—————Is there such a program to study Japanese in the military service?

Bumkil: No, no, I taught myself using the allotted bedtime. In the military service, we had 6 hours for sleep, 3 hours during the day, 3 hours at the night. Day and night before sleep, I used 1 hour each to study.

—————What was the reason that you started to study Japanese?

Bumkil: I wish I had a clear answer, but honestly I was not thinking much about anything. Back then I was a communication soldier in an area, which faces North Korea, and I was running with a wireless communication device on my back every day.

The mission of a communication soldier is to report to the headquarters in the case of catching any suspicious movements on the North Korean side. It was an extremely tough area. There was this staircase with 4,000 steps and I had to run it for 20km, back and forth, every single day.

It was so difficult to go up the 4,000 stairs one by one, I thought that maybe I would memorize something to distract myself, maybe a language with Chinese characters. So I started to study Japanese. 

Actually it did not feel as tough even when I was going up the stairs, repeating what I memorized in my head over and over. Right after I finished the army service, I passed the exam for the N1(which is the highest qualification) of Japanese Language Proficiency Test.

–————–In the army, did other people memorize or study something for the same reason?

Bumkil: No, I don’t think so. Everyone would just go to sleep or take some rest.

—————I see. I totally did not see this answer coming.

Bumkil: I know right? So there was no decent reason for choosing Japanese.

“Just speak words you already know”

————–How did you learn spoken Japanese?

Bumkil: I could not speak it at all back then. I only realized that when I arrived at Narita airport, that I couldn’t really speak it. It was quite a surprise. I could read, understand what people around were talking about, but when I tried to speak, I had no clue how. Then I was like, “Right, in fact I have never spoken in Japanese”.

————–Then you lived in Japan for about a year for a working holiday right. How did your speaking improve during the time?

Bumkil: I guess during the time, I was already speaking like I do now. It improved naturally as I spent time living here.

————–You didn’t go to Japanese language school, did you?

Bumkil: No, I didn’t. I would listen to Japanese double act comedy and dramas and shadow what they said all the way though. It is a very effective way to study other languages. 

If you do shadowing after studying the language’s grammar to some extent, it makes it easier to memorize new vocabulary as well.

————–It is amazing you can speak like this with comedy and drama.

Bumkil: Though in the beginning, I did have a hard time speaking Japanese. It was frustrating and I was like, “Why can’t I speak it at all”. 

Then I talked to a Mongolian friend of mine who is fluent in Korean. I asked him “Why can you speak Korean so good?” and he said, “Don’t translate things inside your head. Just speak words you already know”. 

His tip made it so much easier for me. Even if you only speak words you know, as you converse what you understand naturally expands.

Concerns about coming to Japan

————-Did you have any expectations or concerns before you came to Japan?

Bumkil: I had no expectation in particular, but there is the historical relationship between Japan and Korea. Nowadays things have changed but when I was a kid, people would tell me things like “Japanese people are such and such”. So I had this concern like “Is that really true?”

Plus in Japan, sometimes you see anti-Korea protests, right? The media reports them in Korea, so when I heard about such news, it actually felt scary. 

But I believe ordinary people in Japan don’t think the way they do. There exists an anti-Japan movement in Korea as well, but the situation is the same there. Ordinary people don’t think like they do at all. I wonder why they have to do things like that.

————-Are there many people who go for working holiday after the military service?

Bumkil: I am not sure. Many people go to serve in the army around the junior year of University, so I guess they would mostly go back to school after the service. 

I hear that many Israeli go overseas after their service, because the service is so tough that they would go somewhere to release the stress away. 

Though things are different in Korea. It is rigid and strict. People are supposed to complete certain stuff by a certain age, so we feel we can’t really afford to have a mindset like that.

————-Didn’t you mind these strict ideas in Korea? 

Bumkil: No, I didn’t mind it at all. I have always had this nature that I don’t want to do things as people tell me to do them. 

What is the point of me doing what people call “normal”. There are bunch of others who would do it. 

So I think it’s all right that there is a guy like me. I am aware that after all there are plenty of guys like me as well though.

A part of me has changed living in Japan too. When I was in Korea, there was always a part of me, which cared about how Korean youth are supposed to be. 

For example, get a certain score at TOEIC, graduate from University and acquire some certifications, that sort of stuff. Back then I would deny those values though a part of me cared about it somehow.

In Japan, there are many part time jobbers, many who live their lives in their own ways, without being employed full-time. That fascinated me. The longing I had, that it is alright to be free and original was somehow completed. 

Working holiday changed something

————-What did you do when you were in Japan for the working holiday?

Bumkil: Initially I did not have a job, but after a while I started to work for my friends’ business. Though business started to fall and eventually it deceased. The work I was doing finished a little less than 1 year, then my visa was already close to expire. I went back to Korea right after that.

————-At that time, did you think that you would ever come back to Japan?

Bumkil: Yeah. Having lived in Japan for about a year, something had definitely changed inside me. 

I can’t describe what had exactly changed. For example after I went back to Korea, I realized I did not like it when people don’t apologize even if it is obviously their fault. It is those tiny little things, like when people accidentally bump into someone. Though I did not mind it at all before I left Korea.

————-What triggered you to come back to Japan?

Bumkil: My ex-girlfriend. She is from Osaka; I started to date her while I was in Korea. We met when she was travelling in Korea.

Back then she lived in Osaka, so we were like “ Let’s pick somewhere in between us, Tokyo then!” Actually it was not geographically between us at all though. I didn’t want to go to Osaka. Somehow there is not much difference between Korea and Osaka. 

————-How has your life been in Tokyo?

Bumkil: I have worked as a messenger this whole time. I started to go to University last year. Nowadays on weekdays, from morning to afternoon I go to school, from 5pm to 11pm I work. It is tough.

————-What was the reason for you to choose the job as a messenger?

Bumkil: Well I do like bicycles and motorbikes, and I am so good at maintaining them as well, if I do say so myself .

I knew the company from before. When I was in Japan for working holiday, the guy living next to me was a messenger for the company. I used to think “He rides such a cool bike, being a messenger would be so good”. So I would want to work for the company once I am back. 

Then after I came back to Japan, one day a messenger of the company passed by me by chance; I stopped him to say I wanted a job. I had an interview and got a job.

Why the heck am I in Japan?

————-Would there be any good thing about living in Japan?

Bumkil: Good thing… now I am asked like this after all these years, I am not sure.　People here are kind, so that is a very good thing. Though things always come with good aspects and bad ones as well. So there could be some cases that being kind might be bad. 

On the other hand, even when something appears to me as a negative, I think that there could be something positive about it too. So I don’t really care much about it.

————-What do you miss the most about being back home?

Bumkil: Drinking with my friends. Everyone drinks the same, crazy amount. We all get drunk and stupid to the same level. Even if I did dumb stuff, other guys do even dumber stuff so it kinda wipes off what I do. With the people I hang out with in Korea, it is normal to get drunk. Both men and women, even on weekdays.

In Korea, mostly we decide to hang out on the same day, don’t plan things much in advance. Whereas in Japan, when I ask my friends, they suggest making a plan in 3 weeks. 

I ask friends when I feel like drinking. When I feel like it, I think they feel like it too more or less.

————-Would you consider relocating yourself again?

Bumkil: Yes, I would.

Wherever I feel like. Really, wherever. If I think it is a nice place when I am on a trip, I would go ahead and move there. I always don’t think much about the future. So sometimes I feel like, “Why the heck am I in Japan?” It’s not like I have a strong attachment to some specific countries. I feel like I could live wherever.