ED : “I have never seen snow in my life.” Can you believe it? Most Sri Lanka people have never seen snow. On cold day this winter, I met a Sri Lankan woman, Buddihi Walpola. I will introduce her to you.

 

 
Buddihi Walpola Who is she? 
    Buddihi Walpola came to Korea from Sri Lanka on September through Korean Government Scholarship Program (KGSP). She hopes to begin her studies in bio-environmental science next September. In the morning she always goes to the CNU Language Education Center and learns Korean. Now, her Korean language level is 2. She was a teacher of ‘soil science.’ A lot of people respect teachers and teaching is a high demand job in Sri Lanka. She told us that the most difficult thing in studying abroad is adjusting to the food. In Sri Lanka people don’t eat pork and beef. However, Korean usually eat both and they are frequently provided as side dish in dormitory. She always reads a book in her spare time in her laboratory. She is 36 years old. She is married and has a 5 year old daughter and a 2 year old son. Whenever she misses her family, she uses an e-mail or webcam to chat. She will be here for 3 or 4 more years.

How many do you know about Sri Lanka?

 
    Sri Lanka’s land area is 65,610㎢. The population is 20 million. The mother tongue is Sinhala and the second language is English. More than 90% of people are Buddhist. She said that in the old day there was a civil war between the south and the north Sri Lanka, but now Sri Lanka is peaceful. Most people work in agriculture. It is always 27~30℃ in Sri Lanka. So she said, “Korea winter is very cold”. It’s so slippery that it is hard to walk.

The Current Sri Lanka
    Students in Sri Lanka learn English at school. The biggest difference between Sri Lanka and Korea is its education system. Tuition is free in Sri Lanka. The government pays for all educational costs in Sri Lanka. Korean students pay for a lot of the cost since they enter middle school. Korea was a developed country compared to Sri Lanka. Laborers come to Korea to make the money. Students come to Korea to learn modern technology and knowledge. Buddihi Walpola is one of them. In Korea everything is expensive and she is spending all her money. Most Sri Lanka students study abroad, mainly in Japan, the UK and Germany. Those countries scholarships are higher than Korea. The difference is there are no compulsory language courses for them. When you study in Japan, there is only a 5 month language course and no compulsory exams. All their courses are in English. Students follow a year long Korean language program and should pass OPIK level 3. So, most students like to go Japan, the UK and other countries.

 

By  Lee Da-yeong CP Reporter
ekdud@cnu.ac.kr

저작권자 © 충대신문 무단전재 및 재배포 금지