Have you ever lived abroad where people don’t use English as their mother tongue? Or have you ever thought about it?

Last week, I shared my story as someone who is not from the U.S. For those reading about me for the first time, I am an international intern from South Korea, navigating life in California.

Returning to the question that I posed, life as an ESL (English as a second language) resident has left me with remarkable impressions. Today, I would like to share my experiences and thoughts on living abroad as a non-English speaker.

I attended a language school downtown for the last three months, where I met numerous students who spoke English as their second language. They had various reasons for choosing the school. Some sought to enhance their English skills for their jobs, while others came to explore a new world during their vacation or gap year. A few seemed to treat the school as just one stop on their long trip across the U.S.

Regardless of why we were there, many of us were anticipating living outside our hometown someday, whether to study or work, even if it wouldn’t be in the U.S. This indicates that we are the people ready to thoroughly enjoy this foreign culture, which is at times refreshing and at times challenging when compared to our cultural backgrounds.

Back in 2022, I was a free-mover student in Germany, studying in Marburg, a small university city near Frankfurt. Since the school was open to international students, I had the chance to meet people from all over the world there. Despite significant cultural differences between the U.S. and Europe, I discovered similar impressions about life as an ESL student through these experiences.

Thanks to my interest in learning about unfamiliar cultures, I felt more excitement than stress in response to the new stimuli in my life. Learning languages provided me with a fresh perspective, and sharing cultures helped me to break free from stereotypes of foreign customs.

Trying new food, even when it didn’t suit my taste, deepened my understanding of different people. Even small things, like crosswalk signs or colors of sidewalk blocks that differ from those in Korea, became a few of the reasons that made my days feel like a wholly new one.

However, there were also a lot of challenges. The more I tried to immerse myself in the culture, the more I found it difficult to go deep inside. Whenever I had conversations with friends on political or social issues, I often found myself only able to talk about half of what I wanted to say due to a lack of expressions.

In larger groups with more than ten people, I would sometimes miss the chance to share my ideas as I needed time to organize my sentences. Sometimes, I felt sorry for my friends that I couldn’t fully react to them; I didn’t find the proper words to show my feelings without making them overthink.

I remember that my friends and I shared a self-deprecating humor, wishing we were Americans so that starting conversations and making foreign friends wouldn’t be such a struggle – of course, we knew that language is not the only essence for making friends. It was a bitter moment when I realized that passion alone wasn’t enough.

Despite all these difficulties, I still want to push myself out of my comfort zone and broaden my range of life. Because the bright side of exploring is much bigger than the other side. Initially, small problems might seem as colossal as monsters, but after going through them, I believe I will become a stronger person, just as much as the difficulty I endured.

I hope people who are struggling to survive in their new phase of life will sympathize with me and find comfort in knowing that there is someone else striving to live well in San Diego.

Kyungmin Min is an international intern from South Korea.