Coming to America
Posted: 03.31.2010 at 5:18 PM

It's an adjustment going from Seoul, South Korea to Norway, Michigan

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NORWAY -- For most high school students, a seven-hour school day is more than enough.  But for 17-year-old exchange student Yoon-Yi Lim, the school day is a breeze compared to her home school in Seoul, South Korea.

"When I was in my country, I had to go to school from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” said Yoon-Yi.  “But here I have to go just until three o'clock."

Yoon-Yi is living in Norway with her exchange family.  Her exchange father, Greg Hunt, is the band teacher at Norway Area Schools and gets to see Yoon-Yi both in the classroom and at home.  He said over the last six months she has become part of the family.

"Well I think early on we had to kind of get a feel for how we would treat her compared to one of our own children,” said Hunt.  “We got to the point by this year where she's not so much a guest in the house but daughter number four."

It has been an adjustment for Yoon-Yi as she gets used to her new family, but she now feels at home.

Yoon-Yi has dealt with some other cultural changes as well.  She went from Seoul, South Korea, a city of 50 million, to Norway, Michigan, a town of just a few thousand.

"Oh, at first it was so uncomfortable because they don't have any transportation here like a bus or subway,” she said.  “But this is a safe place to live in."

Despite all the changes and adjustments, there is nowhere Yoon-Yi would rather be.

"I'm so happy to be here, I don't want to go back to my country."