Can You Speak Korean? Sai Parlare Coreano?

Today 16 Global students went to an Italian middle school near Porta Fiorentina (which Mr. Gatti himself attended twentysome years ago!) to interview some immigrants who study there. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I assumed that I would be talking to teenagers who came to Italy through those unsafe boats and were miraculously rescued. To my surprise, it wasn't so. Addy and I got to talk to two women, one from Albania and one from Macedonia, and their stories were definitely not the ones I expected. They were not irregular immigrants who crossed a desert and the Mediterranean Sea to reach Italy (although Margaret and Courtney interviewed a person from Mali who walked across the Sahara Desert for three weeks and then got on a boat from Libya to Sicily!) The women we interviewed filled out the proper documents and flew into Italy. The Albanian woman had three children, all of whom were scattered throughout southern Europe: one in Viterbo (who helped her come to Viterbo), one in Greece, and one still in Albania. The Macedonian woman moved to Viterbo because she met a guy in Macedonia who moved to Viterbo with his parents when he was three. Therefore, she just came to Viterbo with him and now has a 4 year-old son. Their story proved that I have assumed that all immigrants are "refugees." But that's not true: there are many immigrants who are just looking for better conditions of living because jobs are hard to find in their countries (similar to how many Koreans including myself are leaving Korea to seek opportunities in other countries). But I titled this post "Can you speak Korean?" because I was able to speak Korean to some immigrants! There were two women from China who obviously spoke Chinese, so I showed off my Chinese skills (almost nonexistent). In return, they used all the Korean phrases they knew! I must admit, I wasn't surprised when they told me that they knew a bit of Korean. But I was indeed very surprised when a woman from Sri Lanka stopped me while I was gathering my stuff to leave. She asked me, "Sei coreano?" And I responded, "Si." She was very excited to tell me that she in fact knew some Korean. She knew how to say hello, goodbye, thank you, and sorry. I asked her where she learned Korean, and she told me that she used to work at a farm in Korea! I was very shocked by how she went from Sri Lanka to Korea and finally to Italy (and probably a lot of other countries in between). She told me that she used to know more expressions, but I told her, "Basta cosi!" After all, you can get by with those four expressions :) P.S. I was very surprised by how I was able to speak and understand Italian completely! The language barrier was not there (partially because the women we interviewed knew Italian very well). P.P.S. Overall, it was an experience that I will never forget. I am glad I was part of something unique and memorable.EndFragment