Even though we were in Australia for quite a while it’s really hard to find the time to film videos like this. So the boys filmed this one casually outside with their friend Clark.

Hugh’s Instagram, Clark’s Instagram, Han’s Instagram

Hugh and Jongdae talk about why Korean students can be under so much stress. They were both lucky to not feel too much pressure from their parents, but many other students are not as fortunate as can be seen by the high suicide rate. This type of pressure is a big problem in Korea. Not only because of the pressure but the narrow life that parents push their children into doesn’t guarantee happiness.

A difference between the Korean system and the Australian system that I have seen has been that the Korean system puts the most stress on high school students with their one exam for getting into a good university, once in uni they can relax a bit. In Australia, while highschool can be stressful, it’s not the only way to get into university and there is not as much stress to get into a certain uni, instead the stress comes once in university where you can be marked harshly and so much is expected of you. I know many Korean students (who go to Australia for uni) have been shocked at how harshly they were marked in Australia because they thought the hard thing was getting into uni, not completing it.

In Korea there is a lot of talk about which university someone went to, rather than what they actually studied… it’s something that contributes to highschool student’s stress about their exam because all the pressure is about getting into the few ‘top’ universities.

Hugh and Jongdae talk about if Korean guys stop their university studies in order to do their compulsory military service. Those that follow Kpop and Kdramas would be very aware that Korean men have to do their military service, but they might not realise what age are usually doing it at. Kpop stars and actors usually delay their military service because of their careers, often waiting until the last possible allowed time to do it, so it may seem like Korean men do their service in their late 20’s. Usually though, Korean men are doing it at a much younger age and usually when they are in university.

It’s great to do videos with Jongdae because he is much younger than Hugh, Daniel and Han, AND he hasn’t done his military service yet, so he gives another perspective. If you have more questions for him, please leave them in the comment section!

We will be filming some more Ask Korean Guys in the coming weeks so please ask your questions now!

The school Hugh is talking about is actually the one near our house and you can see it in the latest vlog:

Hugh and Han talk about prom and what they think it is and what they’d like to do.