Little Things About Me

Hi, my name is Jenniela Abang Ella but since it is a bit long, you can call me Jenny. I'm 22 years old in international age and 23 in Korean age. I am from a French speaking country in Central Africa called Gabon, it is about 12 000 km away from Korea, and the capital city is Libreville which means Freetown in English. Even though it is a small country, Gabon is bigger than South Korea, but the population is lower, this is the reason why when Gabonese come here for the first time, they have the feeling that our country is smaller, and to be honest, I did feel the same. I came in Korea during the winter 2016, I was 18 back then. I was so young and I did not know that much about the country so yeah, it was an adventure. I went to language school for 1 year at Paichai University (배재대) in Daejon, and in 2017, I got admitted to Ewha Womans University in the department of Communication and Media. But let me tell you how I got to choose to study in Korea although I didn't know anything about this beautiful country.

I had just finished high school and I was wondering what to do next, of course I had in mind to become reporter but, I did not know exactly how to do it. In Gabon, we do not have a school for journalism, not even in our national university so, I had to think of other ways to fulfill that dream. However, it was already too late to try to look abroad, therefore, I decided to enrolled in the national university in the English department and see what to do later. Actually, at that time, I had in mind to improve my English and also to look for some schools in the US. Fortunately, it did not take long before my older sister finds out that South Korea was offering opportunities to students to study there. At first, I was a bit skeptical, I did not know a thing about the country. I did have friends who were fans of Kpop and Kdrama, but since I was not into it, I did not try to know that much about it. The only thing I knew about the country was what I had learned during history class, about the Korean war and, also through Psy with his song gangnam style. Besides this, I was completely ignorant of the Korean culture. But I still decided to try and, one thing you need to know about me is that I never try something on a whim, which means, if I'm not 100% sure, I will never try it. But this time, encouraged by my mother and my older sister, I decided to take the chance and I applied for the scholarship to come here. And after stressful interviews, I had been selected and I was so happy but, I did not know that it was just the beginning of the adventure of my life into the unkown.

Hobbies

I have many things I am passionate about and they are all related to art.

1. Dance

Dance has always been a part of my life, in my culure everyone should learn how to dance, it is like a tradition. Through dance, you can express many things, passion, love or happiness. I used to only practice our traditional dances but, when I came in Korea, I started to learn Korean pop dances by myself. And here is just an example of what I could learn so far.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B76TUhxlXfj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

2. Singing

Although I'm not that good of a singer, I like singing and especially in other languages. And I also had opportunities to sing on stage^^

3. Nature Photography

Being in nature and capture its beauty is something I like because it helps me relax. Also, nature will never complain about how I took the photo.

4. Drawing

Actually, drawing is more than just a hobby, it is something I mostly do when I need to focus or when I want to relax. I am always drawing something and this is why I always carry a sketchbook with me.

And one last thing, I am a big fan of anime, manga and webtoon, and I am also into writing. and that is it. Thank you for coming until here^^ See you!

French (Français)

Salut, salut! Je m'appelle Jenniela Abang Ella mais vous pouvez m'appeler Jenny. J'ai 22 ans en âge international et 23 en âge Coréen. Je viens d'un pays francophone qui se situe en Afrique Centrale appelé le Gabon, et la capitale est Libreville. Du Gabon jusqu'en Corée, on doit parcourir une distance de plus de 12 000 Km en avion. Donc, vous pouvez imaginer à quel point le voyage fut long. Je suis arrivée ici pendant l'hiver de 2016 et je n'avais que 18 ans. A ma première année, je n'étais pas à Séoul, j'étais dans la ville de Daejeon où j'ai fait un an de langue à l'université Paichai (배재대). Et l'année suivante, j'obtenais mon admission à l'université féminine Ewha où j'étudie la Communication et Média. A présent, laissez-moi vous raconter comment je suis arrivée à choisir la Corée pour mes études.

Avant de venir en Corée, je ne connaissais rien de la culture du pays. Bien sûr, j'en avais déjà entendu parler en cours d'histoire, la guerre de Corée, et à travers Psy et son son "gangnam style". J'avais aussi des amis qui étaient intéressées par la Kpop et les Kdramas, mais, à cette période ça ne me disait pas grande chose (chose que j'ai vite regretté en venant ici). Après avoir reçu mon diplôme de fin de lycée, aussi appelé Baccalauréat ou Bac pour faire court, j'avais en tête de faire des études de journalisme mais, nous ne disposons pas de ce genre de formation au Gabon et j'avais raté l'opportunité de le faire à l'étranger. Alors, je décidai de m'inscrire à notre université nationale que je fréquentai pendant 2 mois avant que ma sœur aînée ne me propose d'essayer la Corée du Sud. Vu que je ne connaissais rien du pays j'étais un peu sceptique mais je décidai tout de même de tenter ma chance. Et après des interviews stressantes, je pus recevoir une bourse qui me permit de venir ici. Et c'est ainsi que mon aventure au pays du matin calme commença.

Mes passions

Alors, comme vous allez le remarquer, je suis passionnée par tout ce qui a un rapport avec l'art. Je suis passionnée par la dance, le chant, le dessin et la photographie. Mais aussi, je suis une fan d'animés, de manga, de webtoon, d'écriture et de film d'animation surtout ceux des studios Ghibli et mon film préféré c'est "Le Chateau Ambulant". Voilà, merci pour votre attention ! A la prochaine !

Korean (한국어)

안녕하세요! 나는 Jenniela Abang Ella인데 이름이 너무 길어서 제니로 불러도 괜찮다. 나는 국제 나이가 22살인데 한국 나이는 23살이다. 나는 아프리카에 있는 프랑스 사용하는 나라라는 가봉에서 왔다. 가봉에서 한국까지 비행기로 약 1마2000km다. 보 시다시피 내 고향이 한국보다 너무 멀다. 2016년 겨울에 나는 한국에 왔는데 18살이었다. 한국에 처음 왔을 때 대전에서 살았다. 거기에서 1년동안 배재대학교 어학당에서 한국어를 배웠다. 그리고 그 다음 해 이화여자대학교 커뮤니케이션미디어학에서 입학했다. 지금부터 나는 어떻게 한국에서 공부한 것을 선택한지 이야기할 것이다.

한국에 오기 전에 한국에 대해서 다 몰랐다. 물론 고등학교에서 역사 수업 때 한국 전쟁을 공부했고 psy의 강남 스타일 노래를 통해 한국을 알아 되었다. 내 주변에서 Kpop과 드라마가 좋아하는 친구도 있었지만 그때 나는 그거 대한 관심이 없었다 (한국에 온 다음에 후회했다ㅜㅜ). 고등학교 졸업한 다음에 저널리즘에 대한 공부가 하려고 했는데 우리 나라에서 이런 교육이 없고 유학 기회도 놓쳐서 국가 대학교의 영어학문에 등록했다. 그런데 어느 날 우리 언니는 한국 정부가 학생에게 유학 기회를 주고 있는 사실을 들었다. 그래서 나에게 신청한다고 말했다. 한국 문화가 잘 몰라서 의심이 많았는데도 신청했다. 그리고 힘든 인터뷰가 한 다음에 결국에는 장학금을 받았고 한국에 왔다. 그때부터 고요한 아침의 나라에서 내 모험을 시작했다.

취미

저는 미술 대한 것을 좋아한다. 예를 들면, 댄스와 노래하기와 그림 그리기와 사진 찍는 것 등 이런 것을 좋아한다. 또한 나는 일본 애니메이션과 만화와 웹툰 팬인데 소설 쓰기와 애니메이션 영화도 좋아한다. 특히 스튜디오 지브리 영화가 제일 좋아한다. 이 스튜디오의 영화 중에 제일 좋아하는 것이 『하울의 움직이는 성』이다.

이제 끝이다. 여기까지 읽어서 감사합니다!