Guliza Aitkulova, originally from the Talas region, shared her impressions of life, education, and work in South Korea, as well as her plans aimed at improving the educational system in Kyrgyzstan.
Guliza, born in 2001, spent her childhood in Talas. She currently lives in Seoul with her husband Kanaybek Asanbekov. “After my bachelor's degree, I took a year off and am now actively preparing to apply for a master's program by taking online English courses. My husband is also from Talas; we met in Seoul when I came here to study in 2021. He has been working as an ATI engineer for five years after graduating from UNIST,” she says.
Guliza graduated from secondary school No. 2 named after R.Ya. Rysakova in Talas and spent the 11th grade in the USA under the FLEX program during the 2018-2019 academic year (South Kitsap High School, Port Orchard, Washington). At Inha University in Incheon, South Korea, she studied integrated engineering systems in English from 2020 to 2024. Since 2017, Guliza has been conducting private English language courses.
“In the USA, we had a programming teacher, Dan Radion, who now works at Google in Switzerland. He once organized a tour of the Google campus in Seattle, and that’s when I realized I wanted to become a programmer. After returning to Kyrgyzstan in 2019, I applied to various foreign universities, and friends advised me to try studying in South Korea, where they offer good scholarships for engineering specialties,” Guliza recalls.
After successfully passing three stages of the competition and an interview with a university professor, Guliza received a full scholarship to study at Inha University. She began her studies in September 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she spent her first year entirely online while in Talas. In April 2021, she moved to Korea and has been studying offline since then. “In 2021, when I arrived, I met my future husband, who had just completed his bachelor's degree and started working as an ATI engineer in Seoul,” she shares.
According to Guliza, her parents were the main source of motivation. “They did not have the opportunity to obtain higher education and worked various jobs to support me and my brother. They always said they wanted us to get an education, even if they couldn't. Since childhood, they supported me in my studies and did not make me do household chores so I could focus on my education,” the young woman notes.
A key role in her success was played by her English teacher, Vladimir Sergeyevich Shalagin, who taught Guliza in the 8th grade. “I participated in English language Olympiads and won prizes, which led to a deeper interest in the language. After FLEX in the USA, I wanted to study at a university abroad,” she adds.
Now Guliza continues to live in Seoul with her husband, conducts online English courses, and plans to apply for a master's program at European and American universities. She notes that Koreans are characterized by lawfulness and respect for public order. “Koreans are very organized; they line up and maintain cleanliness. I have gotten used to the fact that it is not customary to leave things unattended here, and everything stays in place,” she recounts.
Guliza also shares her impressions of life in Korea. “The climate here is very humid, and I miss sunny days like in Kyrgyzstan. In summer, temperatures can reach 40 degrees with high humidity, while in winter it sometimes drops to minus 20. However, the weather here is perfect in spring and autumn,” she says.
Despite the high housing prices, Guliza notes that salaries here allow even students to live comfortably. “I need about 700-800 dollars a month to live, and I rent an apartment near the university for 250 dollars,” she adds.
Guliza also mentions that many events for Kyrgyzstani people take place in Korea, where hundreds gather. She plays the komuz and sings at these meetings. “I dream of opening an English language academy in Kyrgyzstan and improving the education system by introducing new technologies,” the young woman concludes.
Gallery: Guliza Aitkulova. Life in South Korea.
