Hi everyone. My name is Fiona, and I’m a first-year science student hoping to go into Biochem next year. I was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, and have lived there all my life before moving here for university, so the sudden weather change is definitely taking a toll on me (I’ve gotten sick like 3 times already lol). To be completely honest, I registered for this course on a whim (yesterday, to be exact), so I came into today’s lecture having no idea what I was getting myself into. I grew up bilingual, speaking both Indonesian and English with my family and friends (and a bit of Mandarin as well, although I’m not the best at it…), but despite that, I can’t say that my English skills are particularly the best. A few fun facts about me are that I love to travel and that I love animals (and I have two dogs at home that I miss alooot).
What intrigues me the most about this course is that it essentially ‘forces’ us to read __ amount of books per week—something I, as a major procrastinator, might find quite difficult. I’m admittedly not the most avid reader, although I have read ny fair share of fantasy novels, but I hope taking this course can help me change that.
As for my personal answer to the question “Where is the Romance World?”: it would be everywhere and nowhere all at once.
Romance, to me, isn’t really a place, but more of a feeling. It exists wherever love exists, and love itself is something abstract—something that cannot be easily defined because it means different things to different people. Love can be romantic, but it can also be platonic, like between close friends, or intense, like between lovers. Because of this, I believe romance isn’t something that can be fixed to a single definition or confined to one form.
Growing up, I loved watching Korean romance dramas, and because of that, the word “romance” naturally brings certain images and places to mind. When I think of romance, I imagine the settings I saw on screen—streets, cafés, etc.,—which made South Korea feel like a kind of “Romance World” to me. However, I realize that this association doesn’t exist because romance is inherently tied to that place, but because my own experiences and memories shaped the way I perceive it. In reality, romance means something different to everyone. The way we define love and where we imagine romance to exist is influenced by our upbringing, culture, and personal experiences. Someone who grew up in a different country, watching different stories, or experiencing love differently might associate romance with an entirely different place—or with no specific place at all. In that sense, the “Romance World” cannot be confined to one country or location—it exists wherever and whenever people choose to see it.
That’s it, and thanks for reading my blog : )