Homesickness is a symptom of the college experience. Students miss their families if they live a few hours or a few states away.

However, when home is in a different country, thousands of miles away, homesickness can take on a whole new meaning.

Se Hui Cho and Rita Chen, both freshmen attending BYU-Idaho, are roommates from Pingtung, Taiwan and Yesan, South Korea respectively.

Both girls are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

While Cho and her family have been members of the Church for 11 years, Chen is the only member of the Church in her family.

Chen was 14 when she decided she wanted to get baptized. Because her family is Buddhist, her parents did not want her to join the Church.

Chen would sneak out of her house whenever possible to attend LDS services on Sundays.

It was difficult to lie to her family because honesty is a big part of Buddhism, Chen said.

Chen was baptized when she turned 18-years old and did not need her parents’ permission anymore.

As both girls took English classes at BYU, they briefly met while trying to find housing.

Both planned to attend school later in the year at BYU, but they were not accepted.

The girls then unknowingly arranged to attend the same school: BYU-Idaho.

After discovering they were roommates, Chen and Cho realized they have a lot in common.

Their roommates take turns cooking Sunday dinners, and Chen and Cho both enjoy each other’s dishes.

The girls not only share the same tastes in food, they also share a talent for a certain foreign utensil:

“She knows how to use this!” Chen said while holding a pair of chopsticks.

The roommates both have foods they miss from home. Chen misses dumplings or pot stickers, and Cho craves a beef dish called bulgogi.

There are some American foods they have found a taste for though. Chen loves burritos while Cho said she likes pizza and strawberry cheesecake ice cream. Both girls like fry sauce.

Things Chen and Cho did in Taiwan and Korea for fun are not much different than America.

Their fellow students in either country watch a lot of the same TV shows and movies American students do, the girls said.

Sports are similar as well; baseball is a popular sport in Taiwan while soccer is big in Korea.