unifying my seoul

This past Friday.. I think.. iEarn (NSLI-Y Seoul organization), sent out an update e-mail which said that we would be receiving our host family info this upcoming Sunday! I was so excited that I started to fantasize about what my family would be like. I realized that the trip is actually going to happen. Once you get so close to the departure date you forget that you are actually leaving.. it’s a really weird sensation. I feel like I’m not even leaving anymore, all my anxiety has gone. Which is good but bad since now I feel like I don’t need to pack even though I have a ton to pack! Anyway, on Sunday I woke up around 11 since I stayed up so late watching Orange is the new Black. Other finalists said they got their info so I started to freak out. Even more than when I got my NSLI-Y packet in the mail. I refreshed my inbox repeatedly, but nothing new came in. I then realized that I am just freaking myself out so I headed over to YouTube to distract myself… and then the moment came when a banner popped up across the screen which read “KANG – Korea Host Family Information” and I freaked out. I figured out that I am living in the Seodaemun district of school which is about 29 minutes away from our school by the subway.

I have a dad who is an office worker, a house mom, and a younger brother! Growing up with 2 sisters, I always wanted a brother, either older or younger and now I get that chance! I am really excited to meet my family and especially my brother! They live in an apartment so I’m not sure how big it is, but I get my own room! I’m excited to explore the area around their house to find cool stuff I can do daily.

Today I started to get my host family presents, but I only got some of them. I got a set of soap, lotion, and spray from Bath and Body Works for my host mom so I hope she uses those type of stuff. Supposedly vitamins are a big thing in Korea so I got my parents vitamin sets and got my brother kid vitamins too. Honey is also hard to come by so I got a bottle of organic raw honey. I don’t even know what that means but I hope it’s the same as the honey we eat… I also plan to get my brother some type of RC car or helicopter and maybe some PC games? I don’t know if he is into that stuff so I will have to ask him. I’ll get my dad some Blackhawks and Bulls jerseys since the Blackhawks are destined to win the Stanley Cup!! I may also get my brother some apparel. Since my dad works in an office, I’ll try to find him some nice ties too. Some kids in the past also brought pancake batter to make for their families because supposedly there isn’t pancake batter in Korea. I may or may not bring some because I don’t even know how to make good pancakes.. I still have a longish week to figure this out so hopefully I find some good gifts! Until next time, -E

There is not much too much that we need to do before we leave for Korea, but we have to do something called Pre-Program Language Preparation. They sent us a textbook in the mail which I talked about and they also sent us a PDF of a Korean language workbook called Korean From Zero. The textbook is meant to be used in a class setting but since I don’t have a teacher, it’s sort of hard to use. The grammar and vocab are well explained, but for all the exercises there are no answers so I have to hope I am getting them right. The Korean From Zero workbook has over 300 pages!! I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish in time for my departure. I already completed the Integrated Korean for Beginners workbook and my own called Survival Korean so I guess I will start working on the workbook. The textbooks help with recognition but I still have trouble forming my own sentences. I am trying to complete all the textbooks before departure but its hard to absorb all of the info I am learning.. why can’t i be a sponge?? A lot of the new material I learn disappears from my mind after 1 day. I guess I will have to wait until I am in Korea and actually learning from a teacher. Another good resource they provide is Office Hours with our resident director. Each weekend she sets up video conferences to help review material we were supposed to study, work on pronunciation, and answer questions. Sometimes the connections are not that great, but the time is still well spent. We are able to practice speaking Korean which a lot of finalists can’t do since they don’t come from Korean speaking households. All in all, the PPLP is a great help to boost our learning and something to keep me occupied with during the summer. Until next time, -E

The infamous Kakao chat. I’m not sure exactly when it was created, but I do know it was God’s gift for the mankind of Korean NSLIYers. After the acceptance letters were sent out, many people, including myself joined the chat to meet the others traveling with us. At first I was overwhelmed because by then a lot of the people already knew each other and were conversing at a fast pace given that there were about 48 some people in the chat. At first it was a little awkward because I haven’t talked to anyone before so I had to introduce myself to a group of friends who were already comfortable with each other. It wasn’t too bad though, because at the same time I joined, other finalists joined too so we were all on the same boat. All the NSLIYers were super nice and fun so by the next day we were talking about some pretty weird stuff on some pretty deep levels… I quickly learned that the Kakao chat has no barriers.

The finalists decided to make a new Kakao chat so that the semi-finalists and other people would not be spammed by our unwanted messages. Even recently there have been new additions to the chat and it is exciting for all of us because we get to meet others who we will be spending 6 weeks with! We have a fun thing we do, (which we haven’t really been keeping up with) called QOTD, or Question of the Day. Anyone who has a question can ask the group as a whole so that we can learn more about each other. The first couple weeks we kept up with asking new questions but recently less and less questions are being asked. Another thing about the chat is that every other chat has to do with Kpop. Not following Kpop, I am always lost whenever any sort of Kpop is mentioned in the chat. Everyone seems to know the lingo except for me so it gets sort of awkward.

Something else that came up in the chat recently, was having a video chat one night so that we can all talk to each other face to face. That night was tonight, May 9th. At first, they struggled to get the video chat working and eventually switched to Google Hangout which worked great. I wasn’t home yet, so once I got home, the video chat was already working. At first it was really awkward seeing everyone for the first time and hearing their voices. But after a while, it was just like talking to old friends. People joined and left, but then there were five. We played games like 2 truths and 1 lie, never have I ever, and would you rather. But most of the time was spent taking blackmail photos at the perfect time. By now, we have been talking for some 3 hours or so. Although the hangout was super long and I am super tired, I am glad we did this because I got to know people better and get to know the real them. Although I am so tired, I had to write this before I went to sleep so I felt like I had a semi-productive day today. So if there are some grammar or spelling errors, that’s why. Until next time, -E

The day was April 20th. I was walking to Anatomy and I saw I had a notification on Facebook. I checked it and it was a notification from one of the other NSLIYers. She said that she received her iEarn packet! So I got really excited. All I could think about the rest of the day was getting home, opening the mailbox, and seeing the packet. Once I got off my bus, I literally ran home. It is a long street from my bus stop to my house so as I ran, my excitement level increased and increased. Once I was finally in front of my mailbox, I stood there hoping the packet was inside. I opened it and saw this big thick white package. I knew it was it and it was!

Once inside, I noticed they paid $6.99 to send a packet to each finalist. That’s how you know they are legit, when they would pay $7 per kid for a book and a couple sheets of paper. I opened the packet and saw two things. First I saw a Korean language instruction book called “Integrated Korean”, and a blue folder. Inside the folder was a NSLI-Y Korea Student Handbook, a parent study abroad handbook, information sheets, and sheets we had to sign and return as well as an envelope. The sheets were some tips, host family agreement sheet, liability sheet, press release sheet, and so on. What I was really excited for was the handbook. I flipped through it reading almost all of it multiple times. It gave us do’s and don’ts, typical days, cultural media to look up on(Kpop and K-dramas), as well as a brief history overview of Korea.

That night I signed everything so that I could mail it in before the deadline, April 30th. I also started to look at the Korean book. I got 49 pages done in one sitting, which isn’t that much because I already knew Hangul so I skipped that section. So I got through about 1.5 lessons. I never did mail the letter until April 27th due to major procrastination. But once I did mail it in, I felt pretty good. Until next time, -E

Hello! My name is Eric and this blog will be used to document my summer in Korea. I was selected as a finalist to receive a National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship rewarding me with 6 weeks of language classes in Korea. The scholarship is provided by the U.S. State Department for high school students to travel to around the world to learn one of 6 provided languages. Being of Korean heritage but born in the United States, I never learned the language or culture of Korea. This is my chance of unifying my American and Korean souls.. if that makes any sense (my blog name by the way). My goal is to update my blog frequently while in Korea and the weeks preceding my departure. So until next time! -E