Arrival in Korea

(I look awful, but airport selfie!)

So we just arrived in Korea and are on the way to the hostel. Sadly, our flight was delayed NINE HOURS in Detroit, so instead of getting in at around 6:00 pm Korean time, we got in at about 2:30 am, which sucks.

First, we rose bright and early this morning and left NYC on a medium sized plane, which was nothing compared to the huge long haul international plane we took from Detroit to Incheon. During the nine hour layover we ate, watched the World Cup (a bunch of strangers started crowding around too, haha. Since we were waiting for a flight going to Korea and watching Korea play, of course a lot of people were interested in the score).

The flight was pretty bad and ugh, the food was alright, I was in the middle seat,  and the air was pretty dry. However, I watched the movie Brave which was pretty good and made up for the suckiness of the long flight. I also tried to watch the Secret Life of Walter Mitty but I couldn't do it and fell asleep. I only got up to walk around once, mainly because I was in the middle seat. The last three hours I totally counted down the minutes on the flight tracker.

We got a nice greeting from SNSD at the airport though, haha. But really, we walked out of baggage claim and they had a banner for us and people with cameras, etc. None of the girls were too happy, But whatever, it was nice I guess. We took a group photo and then left-

now we are on this party bus:

I'm pretty sure it's a school bus, but it has purple curtains and gold tassels hanging from the window so it feels so fancy haha. At long last, hello Korea! 

The drive through Seoul was so surreal- all of the signs and 한글 and just the city in general. 

~Next morning~ 

So today is the first day of PDO and I got maybe two and a half hours of sleep last night, tops. The hostel is really nice, a lot nicer than I thought it was going to be! There are about ten of us in a room, with a toilet and a shower. It's not really separate though- there is a drain right next to the toilet and a handheld shower and you just shower yourself next to the sink and toilet paper and stuff. There are also a pair of rubber pink bathroom slippers, which is really cute. The public showers are a lot more interesting, to say the least. They are just one giant room, with about one foot dividers between the shower heads. The dividers are opaque and there are no doors. I showered in fear that someone would walk in on me, I took possibly the fastest shower in my entire life. 

They delivered breakfast in the morning (sandwiches, bananas, custard pies, and Gatorade), and then we went to orientation where we talked about security and various other things. The security presentation by a guy from the embassy basically turned into a q&a about what it is like to be a foreign service officer, haha. Then we had our first Korean meal! 

We then went back to the orientation room and got into groups to do a scavenger hunt around Seoul! The scavenger hunt was supposed to let us learn more about Korean media as well as learn to use the subway system! We were paired with a Korean college student who was our team leader (if we didn't have him we would have been completely lost of the subway hahaha). Our topic was media, so we went to city hall and asked people about their favorite newspaper/political issue/wether they liked kpop, etc. it was kind of embarrassing to do it in Korean, but our team leader helped us translate the questions, and also explained what we were doing to the people we asked so they weren't super weirded out by us approaching them. While we were walking around we saw the Sewol ferry memorial, and the people we asked often cited that as the most important in country issue. 

Also, we took a picture in front of the palace! 

While we were walking around the palace  we asked a family a question and they got really excited and wanted their kids to take pictures of us. The kids were NOT impressed though haha. Also, a lady from a Korean church showed us over to this little stand they hand where they were handing out DELICIOUS iced tea, and we talked to a few people there for a while. Then they told us to go inside the church (the first church in Korea) and we did where we were stopped by more people who wanted to talk. Basically, everyone is really excited to talk to us and they were super nice. Good luck out team leader was there so he could help explain what we were doing, haha. I did a lot of smiling and nodding. 

After that we walked back to the subway and bought ice cream from a convenience store! Korean ice cream is delocioussss omg 

But basically the day was really fun! Our team leader was awesome and super nice, and his English was actually really good even though he thought it wasn't. Our group was also pretty cool, and of course it was so much fun to wander around Seoul for the first time!! But after we got back we did some more stuff, ate, and then everyone was super tired so we all went to bed really early but then woke up at like five am haha. Sorry if there are any mistakes in this post, I'm typing in bed without my glasses haha. But today is host family meeting! Yay! 

Bye Bye NYC!

Leaving NYC- bye bye small, creepy dorm room! (My pink luggage is coming with though) :)

REAL orientation

So today was the second day of our pre-departure orientation in NYC and it all feels so surreal. Like, we are all actually heading to Korea tomorrow. Crazy. But basically today consisted of mostly sitting in a conference room a few streets away from Columbia, watching presentations, asking questions, doing a few ice breakers (what I learned today: NSLI-Y loves icebreakers), and basically getting psyched for Korea. I've never talked so much at once about Korea in my life, it was really cool and weird and awesome. Before the orientation we had breakfast at an on campus dining hall (and lunch as well) and it was delicious. It was a huge buffet, and if this is what college students eat, I'm down for that. They even had dessert pastries at breakfast, and ice cream at lunch.

But at the orientation we covered so much material, some of it was straightforward, but some was a lot to take in. It wasn't too overwhelming though! It just got tiring sitting there all day haha. The first half before lunch was about goals, language learning, the aim of NSLI-Y, culture, and culture shock. Basically they wanted us to remember to keep an open mind about everything there. Also, we might be one of the only Americans that some of the people we meet have ever actually talked to before, so we need to make a good impression and represent our country well. Respect was a big thing (maybe something useful to put in your essay if you're applying?). Anyways, at the end of the day, we are there to learn the language. They are paying for our flights, our transportation, lodging, giving us a once in a lifetime chance to study at one of the most prestigious Korean schools, and essentially taking us over there for one (main) reason: to learn the language. That means we have to go to class, study, practice, and work hard. But really, that isn't much to ask considering we get to do it at really no expense. Plus, why would you apply if you weren't willing to put in the work at the program? All of us here really love Korea, Korean culture, or just languages in general. We are all prepared and excited, so studying will actually be kind of fun (wow). And moving on from that long rant, the later half of the day consisted of presentations from alumni, the state department, security, and program rules. We also wrote a letter to our future selves so that we will get them in the middle of the program, just in case we are feeling down and need some encouragement. The state department presentations were cool- one was from the diplomat in residence in NYC and the other was from a woman who works in the state department with the exchange programs. The alumni presentations were honestly the most helpful though. They experienced what we are about to go through, they have been there and know what it's like. They answered a lot of questions and gave a ton of good cultural tips (two hands for money and handshakes, don't look people in the eye when getting reprimanded, don't point, wave people over palm down, the list goes on and on). They were also really friendly and easy to talk to outside of orientation as well! After the orientation we just split up, walked around and went out for dinner. The last American meal we had was Chipotle. Classy. Then we got gelato and explored some more, but basically it is all about getting to know each other and forming friendships at this point! 

It was kind of hot and I look awful, but everyone will see me at my worst tomorrow on the plane, so might as well start warming them up now. I'm excited for Korea- tomorrow is going to be an early morning! 안녕~

First day of PDO

Although I'm not sure this actually counts as our real PDO, the first day of orientation at Columbia in NYC was amazing. I guess I'll start from the beginning haha. I arrived at the airport around nine ish or a little before, but the 'Super Shuttle' which was supposed to take us to Columbia did not live up to its name. I ended up arriving at the school at about 11, and I had taken an 45 minute nap on the ride over (which probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, in hindsight). The driver was a little rude but he was nicer when he dropped me off, probably because he realized I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. He even directed me to the entrance of the building, which I would have never seen even though it had a NSLI-Y sign (I have a special form of blindness know as 'selective seeing' haha). There I checked in,  got my t shirt and bag of free goodies, $30 food stipend for NYC, and my room key which also lets us into the dorm building. I was a little surprised about the dorms, they are super tiny rooms with only one bed! I expected to have a roommate but apparently we aren't sharing this year. As I'm typing this, it's kind of lonely and cold in this room haha. Anyways, after I dropped my stuff off, a group of us went exploring around Columbia. They were just about to leave so I caught them right on time! We walked around the campus, went into the library that didn't actually contain any books, walked down the block and got lunch, got boba, and then just loitered for a while. We still had five more hours until we had the pizza welcome dinner and icebreakers so we went up to the desk we checked in at and basically told them we were bored haha. Coincidentally, an intern for I-earn was at the table and she decided to show us around! I'll put some pictures of Columbia here (and a selfie on the library steps):

The intern walked us around campus a bit and then we walked down the block to a church. I forget the name, but it was absolutely beautiful!

 We ended up sitting in there for a while enjoying the air conditioning. While the low seventy degree weather feels nice to this Floridian, it was pretty hot to some people. After that we went to a little Hungarian bakery, but I didn't buy anything. By the time we got back more NSLI-Y people were arriving, so we sat in the hallway and talked until half of the group left us to explore. The same group from this morning plus a few more people ended up waking back to the Hungarian bakery and eating at Insomnia cookies (insomniac cookies? Im still not sure). I had a mint chocolate cookies and it was the bomb. One of the main things I like about this trip so far is that we seem to have a lot of freedom. The told us a few boundaries, not to take the subway or a bus, and then just let us go eat wherever. When we got back from the cookies, we hung out in this little patch of grass/sculpture garden for a while until it was time to meet with people.

Then we had icebreakers before the pizza dinner. The icebreakers were actually quite fun and a lot less painful than expected. Everyone seems so nice and chill about everything, it's really awesome. Then we had pizza and lemonade out in another patch of grass in Columbia, and then left with the warning about our 10:30 curfew. We played some more games outside in the little sculpture garden

And then went inside with plans to watch a Korean movie or drama. That didn't really work, and we ended up meeting up with another group and going outside (guess where?) to play some Korean games. A guy on the trip taught us a game called 앗싸! (Assa) which is super confusing but really fun. It is basically a rhythm game but with punishments. We were all pretty bad so we never actually got to the intense punishments haha,  just 'dance for 10 seconds alone to Kpop'. Then we played charades and came inside for showers and curfew, and now I'm realizing how much we actually did today haha. I can't imagine what tomorrow will be like! But some things I did realize today was that 1) I need to wear band aids on my feet because I am already getting blisters from all the walking 2) I am really glad I brought a backpack because I have been carrying that thing everywhere and 3) it is so weird to be with a group of people who are as interested in Korea and Korean culture and the Korean language as you are. Like really weird. But also cool. It's been real, PDO day one, I'm glad you're over but I'm looking forward to tomorrow! 

Airplane

Sitting in the JFK airport waiting for the shuttle to take me to Columbia for pre-departure orientation. This obviously deserves some (not cliche) plane pictures. In other news, I am IN NEW YORK CITY, which is just as exciting in itself. 

PDO Tomorrow?!?

So a lot has happened since I got my semifinalist notification, none of which I have written on my blog (meaning the prospects of me actually keeping this up in Korea are narrowing daily). So, like a true high school student, I have put off writing this post until the day before I leave. This time tomorrow, I will be (ridiculously early) at the pre-departure orientation in New York City. But lets start from the beginning.

First of all, after notifications came out, we were all pretty excited. They started sending us weekly emails with more details about the trip, cultural information, and tips from alumni. Along with those preparation materials, we also were sent a packet of stuff in the mail- a few forms to sign and return, updated medical stuff, various papers about NSLI-Y, and a booklet that covered everything from what to pack to how to interact with you host and family. There were a lot of good language learning tips in there as well, along with helpful cultural information so you don't stand out as a foreigner too much. We were also sent the book "Mastering Conversational Korean for Beginners," which was extremely helpful and thorough when it came to grammar. Every week for four weeks we got assigned pages to read and then an online worksheet to do. There were also help sessions (a google hangout) on Saturday and Sunday to go over the material covered in the assigned pages, along with any other Korean questions you might have. We had to attend at least two of them, but you could go to as many as you wanted to ask more questions/get more help/meet other people going on the program. They were actually really helpful, especially when you are trying to figure out the gaps in your knowledge of survival Korean. 

Another thing I forgot to mention before was that students who put that they had ANY previous knowledge of Korean on their original application or during their interview had to take an oral proficiency test over the phone. The test doesn't actually count for anything but we will take another one when we get home so that our improvement can be measured. Since this is a scholarship specifically for language learning, they want to make sure you actually do something while you are in Korea. Anyways, the oral exam was a lot less stressful than I anticipated. It was basically like a natural conversation, and even though my Korean skills are very limited, I could at least understand most of the questions (and the ones I didn't understand she rephrased in a simpler way). The only frustrating part was not being able to respond because of lack of vocabulary, and despite the reassurances of my interviewer, I still felt really incompetent when I couldn't  find the word to describe my hair color or where things were in my room. The questions were things like "What did you have for breakfast this morning?" "What time do you go to school?" and "What is your family like?" The most embarrassing thing that happened is when she asked if my parents were at home and I replied "I don't have any parents." We then sat there for a couple seconds in silence until I realized my mistake and corrected myself with "MY PARENTS AREN'T HOME RIGHT NOW." It seemed like everyone made at least one awkward mistake, so I didn't really worry about it though. I can't wait to see how many mistakes I'll make IN KOREA. 

But I get to wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning to catch my early morning flight to NYC. Our orientation is at Columbia, and I think we will be staying in dorms there for the duration of the session. After that. I leave for Korea Thursday, with a quick stop in Detroit before our 14 hour flight (or something crazy like that). Packing has been a nightmare, but hopefully I'll have everything I need while I'm in the country. 

See you soon, Korea!