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!
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