New News!

So, I have lot's of new news to tell! I finally booked my airplane ticket... and I'm leaving at 9:30 AM on February 7th! That means I'll get to S. Korea at around 9:30 PM on the 8th (their time). Though I'm supposed to be at school only by the 21st, I'm am going early because some wonderful people are going to let me stay with them until then! 
Also, I pretty much know what classes I'm going to take while I'm there!
Two of them are required: Cross Cultural Communication Practicum and Ari Leadership I. The rest I chose: Beginning Korean (two classes, conversation and writing), Traditional Korean Culture, and Oriental Brush Painting.
These are the course descriptions:

Ari Leadership 1 (required)
The term "Ari" is short for the Korean phrase that translates as "Beautiful Leader." Beautiful Leadership is based on the university's educational philosophy of Brightening One Corner. In this introductory course, our students are empowered to lead assertive lives that reflect the core values of Beautiful Leadership by looking deeply into themselves with the question "Who am I?". This enables them to create a strong self-identity and discover their true life values and vision. With this knowledge, students can create meaningful change in their lives and become Beautiful Leaders.
Cross Cultural Communication Practicum (required)
Due to the rapidly changing global village, citizens from around the world are facing different challenges as they communicate with each other. In cross cultural communication, individuals must learn to appreciate and embrace differences in order to communicate effectively. This course aims at allowing international and domestic students the opportunity to explore each others' differences not only in language but in non-verbal communication which is imbedded in their own communication styles. Exchange students in this class will participate in a university program where they will be assigned a number of domestic partners who are interested in cross cultural communication exchange. The practicum aspect of this course will run in 2 rounds of 5 week sessions.
Beginning Korean (Language Elective)
(If elected, taking both of the language classes is advised)
This course will focus on the written Korean language. Students will be introduced to the "Hangeul," the Korean alphabet and soon find that they will be reading and writing in Korean. Basic vocabulary and everyday expressions will be the focus of this introductory course.

Beginning Korean Conversation (Language Elective)
(If elected, taking both of the language classes is advised)
This course works in tandem with its counterpart, "Beginning Korean." The spoken language will be the focus of this course with oral and listening activities comprising most of the classroom time. As with Beginning Korean, basic vocabulary and everyday expressions will be the focus of this course.

Traditional Korean Culture (Upper Level Elective)
– highly recommended for students wishing to study with Korean & exchange students
This course deals with the characteristics of Korean traditional culture. Through this course, many traditional cultural norms, historical artifacts and folklore will be introduced and analyzed so that the foreign students can gain a better understanding of Korean culture while Korean students learn how to introduce Korean culture in international context.

Oriental Brush Painting (Free Elective)
– recommended for students wishing to study with Korean students
This class will introduce students to the basics of oriental brush painting. This type of painting uses special kinds of water color and the subjects can range from nature, animals, everyday people, etc. In this introductory class, students will start with brush techniques and work their way up with the assistance of the instructor. English will not be the medium of instruction, however, the instructor will be able to communicate through demonstrations and other forms of communication.


It is a little too bad that they don't have any higher level Korean language classes, since I know hangeul already, but I figured having a class would be helpful, even if I know things already.
I'm pretty excited about Oriental Brush Painting, though! I didn't think I would be able to fit an art elective in during college, but now I can!


I probably won't update for a while, but it's less than two months til I leave! Getting psyched!


And, I'd like to start introducing things that I love about Korea, so I'll start with music. This is 10cm, with 안아줘요, or "Hug Me." :-)

- 레이첼

Beginnings

I might be jumping the gun with this post, but I guess I'm still feeling the euphoria of finding out that I got the scholarship to study in South Korea for a semester. So I'm going to go ahead and give a run-down of what I know. First of all, it's happening this next semester! I'm a freshman as you know, but from all the dual enrollment classes I took in high school, I'm technically a sophomore. So that’s why I’m allowed to go my freshman year. It's pretty great.

Why South Korea? you may ask. As different as it seems, I did not choose it just because the scholarship will cover my room and board for the time I'm there, and part of my plane ticket. No, I chose it specifically, and I wouldn't have studied abroad if I hadn't been able to go to South Korea but had been able to go anywhere else. Many people know that I am trying to learn the Korean language, and if you didn't, you do now. It started about a year ago when I was bored and on the computer. It’s funny that I used to be embarrassed about this story, but now I’m completely desensitized to the ridiculousness of it… but, I digress. I was surfing the web and ended up on hulu.com, a video hosting website that streams episodes of tv shows. That’s when I ran across something called a “Korean drama.” And before you look it up and find out that the English translations of their names come out to be things like “Boys Over Flowers,” “The Woman Who Still Wants to Get Married,” and “Coffee Prince,” I’ll just go ahead and admit that their names are silly and be done. 

The subtitles and foreign language didn't deter me because I’d already watched some anime, and at that point I could definitely not differentiate Japanese and Korean. Yeah, so I watched it. Then I watched another one. And another one. (If you're curious, here's the link) Then I started picking out words and wanting to know how to say things in Korean. Within a few months I had decided I wanted to learn this language. Of course, it’s easier said than done.

I haven’t made the most progress I could if I had extreme resolve, and a lot of time, but I do know some basic verb tenses and many essential phrases such as “Do you wanna die?” and “Are you crazy?” Ha.

I’m specifically going to Anyang, a city just outside of Seoul. 


View 안양대학교 in a larger map


I’ll be there from the end of February to the beginning of June. Long Christmas break! Yay! Of course that means I’ll be working til then…

So, yeah. I’m going there this February. I’m psyched.
-레이첼