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. 


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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