#nsliykorea

[art-coffee-and-seoul]

Our Pre-Departure Orientation was boring but necessary. We went over rules until they were ingrained in our souls. We survived the information overload somehow. The good part was the time we all spent getting to know each other. We played Avalon, which was a bonding experience to say the least. We all hung out the night before we left the country and all chilled and talked to alumni about our fears and excitement into the late hours of the night.  

We were off to the airport at dawn, regretting our choices to stay up late in order to sleep on the plane.  the  I enjoyed my last meal in America, which was a poorly made and overly expensive airport sandwitch. I sat between Maris and Jane in the middle aisle of the plane, and bonded with them over korean face masks and movies from the in-flight entertainment. Joy sat in front of us, creeping us out with her tiny hand things.. Anyone who did sleep well on the flight was envied. I personally kept myself going by watching zootopia, 127 hours, portlandia, the 33, and silicon valley. 13 hours later we were landing, and it all felt too real. I have to admit that I was tearing up when I saw the misty Korean mountains out the window. I had never left North America before, and I was in a place that I never thought I would get to go to so soon. A bus took us on an 1.5 hour ride to Seoul that only felt like 20 minutes.

The Seoul Youth Hostel was on Namsan with a rad view of Seoul Tower lit up in the night and a beautiful rooftop garden with a pavilion and a spectacular view of Seoul’s skyline. The city never ended, it just kept going.. And going.. And going… Of course, being in Korea brought on a whole new onslaught of orientations. Our shenanigans in the hostel made the place so memorable. Finally, the next day, they let us loose into the city with college students to complete a scavenger hunt. We had to learn how to use the Subway system and order street food. It was pouring rain that day, so my group sought shelter at Seoulbing, where I had my first taste of Bingsu, the legendary Korean shaved ice dessert. We even made our way to the “you are here” cafe in Hongdae. Our group was comprised of Maris, Arjun, Jane, Amanda, and I. There might have been someone else but I have no photo evidence… oops.

The next day we met our host families. I was one of the first students to get picked up. My family was comprised of my host mom and dad, a host sister that was slightly younger than I, as well as a younger host brother. My host family’s home was beautiful. It was a one-floor condo on the fifth story of a small complex. The house was very well organised and had big windows and beautiful bookcases. The view from my bedroom window showed Gwanaksan, a beautiful mountain that I would hike on later in my program.

[kawaiidasu]

Got selected to go to Seoul, South Korea this summer for six weeks!