Korean Haircut

hmmmm so today I am getting a haircut at a 미용실 (korean beauty salon)!!! I am soo excited. I even dressed more Korean today :P

Yesterday, I went shopping around 신림 (Shillim) station. The first mall was too expensive, but the second mall was cheaper and more appealing. I bought a shirt and the lady behind the counter (well actually their wasn't much of a counter) was talking about me in Korean to my host brother and she called me "cute"! SCORE

I was supposed to go to Seoul Forrest to see an underground band play, but me and my host brother were too late... thats why we decided to go shopping. (it's okay because I LOVE to shop)

Also, on Friday I saw an AMAZING movie called 태극기 휘날리며 (Taegukgi). Watch it. It was epic even with subtitles. Everyone was crying in the end. I was bawling. That never happens. Amazing.
It's a Korean war film about the Korean War, but it also is a story about two brothers and their struggle in the war. Their is a pretty good amount of symbolism, too.

Mid Evaluation

Today was our mid. evaluation... >.< It's so sad thinking about how some of us are leaving soo soon :'( I don't want to leave this host family for another.... I love my host family!!
(<---- actor from JUMP)

Update! and Lotte World

Wow I havent updated this in a while... 미안하다... (sorry)

hmm.. so my host family is great! My host brother and I went to "Coex", a popular mall in Korea, and we went to their aquarium. It was soooo nice. Way nicer than American aquariums.

Also I went to a traditional camp in 부여 (Buyeo)

We learned traditional drumming, singing, crafts, and dancing! ( i am a bad dancer)

I saw a solar eclipse that was last seen 500 years ago!

<---This is how the sun looked with film over the lense.

Recently I went to Lotte World, an amusement park in Seoul. It is like a knock-off of Disney, but pretty fun. My friend, Molly and I hung out the most their and we rode maybe 3 rides. We figured since we will both stay for a semester and go to the same school, we could come back. This trip was free anyways! On the Desperado ride, Molly's horse was broken and she was so upset haha so I let her borrow my gun.

Im in Seoul!!

Hey guys! I made it to Seoul :)

I dont have time to write a lot so Im going to bullet point some things...



Plane ride:

• long, but not too bad


• lots of movies and a touch screen panel


• koreans at the airport and on the plane approached me and my friends to speak english


• plane food... >.<

Seoul:

• crazy traffic & drivers


• LOTS of stares


• friendly people and lots of spicy foods


• food makes my stomach ache ><>
  
• so bright and colorful


• many cute pictures and, ok, EVERYTHING is cute!
• many smokers
• many staring people

Last Full Day At Home

wow~
So this will be my last night in my own bed...
Also my last dinner with my family... We are eating salmon and stir fry. (I didn't want Asian food, but my dad is obsessed!) Also I had some visitors come over and say their goodbyes to me. One actually cried. I'm holding up well, though! Man are my bags heavy and packed full ><# I'm gonna be hurtin' after schleppin' those bags everywhere...
Tomorrow we all meet in DC around 4 and stay in the hotel together. The next day we have seminars and meet the Farsi-learning students. That should be interesting. I wonder if everyone really looks how they do on facebook?? lol
I still feel like I overpacked, but my mom denies it.

Contacting the New Families

So the other day I recieved my summer host family information. I have also been talking with my fall host sister.
In the summer I have an older brother (오빠) his name is June Suk (준석). He has a younger sister, who is actually my age (older than me so I can call her 언니) but I dont know her name. He attends a university and I am guessing lives with his parents, sister, and me... His dad works for a broadcasting company and his sister attends a girls high school, but not mine. I haven't got much information out of him, except that I'm pretty^^ I just hope he sends pictures soon! lol

As for my fall host family, I only have an older sister (언니). Her name is Ji Young (지영), and she is in my grade and goes to my school. She likes Rihanna, Britney Spears, and some other American singers. She also likes Harry Potter movies and playing sports. She seems really sweet and cute. I would post her picture, but I don't want to do that without her permission... Her dad is a business man and her mom is a housewife. Their family is Buddhist. I love Buddhism, so this will be fun :)

Surprises Never End

Last night I was completely surprised! My mom and dad took me to do a little shopping and my mom said to bring my camera so we could go to Best Buy and look for memory cards. Oh and before that, they got me to dress up because they said we were going out to dinner after we shopped, but they weren't sure where yet. So I did, and didnt think anything of it. Then, she said when we were shopping, "Marcia called and said she's at Sakura, and she has a going away gift for you." I still didnt think anything of it... so off we went... when I opened the door to Sakura i heard a HUGE shreik! IT WAS MY KOREAN CLASS!!! (mostly Trang sheiked though haha) They had completely tricked me ><

you can see all my going away videos from last night on my youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/videomonkey10

They were throwing mints at our friend's car :)

Goodbye Good Friends

(left- me, right- BFFL)

Watch my latest video blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-9s4RLZzr8

Right now, I'm planning a small going away party at the pool near my house. It's going to be so hard for me to say goodbye... The majority of my friends I've known since elementary school, and some since before preschool.

Last summer I traveled to Japan with People to People Student Ambassadors Programs, but only stayed for two weeks. It was hard then... now I'll be gone close to six months, with limited communication, I assume. I know Korea is said to be very 'wired' and has fast communication, but that doesn't mean I'll have time to use it. I am trying to figure out my Skype/web cam. My Korean teacher and my friends and family are eager to chat with me while I'm away.

I'm a little scared that by seeing them on the screen, I'll become more homesick. Just talking on the phone with my parents when I was in Japan freaked me out!

Ohhhhhh! This is off topic, but I went to the Aerosmith concert on Fathers Day with my family and some friends. It was really amazing. I grew up listening to them and now I saw them in person! My sister and I sat in okay seats, but our parents sat in second row AND got to meet the band!!! They had a special meet-and-greet and had V.I.P. passes and everything. But it was fun because my sister and I got hit on by drunk older men. hahahaha luckily they were nice and didn't try anything creepy :P

2 more weeks until Korea!!!

WOW I really can't believe that there are only two more weeks until I'm in Seoul...
The days have been flying by since I was accepted to go.

I'm going with a program for critical language learners called NSLI for Youth. It's a full scholarship program that is run by the State Department. Here's a link to their site: http://02c71fd.netsolhost.com/index.html
My Korean teacher was the person to tell me about the program. She also helped me apply for one other program for students taking Korean language in high school. Somehow, I managed to recieve both scholarships, but chose NSLI because it's for a semester and completely free (compared to a couple of weeks and $2,000).

So far I know that I will be going to an all girls school in Seoul after I complete an intensive Korean course at Seoul National University (서울 대학교). The school I'm going to is called Mirim Girls High School (미림 여자 고등학교).

I also know that I will have two different host families. One will be for when I go to the university and another for when I'm at the high school. When I go to the high school, my host sister, Ji Young, will attend with me and so will two other American girls from the NSLI program. I'm really excited to meet them!