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!