Korean translation, 년[neon,nyawn]: year



Korean translation, 년[neon,nyawn]: year




To whoever is looking at this blog, know that while although one of the functions of this blog is to inform others of my time here, I also use this blog as a way to document what I am doing in Korea for myself. I do this so that come a year, two years, ten, twenty from now, I can look back and remember some of the the amazing people I met, the places I went and the meaningful experiences I had.

Why am I in Seoul, anyways?

Why am I in Seoul, anyways? I'm studying language in Seoul for the year through the National Security Language Initiative for Youth operated by the U.S. State Department. While in Seoul, I attend a local Korean high school as a regular Korean student and have intensive language classes three times a week at an international institute in Seoul. My school is a digital media vocational school. Both in school and in many other settings, I am often the only American they have met and almost always the only Jew. As such, I have an important role, not only as an American or a Jew, but as The American and The Jew. Because of this, I have been prone to some alarming, but insightful questions. Like when it was drizzling outside, weather that does not necessarily warrant carrying an umbrella, but being asked by my host brother, "Do all Jews not use umbrellas?" I am constantly being put in new situations. I make mistakes sometimes. Like when I clearly asked for "not spicy," however later realized, tears in my eyes, that the woman's shocked expression when I ordered "meh-un tteokbokki" was not from my Korean ordering skills, but was because I had probably been the first foreigner to specifically ask for the spiciest food on the menu. These year as the non-umbrella-carrying-spicy-food-eating-American-Jew living in Seoul has been exhausting and exhilarating, but a year of experiences I will bring with me for the rest of my life. .

Three Days

I remember three months ago when I saw my days remaining enter the double digits. 99. 98. 97. Those days only a faint memory now as I tie up all of my loose ends here in Florida and in the United States, pack my suitcase and mentally prepare for the challenges and adventures that lie ahead. 96.95....5.4.3. Three more days until I leave for a pre-departure orientation in New York. I am leaving for Korea in five days, but when I leave for New York I will leave my family, friends and school. My father told me that often he forgets that this is not only a new chapter in my life, but in his and mom's and the family's as well.

Preparing has been difficult, saying goodbye to friends and family and the life I lived isn't easy. I've learned that the people who count down the days with you- with as much excitement and sadness and nervousness as you- are the ones who matter most.


These last few days will be sad and stressful and chaotic and wonderful.