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. .

First couple days

New York: I landed in New York exhausted and discombobulated. I make my way to the hotel where I would meet the other NSLI-Y kids. Later that afternoon I meet the other students and have a great night getting to know everyone. The predeparture orientation was only what I had expected it to be: powerpoints delineating  exactly what not to do while abroad (don't be an 'obvious tourist').

Seoul: The flight to Seoul felt shorter than I had expected, but was still incredibly long. We landed in Seoul at 3pm K-time, so 2am NY-time. We stayed at a small hostel down the road from the YES international center where we had the in-country orientation. The orientation in country was much less vague and general and much more Korea-specific information. We learned some Korean manners like to make sure to stop what you are doing when your host parents come home and say 잘 담요 오숱 오요 , basic Korean survival phrases and had many of our qualms about living with a Korean family and going to Korean school quelled.

My family: I have a brother my age named Jun. I have a mother, Omma, and a father, Appa. There is another brother but he is away at university in Central Korea so I have not met him yet. I couldn't really understand what Appa was saying yesterday about Chusok (Korean Thanksgiving) but I think he said that we would be going away to his parents house with the older brother. The apartment is small but it has beautiful mountains in the landscape and the view is even better from the roof. On Sunday Jun, Jeong (his friend from school) and I tried to find where my korean classes would be and ended up getting lost and running into some other NSLI-Y students on the way. We had a great time with the other kids and went to City Hall. City Hall in Seoul has a nice green area to sit and picnic like in front of the Soldiers and Sailors museum in Pittsburgh. You can see Namsan Tower from City Hall and since it was getting dark the tower was completely lit up in blue. For dinner we sat down on the floor and ate on a table about 15 inches off the ground, much like the table I ate on last time I was in Seoul. Omma made traditional Bibimbap: a mixture of rice, vegetables, eggs and chili sauce. There was also cold seaweed soup and noodles on the table. They had placed a spoon, chopsticks and fork for me. I politely gave the fork back to my host mother and pointed to the chopsticks in my place. Their faces burst into grins of surprise and amusement. They talked to each other in rapid korean and pointed to the chopsticks and then to the noodles in front of me-as if to test my chopstick abilities. I picked up some noodles and brought them to my bowl. I had passed. 

Jun and me

Our first night out at City Hall

The view of Surak Mountain from the roof