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. .

Week of Oct. 20

My Korean high school had midterms this week. They told me I didn't have to come to school so long as I did something cultural each day.


  • Kwangjangsijang: a market near Jongo-o-ga, selling mainly agricultural products, but I also saw lots of Hanbok (traditional Korean dress). I ate bibimbap (rice with vegetable toppings) and chapje (clear noodles) off the street with my fellow ahjummas (elderly women in Korea) and felt queasy afterwards.
  • National Museum of Korea. Really incredible, didn't have enough time to see the entire museum (the museum is gigantic), but I enjoyed learning about not only Korean history from the Korean exhibits, but also from the Asian exhibits as well. Went with Inyeong (older brother) who is back from university.
  • Jongmyo Shrine and Chaekdonggung Palace. Jongmyo is where many of the Joseon Dynasty kings and queens are buried. Unlike the palace where you can go in at anytime, the Shrine requires you be a part of a tour. Thankfully when I arrived it wasn't too long a wait for the English tour. I was able to learn about why certain things are built the way the are. The palace was much bigger and more complex than I had imagined, and for that I am all the more astonished.
  • Came to school not wearing the school uniform jacket, because I was wearing my Columbia instead. I was told to wait outside for forty minutes in the freezing cold. Afterwards, I came back inside to my homeroom teacher and she apologized. Yesterday there had been an announcement that it was now mandatory to wear the school's jacket to school- in Korean obviously and no one had bothered to relay the message to me. Although freezing, I was glad to finally experience the Korean disciplinary system.
  • Went out after school with some friends from Digitech. We went to a screened in batting cage where you pay 500KRW (50 cents) and have balls pitched to you at 120km/h and played ping-pong with the gang! After baseball and ping-pong and some pool, we went to meet Kelsi and Elizabeth at the Banpo Bridge where there was supposed to be a light show going on. There was no light show, but the view of the lights on the Hangang was great.