nsliyjeonju2018-blog

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

July 3

“Sooo, in school, we did art class. Fun fun. We painted tote bags. I wrote my name in korean with pink and silver and decorated it with flowers. We all had to go to the front and explain it to the class and I was like “it’s my name,,,,,, because i like pink,,,,,, and flowers,,,,” We kept them in 누리 classroom overnight to dry though. And I scared one of our tutors so bad. We were all trying to get his attention and I went “오빠!” really loudly and aggressively. Then we went to 객사 (I go everyday after school at this point). But the real adventure isn’t until after. I usually take bus 108, 인후위브얼림아파트 to 신흥중고다가공원. After 객사, I just go to the nearby stop and take 108 home. But 108 wasn’t going to stop any time soon. So I had to find another stop. But 언니 and I went to 3 different stops! And bus 108 wasn’t showing up on the 전주버스 app,so I had to take a different bus, so I took 55. I got off on 북일초교 but that let me off on the OTHER side of the apartment complex. I was at building 118 when I need to be at 103. And I knew I was in the apartment complex but oh man I was so lost. After lots of walking, I discovered I went left instead of right. I found my way after I told Fatima and she told 박선생님 and he called 이모 and then 다정언니 called me. So that worked. Then when I got here, some extended family was visiting, so I just had dinner with them [what we called whole ass chicken soup, it was 삼계탕], then did my homework. Today was busy. But then I talked with 진언니 and she said she’d take me to some places she goes to with her friends and her boyfriend.”

That was the first time I was home late, but it didn’t matter because the family was over, so no one noticed. Woulda been nice if they told me though... anyway, I met some of their family who I did meet again and it was fun. If I remember cutely, I did try the leaning-on-shoulder thing I mentioned in the previous entry. 

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

July 2 [7월 2일]

“I almost missed the bus today. It was pulling into the stop as I was crossing the road. I barely made it. 

“With 강선생님 we sang an introduction song, played 3.6.9. and made little ID cards. [They were more like stickers. I still have mine, it’s on the folder I got in Korea.] After lunch, we had music class and started 아리랑 [a traditional song] on the 소금 [a traditional korean instrument, it’s kind of like a flute] It’s like a flute and a recorder combined. That was fun, but Gilda and I couldn’t stop making jokes. After that, our tutors took us to 객사. We went to Gongcha and then to Artbox, a little stationary store. It had more than just stationary though. I’ll probably get little gifts from there.

“On the way home, an 아주마 and I were standing by the exit door for our stop but the bus driver just,,,,, kept going. I learned that you gotta press the stop button no matter what, just to be on the safe side. One day, I’ll be able to get off on the right stop. 

“우정언니 helped me with homework. But my head hurtsssss. I still have to review numbers but I think I’ll ask another 언니 for that. Both 다정언니 and 진언니 are tutoring right now. So I’m just chilling, writing this. Today was actually the first time eating with all five of the family. Fun. That sounds sarcastic, but it’s not. It was good. 

“Oh yeah, Fatima met with my host mom today and they talked about me. Apparently, they want me to talk more. Plus, 이모 said I’m too polite. Did Ammi raise me wrong? I mean, I don’t know how to interact with them. Like, when I meet people, I need them to talk to me. me + initiating conversation = massive N O P E. never. Fatima said they like the cutsey type thing, so maybe I should lean against 언니? UGH this is hard. I wanna go home, come home, whatever. HOMESICK. That is me. 

So basically, I think it’s really important to pay attention to your host family and what they say in the beginning. I do have regrets yet, I do think I should have tried harder to get close with my host family, but what happened, happened, ya know?

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

July 1 (7월 1일)

[This is a long one, buckle up folks]

“I finally met the oldest sister! 우정언니 is the oldest, then 다정언니, who I met at the school, then 진언니 is the youngest. Today, they took me to their church. It was my first time in a church and it was cool to see how one worked. 우정언니 took me to a group in the church who are fluent in English and they help foreigners in the church. Most of them were all Korean but Josh was Korean American. He’s from LA, so his English was really good. There was also an uncle who I met briefly before 우정언니 took me to the sermon. They gave me cookies, which I have yet to eat. Although I didn’t understand what was going on, I looked around the church and compared it to our dynamic at the masjid. I think we’ll go every week. It’s good exposure to 전주 culture, plus I wouldn’t mind hanging out with the English group again. They did say “see you next week” so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Maybe next week, I’ll hang out with the group from school, after classes obviously. But there isn’t much to do in 전주 except... wander. 객사, 한옥마을, and food are the biggest attractions but for food and 객사, you need money and I don’t want to spend too much yet. Other stuff like 노래방 is a group activity. And we’re going to 한옥마을 as part of the program.

“Right now, 우정언니 is asleep, 다정언니 has been out all day, and 진언니‘s student is over for tutoring. 이모 and 아빠 have a friend of theirs over. I’m just bored. I went through the pictures on the camera that I’ve taken so far. Not bad. I appreciate. I’ve listened to Panic! at the Disco’s new album. I don’t have any homework to do! The only thing we’ve studied in class so far is the alphabet and I already knew that before coming here. All my host family is too busy for me and it’s P O U R I N G outside, so I can’t go anywhere. we have a typhoon warning all week, so I guess its good I got an umbrella yesterday. I wonder if it’s a superstition to open umbrellas indoors in Korea. [It is not] I think I’m gonna go look up superstitions, then take a nap. I’m so booooooooored... part of me wants a different host family, part of me wants to go back to Texas. Plus my left earbud stopped working!

“My host family isn’t bad, I enjoy being with the, when I’m actually with them. Like when we went to church, or meal time. But most of the time, I’m in my room or sitting in the living room while they all do their own thing. 

“That’s the thing. They’re all doing their own thing and I’m like “okay, guess I’ll be here...” I mean I decided to stick it out, it’s only my third full day with them. By next Friday, if I’m not loving it. I’ll talk to Fatima. I mean, it’s hard getting close with people, it’e even harder when 1) they interact with you as little as possible and 2) you don’t special the same language.

“Well, the guest left, so I guess I’ll see what the family is doing... wow I wrote a lot and it’s only 4:57.”

“I gave 우정언니 her present! Then we went out for black bean noodles, then Daiso. I got new earbuds and a little cleansing thing. 우정언니 is good, I love her. I haven’t seen 다정언니 all day, but 진언니 came back. Apparently she was on a date with her bf. 

“이모 dissed me bc Donghan isn’t famous, but then 우정언니 looked him up and sent me a performance I hadn’t seen. I also showed her pictures of my family. Then she gave me the advice that I should talk to 다정언니 and 진언니 once they finish tutoring because sometimes they’re too tired to start a conversation, but they’ll talk if I start it. Gotta look up conversation starters, haha...”

Woo, that’s a lot to unload in one day. I kind of rambled on, I was bored out of my mind then. Typing this up though makes me miss Korea, even my host family. I wasn’t close with them, but damn, that was home. That was home. 

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

Going back to the application

First thing’s first:

The application is due October 30th, 2018, 4:00 PM EST for the 2019-2020 programs.

Late applications are n o t considered. 

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s go back into what the application wants. 

Personal Information

Contact info of you and your family

Passport information

Language experience [prior experience in the language isn’t required, but they need to know how much already you know so they can place you in the right program]

International experience [this is if you’ve traveled abroad before, why, etc.]

Written Portion

Letter to your host fam

Two or three essays [mine was 3 reasons I want to be part of NSLI-Y]

In addition to that, you need:

Parent statement

Teacher rec

Official transcript

Placement info [where you want to be; this doesn’t affect how they choose people]

Terms & Conditions [yes, you have to read those]

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

June 30

“Since it’s a Saturday, most of the students weren’t in school, but we ran into a few. During class today, we saw two bugs and for the first one, 박선생님 had to hit it with a broom and the second one, Madi attacked with her shoe. 강선생님 called her hero, it was so cute.

“After school, we went to 객사, the shopping district and I got a shirt and an album. After that, Fatima took me to two stationary stores and I got an umbrella (우산) and a hand held fan. She said we get to go back to the bigger store during one of the planned trips. On the way home, on the bus, I actually missed the stop. Yesterday, we got off one stop too early and got super lost. Today, I got off one late, but I could still see the complex so it was fine.

“During dinner, my host family asked about my hijab and they told me about the girl they hosted last year.”

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

Since the application is open...

Let’s go over the qualities NSLI-Y looks for.

Diversity. First thing y’all. NSLI-Y loves students from diverse backgrounds, all from different places. It’s better to show to foreigners as American ambassadors.

Next, flexibility. NSLI-Y schedules change all the time. There was hardly a set schedule because there were always new variables that you have to deal with. There’s so many new challenges daily, so you have to be quick on your feet and be able to adapt to any situations you get put into.

So, independence ties in with flexibility. There will be times where you go alone, so you gotta be able to take care of yourself.

And we love risk-takers! There are so many risks that you’re gonna be faced with and you gotta be able to take that chance.

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

NSLI-Y 2019-2020 Applications are Open!

http://www.nsliforyouth.org/how-to-apply/

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

June 29

“LOTS OF SCHOOL

We had orientation about the program (also included info about the school), then lunch, the split into three groups, 바다  하늘 and 누리. They told us about our two trips, our tutors, and our weekly schedule. 

[yeah I know my handwriting is bad. Culture orienteering was pretty much going out with our group and exploring some part of 전주 we only ended up doing it like twice]

I’m in 하늘, IT’S REALLY COLD IN THERE. But for lunch, they have to separate us from the students because all the students freak out when they see us. 이모 asked me if I liked kpop. She didn’t know Donghan [no one does ㅠㅠ] so she asked me to show her his song, so I showed her Sunset, then she showed me 10CM. She got really excited when I said I knew his song Pet.”

Wow, the only time my host mom tried to make contact with me was the second day. We were really awkward with each other, save for a few moments. I mean, she was nice, but I don’t think I’ll be getting in contact with my host fam.

Don’t let that discourage you. Some people had really cool host families, some, like me, it just wasn’t the best situation. Yeah, it could have been better with my host family, but not everything is going to be perfect. I made some awesome memories with the people I chose to be with, and I feel like that’s the most important thing.

Going back to the class though, we were actually at school longer on the first day. From 9-12, when we normally had class, was when they had that orientation. Then we had an “interview” with the people who ended up being our teachers. It was just to see how much Korean we knew. I was able to say my name, age, and what day of the week it was, but I couldn’t do much more than that. After that was lunch, then the first four hours of Korean class, which was just how to read the alphabet, which I could do, thankfully. Side note: MAKE SURE YOU CAN READ THE LANGUAGE YOU’RE GOING TO LEARN BEFORE GOING. I know this sounds like a given to some people, but a good chunk of people in my group couldn't read Korean before we got there. Learning how to read the script before going is gonna save you so much time and work. Especially since the classes are hard work. You’re not going to play around, you’re going to learn the language. You have to work hard and if you can spend your time there reviewing important phrases and grammar structures instead of learning how to read the alphabet in another language, it’s gonna save your life.

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

Our day in Seoul

So we left for the Washington Reagan Airport at 6AM, because our flight was an early-morning flight and American airport security is absurd, especially when going internationally. Anyway, I’m not going to bore you with details of a 13 hour flight, but when we arrived in 인천, we were met by one of our tutors and 박선생님 who was the sweetest man ever, he literally tried to give us the world. If it hadn’t been for him, I would not have enjoyed Korea as much as I did. 

I kept a journal for my mother, so here’s what I wrote for her. “June 25- Timezones are weird and disorienting. We left for the airport at 6:15AM, then flew to Detroit. We wandered around Detroit airport for a bit before boarding for a 13 HOUR PLANE RIDE. I switched seats with Madi so she was by Luke and I was by Lucy, but I also got a window seat, so bless. Once we landed, we met 선생님, Fatima’s 남편 (husband), and one of the tutors. We took the express way to Seoul Station, then WALKED ten minutes to our hotel, CARRYING OUR LUGGAGE. we went up to our hotel rooms, which are really cute and they have the little slippers! After showering, we went up to floor 19, where the lounge is and had dinner with a wicked view.” (The dinner was 불고기 burgers.)

This is Lily being a full-on aesthetic on the way from 인천 to 서울.

The view outside of Seoul Station, before the 10 minute walk that made me regret bringing a massive ass bag (did not regret that coming back though)

So the next day, June 28, we spent in Seoul. First stop was the US Embassy. We went to some historical sites which I don’t remember the names of and the Korean war memorial. Then we took a bus from 서울 to 전주, which was about three hours.

Here’s the experience from the words of me that day.

“We leave for the US Embassy at 9, so we’re having breakfast at 7:30. There we got a presentation about safety and careers with the State Department, After that, we went to the Korean War Memorial. we walked back to the hotel and got our luggage- THERE ARE COSTCOS IN KOREA!!- [We were on the bus when I wrote this and I guess I felt it very relevant to add] and put our luggage in the paaaaarty bus! we went to two castles/ shrines, one of them being 칠궁. We then had 냉면 for lunch and visited the two famous statues and the Sewol Ferry Incident Memorial. We are now on the bus to 전주 to meet our host families! It’s 3:50 right now and very cloudy. We’re on our way out of Seoul. Kind of sad I didn’t see a birthday ad for Donghan [wow my priorities then ajngdfnb] But Seoul is so cute! And Lily’s screen protector came off and FIVE MINUTES LATER a bird pooped on Zach and our tutor went “OH MY GOD...” it was so funny.

“Saw Irene, Wanna One, GOT7, and BTS on ads, plus a bunch of actors. Wanna One was advertising ice cream and the ad said “Wanna Cone” it was great. The bus ride is like three hours, so I’ll nap a bit before cramming with survival phrases.

“I ended up sleeping pretty much the entire time before we got to 신흥 high school. When we were walking in, the students were all yelling greetings and clapping. We went in a classroom and met our host families. My mom and one of the sisters picked me up. We drove to the apartment, where I had dinner and then unpacked. The sister with me, the second sister, told me that the oldest sister is a nurse at a hospital and the younger one teaches math to high school students. The one I’m with is tutoring students right now. I do have my own room, but it’s a bit awkward. Everyone is during their own thing and I’m not sure what to do now. Ask for the Wi-Fi, for sure. I’ll ask the 언니, but she’s tutoring right now and I don’t know how much longer the student will be here, its already nine.”

Wow, just typing that up, I can remember those feelings from that first day. Especially walking into the school. So much happened at 신흥고등학교 and it will forever have a special place in my heart. 

I stand corrected, it’s called the “American Center” not the US Embassy.

Fatima taking a picture of me taking a picture of her at the Korean War Memorial.

Sewol Ferry Incident Memorial. A few of us cried, I almost did. There was a song playing, and the lyrics of the song were the names of the people who had passed. If you haven’t heard of this incident, I suggest you look it up, it’s super big in Korea.

냉면!!

The paaaaaaaaaaarty bus! We rented a bus and I managed to get an artsy pic of Olivia. 

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

PDO- First Meeting

PDO- Pre-Departure Orientation

Our group of 20 met in Washington D.C. for the first time. A lot of us had at least spoken to each other through Kakao and Facebook groups. 

On Sunday, June 24, we all met at different times of day. I met Alice and Jackie at our layover in Atlanta before we reached D.C. Once we arrived, we were taken to our hotel, Avenue Suites Georgetown, where I ended up sharing a room with Carly and Kate. Around 5PM, once 90% of the group had arrived, we headed to the American Councils building. We played tons of introduction games to get to know each other and had dinner together. That was also when we got out NSLI-Y shirts. After leaving the American Councils building, we made a pit stop at Trader Joe’s before all gathering in one hotel room and eating snacks together. 

The next day, Monday, was when PDO officially started. The Jeonju group was actually with the New Taipei City group. A lot of that day was just spent listening to presentations about health, what the expect, etc. There was also an alumni panel. We did a bit of roleplaying, like “your host sibling is shy” or “you’re turning homework to your teacher.” We also got to see pictures of our host families! All in all, it was a great day. Another night spent eating snacks in someone’s hotel room, ㅎㅎ

Here’s the schedule from the folder NSLI-Y gave us.

Keep scrolling for pictures I took~

M A S S I V E Jenga at the hotel. We were waiting for the rest to join us. 

Zip-Zap-Zop (?) with the New Taipei City group.

Pajamas in the lobby. Christopher was drinking soymilk out of a wine glass. 

We had to w a l k to the American Councils building, at like 8AM, in the sun, for 15 minutes... and I’m lazy. 

Alice getting pictures for her ig, lmao.

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

In between now and the time the application releases, imma just be posting about my personal experiences, starting with PDO.

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

Now We Wait (Semi-Finalist)

The most stressful thing is waiting for your application status email. We were literally in Turkey and I was checking my email every night to see if I got accepted. And thank god I did, that’s when I found out I was a finalist! I literally grabbed onto my sister and started jumping up and down. 

But anyway, waiting for that email back. I didn’t hear back about being a semi-finalist until a month later. There’s a lot to look for, like eligibility and “motivation for language learning, sense of character, and demonstrated cultural awareness. Maturity and readiness for a challenging academic and international experience are very important factors.” 

You’ll get an email back, no matter what. They send rejection emails and acceptance, so you’ll hear back from them. If you get accepted, you’ll get an email about an interview. For me, it was a face-to-face interview at a local library, but some of my friends did theirs via skype or a phone call. In my email, they gave me a date, location, and a time frame, and I got to pick a time within the time frame. 

I’ll cover more about the actual interview in another post. 

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

NSLI-Y Application

As of when I’m writing this [Mid-August 2018], the application has yet to open. That will be the 2019-2020 programs, and I expect it will open soon, since the 2018-2019 applications opened in August 2017 and were due in November.

Before going into the application itself, let’s review eligibility. Now there’s a bunch, so let’s just go with a screenshot, hm?

Boom. omf that doesn’t go with my theme ahhhhhh

Good qualities NSLI-Y looks for:

DIVERSITY. The more of a unique backstory you have, the more NSLI-Y will want you. They especially love students who are a minority in the country they want to go to. I know I was. The only other hijabi I saw in Jeonju was our resident director, Fatima. 

Also, flexibility. Our schedule was never set in stone. We really needed to be willing to change our schedule and go with the flow. That was one of the biggest qualities that showed itself while we were in Jeonju. 

Independence, obviously. You’re gonna have a host family and resident director and a group to be with you, but there’s still going to be times where you’re on your own. You gotta be able to keep a cool head and work through it.

Also, be a goddamn r i s k - t a k e r. Me personally, I was super shy and awkward, but being in Korea got me to do things I never would have done in America. For example, cliff-diving. My motto was kind of “if you don’t do it now, when else will you get the chance?”

And this isn’t a quality, but NSLI-Y loves it if you really show how NSLI-Y will help you in the future and your professional career. For me, that worked out really well, so make sure you do that. 

Enough of that rambling. Let me get into components of the application.

So I was able to get into the AIS portal (if you decide to apply, that the platform the application is on) and pull up my application, so let’s go. 

The application this year will likely have the same things, I don’t know what they’d change. 

A lot of it is pretty self explanatory, soooooooooooooooooo yeah. 

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

Here’s a bit about me

I’m a massive h e c c i n nerd. I doubled up in the only languages my school offers (French and Spanish), I took Latin at my old middle school, my mom taught me how to read Arabic, and I speak a mix of English and Urdu at home. [Ever since I got home, my Urdu has been w a c k] 

Language and literature is my passion. I write fantasy often and we get a bit of romance every now and then. But anyway, I love east asian culture, but none of those languages are offered as classes anywhere near where I am. So when I heard about NSLI-Y, I hopped on that train so hard. 

Applying for NSLI-Y was a huge risk for me. It was kind of just a gut thing [I did my application in the five days before it was due; I do not recommend, causes a shit load of stress] and I didn’t even know if my parents would let me go. Hell, my dad was still iffy even five months later, when I got my finalist email. 

Anyway, for my future; I def want to do something abroad, I’d love that. I got distracted by Stray Kids which is why I dont know what else to say. But yeah. Abroad stuff. D I P L O M A C Y that’s the word. 

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

Nitty-Gritty NSLI-Y

So the last post didn’t have a lot about the details of NSLI-Y, so let me share that with you. Most of this is info from their website, just compiled together so you can read it better.

“The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program was launched in 2006 to promote critical language learning among American youth. The U.S. Department of State, in cooperation with American Councils for International Education, awards and administers merit-based scholarships to high school students for participation in summer and academic year immersion programs in locations where the seven NSLI-Y languages are spoken. NSLI-Y immerses participants in the cultural life of the host country, giving them formal and informal language practice and sparking a lifetime interest in foreign languages and cultures.“

That’s just f a n c y for “yo you can get a scholarship for a full immersion study abroad program in one of the host countries where the language is spoken.” All the languages offered have to do with the national security, hence National Security Language Initiative. It makes sense y’all.

~

“NSLI-Y summer programs are expected to be offered in all eight NSLI-Y languages. Academic year programs are expected to be offered in Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Korean, Russian, and Turkish.” Do I need to translate that out of fancy? “Expected to offer” means these are the languages normally offered, but if there’s a security issue, they would have to change the program, because they gotta keep us safe, ya know?

~

“The Korean summer program will provide participants the opportunity to develop their Korean language skills while improving their understanding of traditional and modern Korean culture. Instruction will be provided on all four language skills, but will focus on increasing students’ speaking and listening comprehension abilities. Activities and homework assignments will be theme-based and will include structured opportunities to practice language skills outside the classroom. Korean will be the primary language of instruction and students will be expected to speak only Korean in class and during program-related language events. Participants will maintain a portfolio of their language work and progress.

“The Korean academic year program will provide participants the opportunity to develop their Korean language skills while improving their understanding of traditional and modern Korean culture. Korean academic year participants will attend Korean language classes throughout the academic year while also taking other academic coursework in Korean at local high schools. Activities and homework assignments will be theme-based and will include structured opportunities to practice language skills outside the classroom. During the winter break, participants will take part in volunteer and career development activities in addition to their Korean language studies.“

Here’s the difference between the Korean summer and academic year program. I chose to use the Korean program as an example because that’s the one I attended. The main goals for the programs is the same for all languages, but some of the details like what will happen during the winter breaks and what you’ll focus on is different though, so if you want to check those out, here’s the link my dudes. 

http://www.nsliforyouth.org/languages-and-programs/

~

Is NSLI-Y right for you?

[I’m just copy-pasting the bolded from this page on the NSLI-Y website lmao]

NSLI-Y is a prestigious and selective overseas immersion experience for American youth.

NSLI-Y scholars participate in intensive language courses on both summer and academic year programs.

NSLI-Y is focused on language acquisition, not travel or sightseeing; there is no guarantee participants will see any or all of the major historical sites in the host country. [This is really important!!! A lot of my friends didn’t realize this before I left for Korea. You will do a bit of sightseeing as part of the program, and if you have a host fam, they might take you out (mine did not) but you won’t have a lot of alone down-time]

Successful NSLI-Y participants dedicate themselves to language acquisition through both formal and informal learning opportunities.

~

So I helped this help, feel free to send asks, message, or email me if you have questions! 

[nsliyjeonju2018-blog]

What is NSLI-Y?

NSLI-Y is the program that took me to Jeonju. It stands for National Security Language Initiative for Youth. American high school students can apply to learn a language in a country that speaks that language, for a fully-immersed experience. There are 8 languages offered: Arabic, Mandarin, Hindi, Bahasa Indonesia, Persian (Tajiki), Korean, Russian, and Turkish. 

The selection process is e x t r e m e l y rigorous and it was really hard to get accepted, but it was so worth it. The scholarship covers everything except your own souvenir money and like bus fees, money, small things like that. Plus you actually do get to learn so much in such a short period.

There’s a summer program and a year program. I did the summer program, six weeks in Jeonju, now one of my favorite cities.

For more info, I strongly request checking out NSLI-Y’s website. 

http://www.nsliforyouth.org/faq/