NSLI-Y Korean: Seoul Program

A breakdown and analysis of what to expect on NSLI-Y Seoul.

When I was preparing for NSLI-Y, I remember I contacted so many alumni and searched up all the blogs.

I did NSLI-Y in 2018, when I was selected to be a part of the Seoul cohort. As a seventeen year old getting ready to graduate and go to college, this program truly changed my life for the better and inspired me to become the culture-loving person I am today.

I do remember that while getting ready for the program, I wanted to know so much about it. What should I pack? What were my classes going to be like? My host family? And so…

I thought to make this little experience to help out any future kids applying, because I remember when I was in your shoes so clearly. I had this drafted out years ago after I did the program, but never actually posted it to my original blog, so I thought to do this now to help out the future generations.

Y’all are rockstars for learning a foreign language at a young age; take opportunities like this and cherish them. It’s harder to learn languages when you get older.

Anyways, the classic disclaimer: this doesn’t reflect any attitudes of perspectives of American Councils or the US State Department. This is merely my own opinions and experiences.

Pre-Program Preparation

Once you get in, it’s full speed ahead to the day you’re flying out to PDO and then South Korea. They’ll send a flurry of emails, asking for any updates in medical records, and then other information, such as where do you want to fly out of airport-wise.

I’m going to make a major recommendation about that aspect of airports: do your research before you put in an airport. I put my closest airport (BWI) and I regretted it so, so much. My trip home took 36 hours.

It was absolutely terrible and I wouldn’t recommend it, and so if there’s a bigger airport a little farther away and it’s not inconvenient, you may want to put that one down. Just do your research.

This may depend on who your Resident Director is (e.g. the one American who’s in charge of roping many teenagers and making sure they’re somewhat safe), but ours put together Memrise lists for us to practice vocabulary before we went. We also had big group calls where we could ask questions with our parents, and our RD also arranged small groups of five to practice language or go over any questions we may have had.

If you checked off you had experience, you’re going to have to take the OPI. The OPI, in a nutshell, is a Korean grilling you questions to see how good you are at the language. It’s stressful, after four OPIs I’m still anxious about them, but you’re allowed to lie. They only care that you answer the question.

The program also mailed us out textbooks (they were more beginner-based, heads up) so we could study before the program started, and a pamphlet guidebook of sorts that was a breakdown of Korea politically, socially, and culturally. It was then, when I got that in the mail, did it slowly dawn on me this was real. Not after getting my plane tickets in the mail, but

I flew out from BWI on June 24th to Seattle. My flight was at four in the morning and my mother wept, but I knew I was getting ready for one of the biggest adventures of my life so far.

Orientation

Our program got us a shuttle to pick us up from the airport, and so we were shuttled into PDO at the University of Washington. We stayed in the dorms, and so we got a roommate, and were expected to use the bathrooms which were communal.

They weren’t bad, not too dirty, so I wouldn’t freak out about that. At the checkin desk, you were handed your NSLI-Y lanyard with your name and the ever-so-famous NSLIY t-shirt.

Ours was blue and made out of a terrible material that was great for the humid weather of Korea but ripped pretty easily (I am still sobbing over the hole in the armpit that I’m currently trying to mend. The memories! The memories!).

We had meal cards and had access to the buffet dining hall in between sessions. Our orientation basically was talking about culture shock, scenarios abroad where there may be misunderstandings, and how to adjust to being in a completely different place as an adolescent.

These were led by the i-Earn (our implementing organization) team who had flown in from NYC. We also had little mixer events where we did name bingo, watched K-dramas together, and played Cards Against Humanity.

First Few Days in Seoul

Once you arrive in Seoul, it seems magical being in Incheon and suddenly everyone is speaking a different language. I will never, ever forget the wonder and happiness I felt being in the airport, and then stepping off into the shuttle buses the program had gotten us.

We placed our suitcases in the bottom, then piled on and did roll call. We stayed at a youth hostel for the first three days for in-country orientation, where we were given crash culture in Korean culture, like how to use chopsticks, what was considered rude, how to act to your elders.

We slept like eight to a room, divided by gender. I was stuck in the room with the ondols, where you essentially sleep on a mat placed on the floor. It hurt my back so hard. There was only like one room with bunk beds.

It was here we also chose our cultural activities. On the Seoul program, you get to choose one cultural activity, and we would do them once a week. There are two programs with limited spots: cooking class and fan dancing class.

The other two classes are taekwondo and traditional Korean drumming. I wanted fan dancing, and so I gunned for it. They did it drawing names out of a hat style, and, thankfully, I got fan dancing.

That was my first time eating Korean food, too, at the hostel. The hostel had a little food court of sorts with the metal trays and chopsticks, and you’d come and get as many servings as you wanted. You could only get one soup, however, which was often seaweed soup. I didn’t like that soup very much.

It was at in-country orientation you meet the staff of the local implementing organization, who will be your touchstone. We also received our stipends here, which depended on where you lived. The stipend is meant for transportation and lunches, but unless you’re like me who skipped lunches and spent the money on lipsticks, and it varied on how far your commute was.

If you lived in Seoul City, you would get about 50,000 won less than the other group. I commuted from Anyang, so I was given 600,000 won. They give half at the in-country orientation and half about halfway through the program.

You are also given the option to use a SIM card or have a flip phone. I brought an old burner phone my family had, popped the SIM card into that, and used my regular phone whenever I had wifi. I’m lowkey poor so I got real thrifty with the ways I spent money on program—I’m the master of that, if you ever need NSLI-Y financial advice for Seoul, I’m your girl. I balled on a budget.

At the beginning of the third day you meet your host family! Whoo! And they take you home.

Host Family! And…Commuting

They will give you a host family based on your language level, and, due to the demand of people wanting to host, they were increasing how many people lived with a host family. I had a roommate (my queen) for my program, and so we shared a host family.

Neither one of us really spoke any Korean, and so we were paired with a family where the parents spoke quite a bit of English. We had two younger host sisters and were given our own rooms (our host sisters gave up their rooms so we could have a place to sleep for ourselves).

On the first morning of being with your host family, they’re supposed to show you how to commute to your classes. My host mother, along with our two host sisters, showed use the route to get to the university.

We lived in Anyang, next to a bus route, and so we had to transfer from a bus onto the subway. The entire commute was about two hours one way, and it was pretty difficult to plan things when you have such a long commute and a curfew.

What we also didn’t expected was the rush hour. If you’re from a major city like NYC, you’ll know this, but for me this was a complete shock.

The bus would be completely full and you’d have to force your way through the sweaty businessmen to latch onto a pole, and then the subway would be the same exact way. I started going home a bit earlier to avoid the afternoon rush because this gave me such anxiety.

When you do have a long commute, however, it is useful for studying. People will be amused by the foreigner studying Korean on the subway or bus, but do what you will. It’s basically free time to study.

Your host family is expected to provide you dinners and whatnot, so no need to worry about that.

Program Expectations

You can’t miss class unless there’s a valid reason. Same with any program-sponsored activities—you can really get in trouble if you miss a program activity. We also had strikes for lateness and other disciplinary action, and if you would get enough strikes against you, first you’d get a verbal warning, then a written one, then actual action against you. There were curfew checks throughout the program, so be careful about staying out late and I don’t advise breaking the curfew.

You’re also getting grades for the work you do at Ewha. Every single day we had a vocabulary quiz, and so you couldn’t be caught slacking. It’d be fifteen words, and if you missed three or four, you failed the exam and had to take it over again. There were exams (e.g. a midterm) as well as a final exam which would prove that you passed and were able to get the certification of completion from Ewha.

You’re also not allowed to leave the Seoul metropolitan area. Or skateboard. Or ride a bike. Or make memes. All were outlined to us as not being okay.

Hanmi Camp

Hanmi Camp is unique to the Seoul program, and I think they’ve run it every single year. Basically, they invite fifty high schoolers from all over Korea, split you up in groups, and then you do a cultural trip together. Before heading out on your mission, you’re going to play games and get to know each other, then have icebreakers done in your individual groups.

You’re then handed an envelope with where you’re going. My group was sent to Bukchon Hanok Village to meet a traditional dye master, who taught us how to do traditional dyeing methods on textiles with flowers.

As a fashion major, I thought that was so cool. You then return back to meet everyone and present what you learned about your cultural activity to everyone.

My year was also special—the US Embassy in Seoul was hosting a Japan-Korea Camp and invited ten of us from our program to meet Japanese and Korean high schoolers who were trying to learn English.

I won the chance to go, and so I got to meet a bunch of kids from all over Asia. We got samgyetang together, did icebreakers, and went on a river cruise on the Han. It was such a cool experience, one I hope that the program does again.

Supporter Groups

Supporter groups are essentially study buddies. You’re broken into groups of two to three based out of your class, and then you’ll have a broader supporter group. Your smaller group will have one college student who will help you through a guidebook of topics, and usually you’ll meet at a cafe where the program pays for your drinks and food. Then, in your larger supporter group, there’s typically one advanced, one beginner, and one intermediate group.

In the larger group, you’ll vote on cultural places you want to visit. And so my larger supporter group went to Gyeongbokgung and rented hanboks, Gwangjang Sijang in Dongdaemun, and Bukchon Hanok Village. We originally met at Yonsei University for our first meeting, so I’m considering that as a trip too because Yonsei is gorgeous to visit.

Korean Classes

Our year’s coursework was done at Ewha Womans University, located in Idae. Once you attend your first two days there, the program placement tests begin. They’re written exams as well as verbal ones intended to place you. They’ll tell you not to answer anything you don’t know, so leave it blank if you don’t know anything.

I was placed in the beginner level class. We were expected to know hangul going into it, and so we jumped straight in. These classes went fast, but it wasn’t bearable. They emphasize speaking over writing, which is beneficial in the long run, so we had to do many solo presentations and memorized speeches in front of the class.

They were so nerve wracking because you weren’t allowed to have notes, just had to speak in Korean about a topic, and it had to be a certain length (usually 6+ sentences). We also were quizzed on vocabulary constantly—make a Quizlet for this. I barely scraped by with minimum studying.

For beginner level, the topics were pretty simple: directions, the home, introductions, etc. and so we actually finished the textbook and started the intermediate level topics during week four. We didn’t get the intermediate textbooks, but we started the advanced grammar and vocabulary (like professions, future tense, dreams, etc.).

Post-Program Expectations

Upon being dropped off at the hostel by my host family for departure orientation, they began to give powerpoint lectures about reverse culture shock, how you’ll feel lonely and miss Korea, etc.

There was a lot of tears during this time, because our supporters were staying in the hostel with us, and everyone was just saying their goodbyes. I hid like a pack rat in this time because I wasn’t feeling the greatest mentally and all of the tears weren’t helping.

You don’t really get to say goodbye to everyone, because once you land in the US airport, everyone is running to catch their flights and make it back home. Say goodbye before you get to this point, because it’s emotional and stressful. I sobbed like a baby in Korea while leaving but was so emotionally exhausted here.

You also have to take the post-program OPI within a certain timeframe of returning to the US. This is the OPI that matters, because it shows how much you’ve improved in the language and it’s what the program records as your progress. Really try your best for this one!

Then you’re done with the program. They may ask you to take a couple of surveys, but, besides that, you’re all set. Keep studying the language :)

Personal Advice (Packing, Mental Health)

Don’t pack a lot if you know you’re going to go shopping. I was smart and packed the bare minimum because I knew I’d buy t-shirts, shorts, socks, etc. while in Korea. Also bring a lot of sunscreen.

Have fun. Don’t forget that this is supposed to be a time of wonder and awe for you, that this is a life changing moment where you’re young and abroad, free to do almost whatever you want.

Be open about your mental health and check in with yourself and others often. If you’re struggling, don’t be afraid to reach out to your RDs. I wish I had been more open about my depression on program and it limited me, something I can now say I regret.

Don’t be afraid to go places alone. Be safe, but if you want to see somewhere no one else does, go for it!

If anyone truly has any questions, feel free to reach out to me—my inbox is always open.