So...Korea?! Article published in the TTU Study Abroad Newsletter

   “So, you’re a SPANISH major, and you went to KOREA?!”

Me with some of my
freshman friends at the
Kyeongju Water Palace.

    I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that question.

   The simple answer? “YES!”

   After spending the majority of my freshman year with Korean exchange students, I promised them that I would come visit their country. So I did. 

   I didn’t know any Korean, and the curriculum had nothing to do with either of my majors, and Korean will not likely help me at all in my pursuit of a PhD. But this experience was far from worthless.

Figure 2 Our suite, D502, at Sooncheon Traditional Village.

   Upon arrival all I knew was that I would be living in a suite with Korean students, and I would be participating in an internship focused on increasing Korean students’ fluency in English. I knew that as a blond American I would instantly stand out everywhere I went. And I knew that I would have difficulty communicating with everyone I met for 4 months

   All of those were indeed true. My suitemates included a Mexican, a Chinese, and 9 Koreans. The internship consisted of talking, in English, for 5-10 hours a week. Hoping that my Korean conversation partners would somehow learn something.  And more talking…with my friends from Korea, Mexico, China, Japan, and Finland, I got to practice speaking slowly and understanding broken English in many varied “accents.” Invaluable skills.

Guinsa Temple Stay:
modeling the required garb
in front of one of the
Four Guardian Kings found at
every Korean Buddhist Temple.

   The university I attended, Soonchunhyang, sits a couple hours south of Seoul. From there, I was able to travel with my friends – new and old – to almost every corner of Korea. I experienced historical graves and temples, a traditional village, the beach in Busan, an evangelical church and a weekend Buddhist Temple Stay, a cross-country bus ride, sleepless nights in Seoul hostels, Chuseok and Christmas, and good old-fashioned Korean home-made hospitality. I met friends from all over the world, ate an octopus that had been alive 3 minutes ago, taught a country line dance, learned to make Korean dumplings, introduced myself in Korean, performed 108 prostrations, attended my Grandfather’s funeral on Skype, hiked a sacred mountain, broke a board with my hand, wrote epic blog posts, found out that Swastikas are NOT synonymous with Nazis.

   One Spanish major. One semester in Korea. Do it.