This is the beginning of my blog for my study abroad internship in South Korea. I started this blog not only to update friends and family on my adventures and experiences in Korea but also to help anyone who is curious about studying abroad to South Korea. I was fortunate enough to receive a Gilman Scholarship which has tremendously helped me finance my trip. I encourage everyone who is interested in studying abroad to check out the Gilman Scholarship. You have to write two short essays. You can get up to $3000-5000 in scholarship money. The only requirement is that you do an outreach event to promote studying abroad and the Gilman Scholarship. This is my way to outreach to everyone and show you how the Gilman Scholarship made it all happen.
To introduce myself, my name is Laura and I just recently finished my graduating requirements at UC Berkeley in Business Administration. So I'm technically graduated and I've done the whole graduation walk but the classes I will take in Korea will still be on my degree. I'm going to Korea to hopefully become fluent in my native language. I was born in California but my first language was Korean. After I entered pre-school, I basically lost the Korean language. I can read and write okay but my vocabulary is limited and thus it is hard for me to communicate with anyone in Korean.
All my other friends have left for their study abroad programs. I have friends going to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Rome. The Yonsei University program begins a little later. Orientation isn't until February 22nd. But I'm one step closer because I just bought my plane ticket last night. It cost about $950 but I upgraded so that I could have a flexible return date. I'm not sure whether I will be too homesick that I will want to leave right after the program or if I'm having so much fun, I will want to stay a bit longer. I also applied to housing 2 weeks ago. I've decided to live in the S-House aka off campus housing. This choice was much more expensive, as much as my housing in Berkeley. However, I thought it would be the best decision because although the mew on campus housing (I-House II) will be brand open to us, they will begin renovating the first I-House and so I don't want to wake up to construction noise for 4 months.
I'll be blogging every now and then along the steps of my journey abroad. Stay tuned!
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