About Me

Hi, I'm Brielle!

I spent six weeks in Seoul as an NSLI-Y Korean scholar. I was also selected as a Digital Ambassador, which gave me the chance to document my experience through photos and written reflections.

Although everyone’s NSLI-Y experience is immensely different, I absolutely adored my time in Korea and wouldn’t trade those six weeks for anything. I made some of my closest friends, became incredibly close with my host family, and grew a lot more independent throughout my journey. Living in another country also made me more interested in international relations and the relationship between South Korea and the United States.

I created this website to share some of my favorite memories and hopefully inspire other students who may be interested in NSLI-Y or studying abroad. I hope it encourages others to take the opportunity to experience a new culture and part of the world for themselves. I would definitely recommend everybody to apply to this program!

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Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye was the hardest part of the experience. I had to leave my NSLI-Y friends, peer tutors, teachers, and host family who had become such an important part of my life. I feel incredibly lucky to now have pieces of my heart spread across the world, and I know the relationships I made in Korea will stay with me long and impact me long after the program. I am so grateful to everyone who made my experience so enjoyable.

Learning in Class

The first few weeks of class were so fun because we were learning Hangul and building up our Korean from the nothing. It was exciting to be able to read the signs around Korea, even though I had no idea what most of them meant. My teachers were all very nice, and there were even students from other countries in my classes who I became friends with. Pronunciation class was my favorite because we got to practice tongue twisters and race to read the lyrics of popular Korean songs as fast as we could. It made learning Korean feel much more fun and interactive.

Getting Comfortable with Public Transport

Learning how to use Naver Maps and Seoul’s public transportation was a little confusing at first, but I had to pick it up quickly. To get to class every day, I had to take a bus and then transfer to the subway. On my first day of class, my host mom was generous enough to show me the entire route. By about a week into the program, I didn’t even need Naver to get to class anymore! Line 2 quickly became my favorite subway line, and I loved how convenient the public transportation was. The program also gave us stipends of over 700,000 won, and we used some of that money to recharge our Climate Cards. Those gave us unlimited public transportation throughout Seoul. Rush hour was a little scary at first. The trains were so packed that everyone was pressed together so tightly that the people around you were keeping you from falling over.

Meeting My Host Family

My host family immediately made me feel welcomed and cared for. I was lucky because I arrived with limited Korean knowledge, and she spoke perfect English. A few days each week, she would take hours out of her day to teach me Korean so I could practice what I was learning in class. My host grandma and her were always making sure I had enough to eat and introducing me to new Korean foods. One of my favorite memories was when we all sat together and opened Pokémon cards

Arriving in Korea

At the beginning of the program, everyone was still getting to know each other. The first day in Korea, the whole cohort went to Daiso together. My friends and I somehow ended up having a battle with toy swords, which definitely helped break the ice. It was also extremely hot, but everyone was still in awe of the scenery and excited to explore Seoul. It was so cool to get to know everyone because we had all come from different parts of the United States. We also ate dinner as a cohort (18 of us) together a few times. We even ate at the same fried chicken restaurant that Jensen Huang visited! These experiences helped us get comfortable with each other and quickly become friends.

My Final Reflection