Since this is my first time traveling alone and going to a foreign country without my family, I was extremely nervous about going on this summer program. But in the end, I had nothing to worry about! And if I had the chance, I would do this all again.
Once I stepped into Korea, I was immediately greeted by my host family. They were extremely nice and knew some English as well, which was helpful for me. Their home was very cozy and convenient to a lot of beautiful places around Seoul! Before language school started, the host family would bring my roommate and me to famous sightseeing places and take us out to eat delicious food! Fortunately, they also taught us how to ride the subway so that we knew how to go to school.
I met very diverse and welcoming people of different ages and backgrounds in the program as well! As an international student who lives in China, it was refreshing to have people from various parts of the world coming together to experience this summer program. When everyone was divided into different classes (we took an orientation test to determine everyone's level of fluency in Korean), I bonded well with my classmates and our teacher, who was immensely patient and kind to us. Sometimes, our teacher would even give us Korean videos to watch to help us in our Korean!
Lastly, what I found most eye-opening about this entire experience was the Korean culture and activities in the program and outside the program. If I listed out all the things I did in Seoul, it would probably be too overwhelming to read. Nonetheless, I am grateful that my experiences include a mix of Korean history and culture, food, shopping (which I don't usually do), and casual activities with friends (karaoke all the way!). I also find this program to be extremely flexible in allowing students to arrange their own time to do activities they want to do; in the 2019 schedule, we would have Sunday and another weekday to spend freely, whether that's by hanging out with our host family, friends from the program, going places by yourself (with safety as a priority), etc.
Overall, if you're thinking about signing up for this program, I highly recommend you! Not only was this eye-opening for me in learning more about Korea, but also making new friends of different ages and nationalities as well as learning how to be independent in a foreign country with people who speak a different language! I can say that I have matured from this program and taken a different perspective of the world around me, so I hope you consider this program to be one way you can spend your summer!