Hello Friends,
Due to some confusion on my part, I accidentally completed my Post Reflection prompt in my last post in August. So, in this blog, I’ll just be explaining how it feels since starting up school again.
It’s been about a month since I started my junior year and I can honestly say that I’m finally getting back into the swing of things. Junior year has been treating me well, but it has been quite an adjustment since life in Korea. My program ended about two months ago, but it feels like I’ve been gone for much longer than that. I miss my friends, for the most part, I miss our group dinners, I miss complaining about walking up the hill to get to our dorm, and I miss going to class at Yonsei’s Korean Language Institute. My time in Korea was absolutely amazing, and the memories that I made there will honestly stay with me forever.
Since starting Second Year Korean 1, I feel a little more confident in my abilities. I feel that my writing has improved a lot since my time in Korea, but learning Korean at Notre Dame is more challenging than learning it in the KLI program. In Korea, I had more time to focus solely on learning the language. My class would last for four hours, and then I would have the whole day to study and review. At Notre Dame, the classes are much more condensed, which challenges me to learn at a quicker pace. While at school, I also have to juggle studying Korean with my four other classes. It’s been harder to devote my time to practicing Korean, but I am still motivated to learn the language.
In the spring semester, I’ll get to go back to Korea. Being back in Korea will definitely help me to improve my Korean. I’ll be there longer, 4 months instead of 5 weeks, so I’ll learn more. I honestly can’t wait to go back to Korea! Once again, I am so grateful for the opportunity I had this summer to go study in Korea. It was a rewarding experience that I can’t wait to replicate once I return to Korea.
Until Next Time,
Sydney Porter