Banking on Resilience

My roommate and I laugh that our third roommate is the Korean bank where I opened my bank account through my exchange university because I talk about my struggles with my bank account so often. If my roommate comes back from the day and finds me in an especially sour mood she always opens with…

The Weeks are Short

I’m hesitant to begin this blog post with a cliche, but nevertheless I think it is fitting for how my first few weeks in Seoul have passed: the days are long but the weeks are short. In reflecting on my experiences it’s hard for me to believe that it has been almost two months that…

Finding Familiarity

Here in Korea I live in the dorms for international and exchange students at Korea University. Our dorms quite literally are on the top of a mountain and even in the few weeks I have been here my calves have gotten so strong. As a Sutherland Hall veteran, I have to say this hill puts…

Expectations, Quizlet, and Everyday Life in Seoul

I think that I didn’t realize the magnitude of moving abroad for a semester until my plane landed at Incheon in August. I arrived in Korea knowing not a single person and with bright-eyed determination to soak up every experience possible and learn lots of Korean. I unfortunately fell for the trap of watching too…

New Passions in a Big World

My “why Korean” story has never been the most straightforward narrative nor were my goals very specific when I first watched a YouTube video teaching me the basics Hangeul. I grew up listening to K-pop with my brother and would secretly watch Korean dramas in the back of my seventh grade classes when I was…

The Start of a New Journey

Hello! Hola! Привет! 안녕하세요! My name is Hannah Faulkner and I am a rising fourth-year student (where has the time gone?!) here at the University of Pittsburgh. Coming from a small town in North Texas, I credit foreign language classes and cross-cultural education as the impetus for the expansion of my worldview and the kindling…