Countdowns and Comparisons

So, it's April 1st, 2012...three months before I depart to my NSLI-Y orientation in New York City, and then to Korea! I'm quite excited, and whenever I start thinking about the amazing experience I'm going to have this summer I get all happy and start grinning like crazy...which looks a bit weird if, say, I'm walking down the hallway at school with this huge stupid grin on my face...but I digress...three months seems like so long! Perhaps it's just because when I found out I was going to Japan last year, I didn't find out until mid-to-late April (I don't remember the exact date), which was a little less than two months before I would  leave for Japan. So, this time around it seems to be a longer wait.

Just typing that above, I realized that I am comparing this journey with my experience with Japan last year...which I find I have been doing quite a lot lately. Which is unsettling to me. I don't want to be comparing my Korea experience to the one I had in Japan. South Korea and Japan are some similar traits, but they are completely different countries. I feel like people categorize China, Japan, and the Koreas into one big blur of...Asian-ness, for the lack of a better term to describe it. The architecture, foods, culture, and history of these three countries are often confused with one another, especially to people who haven't studied the differences as closely as others. But, looking beyond what little we are taught in American school about other countries of the world (other than very basic and generalized information that most forget within a short period of time) there are such differences between the countries. South Korea is not Japan. Japan is not China. China is not North Korea, nor is it South Korea or Taiwan or Vietnam.

Apart from the cultural traits, the aspects of the NSLI-Y program are much different than the YFU Japan program my scholarship went through last year. With YFU, the program was very focused on immersion. I lived with a host family and went to a Japanese high school my entire stay. Which was great, because I was interacting with mostly Japanese people, and wasn't speaking very much English, and got to see how life is in Japan on a normal basis. With the summer NSLI-Y program, I'll be going to language school everyday with the other American scholarship recipients. And although I will be staying with a host family, I won't be going to high school (summer students don't go to Korean high school during their stay, but the semester and year students do), so it's unlikely I'll interact with many Korean high school students. Both programs are fantastic, but the goal of NSLI-Y is language proficiency, while I feel that YFU was more lifestyle-focused. Because of the different nature of the programs, I feel that it's unfair to compare the experiences with each other. I had a fantastic time in Japan and I have no doubt that I'll have an equally amazing experience in South Korea! But it'll definitely be a different experience than Japan, and I want to view it as such (which is difficult for exchange students!). One of my favorite phrases is that "it's not better or worse, it's just different!", which is the mindset I want to have while participating in the NSLI-Y program.

My main point (although I feel that I've strayed far from it, with my rambling and whatnot!) is that I don't want to compare Japan with Korea. Yes, they are both in Asia. Yes, they have a few shared aspects of their culture. But, Japan is not Korea, nor is it vice versa. I'm going to try my best to dive head-first into the experience, with an open-mind, fresh eyes, and loose expectations. I want to see South Korea for how it is, not in comparison to Japan. If I can do it, then I think I'll be able to fully immerse myself in South Korea and get the most out of my journey. :)

Thanks for reading!