Korean & Spanish don't mix y'all

안녕하세요!

     On this last day in February I look back over this past week with a sigh of relief (and hold my breath again for next week, two tests ug).  With two presentations and two meetings on top of regular classes and homework I have been a little stressed but it has all come to an end now in a somewhat satisfactory manner.  I wanted to start of by explaining a little about my academic advisor, Dr. Hellenbrand.  She is a wonderful woman.  Every time I go to see her I leave feeling encouraged and rejuvenated, like nothing is out of my reach in regards to Korea.  Now for the information… 

     This is a collaboration of both my meeting with Hellenbrand and Davis, my study abroad advisor.  The first thing I talked to Hellenbrand about was my language contract.  I have to do a “language contract” (mash-up of three languages where I take 2 courses in one, 2 in another and 5 in the third) to fulfill my language requirement because I came into the program late.  As it stood two days ago I was going to take 2 Japanese, 2 Korean (while in Korea), 5 Spanish.  But after thinking about it, I  explained that I didn’t want my main language being one I wasn’t going to use in the future.  But, because App doesn’t offer Korean I would have to take the equivalent of 5 Korean classes over in Korea, which was going to be impossible to pack in on top of the culture classes I have to take for my focus.  So after thinking it over I decided that if I were able to replace Spanish with Korean as my main language I would stay in Korea through the summer in order to take required number of courses.  At the end of my long spiel explaining this to her, Hellenbrand looked at me and said, “Michelle, you plan it and I’ll make sure it works for you.”  She’s like an angel sent from Heaven to smooth away all my stress about Korea.  Seriously, she’s a God given blessing that I am so grateful for.

     The second thing I talked about was a scholarship program I may be eligible for.  The program is called TaLK (Teaching and Learning in Korea) and would be an unbelievable addition to my résumé!  The only downside is that Chonnam University is the only university in direct affiliation with App that offers the TaLK program.  Now if I get the scholarship I will gladly attend because the benefits of the program far outweigh the downsides of the university.  But if I don’t get it I don’t really want to attend Chonnam.  So what’s the problem?  Applications, deadlines, and money, that’s the problem.  I have no idea when I would here back from the scholarship people letting me know if I got it or not and by that time it may be too late to apply to another university.  But I also don’t want to apply to another university (the cost of all the applications would total…well a whole lot, over $500) and then get the scholarship and lose all that money.  So I e-mailed the woman in charge of the TaLK program at Chonnam to ask when deadlines are and when they start notifying people of acceptance to see if those times overlap with the deadlines for applying to another university.  My biggest dilemma right now is trying to decide what I’ll do if the time frames do overlap.  Do risk banking on being accepted and not apply to another university or do I apply to another university and risk loosing a whole bunch of money?  Thoughts?

     Now, in order to end this seriously long post on a happy note, I have a rather humorous story to tell.  This past Wednesday I was in Spanish class and we were told to find a partner and ask and answer a list of questions in Spanish.  Well my partner asked me which class was my favorite and why to which I responded casually, “Mi clase de Global Climate Change porque tango muchos chingos en la clase” (my Global Climate Change class because I have a lot of friends in the class) and went merrily on my way.  To you people who know Spanish, you’ve probably noticed where I went wrong, but I hadn’t.  It wasn’t until she asked me what the word “chingo” meant that I realized I had unconsciously replaced the Spanish word for friend, “amigo” with the Korean translation, “chingo.”  I had to laugh at myself because, even though I haven’t even started to formally learn the Korean language, I am already mixing Korean words into my Spanish (and sometimes even English) vocabulary.  Heaven help me not to do that on a test!

잘가요!