My First Vlog! 24 hours before departure!

My Packing List

• Energy converter/adaptor
• Ipod
• Ipod charger
• Camera
• Camera charger
• Sd cards
• Flash drive
• Hair straightener
• Hair brush
• Bathing suits
• shorts
• tshirts
• shoes
• Towel
• Notebook
• Pens/pencils
• Folder
• Printout stuff
• Deodorant
• Shampoo
• Facewash
• Body soap
• Razor
• Makeup
• Rain jacket
• Host family gifts
• Tampons/pads
• Birth control
• Umbrella
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Debit card
• Money Tracker packet
• Money
• Hat
• Sunglasses
• Passport
• Drivers license
• Copies of them
• Tennis shoes
• Workout clothes
• Sandals
• Hoodies
• Dresses
• Semi-formal clothing
• Heels
• Black belt
• Phone
• Phone charger
• Makeup remover
• Bandaids
• Stationary
• Bras
• Underwear
• Socks
• Perfume
• Chapstick
• Medicine
• Clips
• Bobby pins
• Hairties
• Purse
• Little purse
• Books
• Hand sanitizer
• Face lotion
• Nail file
• Pajamas
• Gum
• Washrag/bubble thing
• Shaving cream
• Jeans
• Belts
• Camis
• Stain remover
• Extra homework
• Phrase book
• Leggings
• Quart sized bags
• Mom debit card
• More wallet photos of me
• Insurance card copies
• Birth certificate copies
• Drivers license copies
• Passport copies
• Itinerary
• Flight info
• Map of seoul
• Korea book
• French toast recipe (use vanilla)
• Speakers

I'm finished Packing!

I finally finished packing! 46 pounds! 4 pounds to spare actually, i'm surprised! I sure hope that I can carry it all through the airport! I just finished filming my first vlog, but I don't think it went so well >.< Oh well! Time to edit!

Packing is hard!

Packing is really difficult! There are so many things that I could forget. My room is DESTROYED with clothing. It is frustrating, but when it is all over, it will be so rewarding and I'll be off to Korea. Gotta keep trying! Fighting!~

My newspaper article made by the Beaver County Times!

Moon Area student to study in South Korea

Sally Maxson

Summer in South Korea

Moon High School student, Valerie Snaman,17 will be spending the better part of the summer in South Korea. She received a scholarship from the National Security Language Initiative for Youth. Valerie will be writing a blog while in Korea: http://valerieinkorea.blogspot.com/

Posted: Sunday, June 19, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 4:20 pm, Sun Jun 19, 2011.

Moon Area student to study in South Korea By Kaitlin Edwards For The Times Timesonline.com | 1 comment

MOON TWP. — While most high school students are working summer jobs, one Moon Area High School student will be spending her vacation studying in South Korea.
Valerie Snaman, 17, received a scholarship from the National Security Language Initiative for Youth and the International Education and Resource Network to study in South Korea for several weeks.
The NSLI-Y and IEARN programs work toward encouraging youth to learn foreign languages and to use technology to become connected to what is occuring around the world.
“This type of program was perfect for me because it involves a lot of the different areas I am interested in,” Snaman said. “This will give me an opportunity to see different cultures and learn more languages. I am very excited to be a part of this.”
Snaman will participate in a six-week, summer session, during which time she will be studying the South Korean culture and language at Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea.
“Knowing different languages is essential to the world today. No matter what job a person has, knowing a few languages can be a very valuable skill,” she said. “Studying in South Korea will give me more opportunities and will help me in my future career.”
The program offers 550 full scholarships to U.S. high school students ages 15-18 to study abroad.
Through this program, scholarship recipients will be able to travel to counties that speak the languages of Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Hindi, Korean, Russian or Turkish.
Snaman will be in South Korea from June 28 until Aug. 14 and will be living with a host family. She is hoping to be able to gain more than basic Korean-language skills while participating in the program.
“I am hoping to be more confident when I come back,” Snaman said. “I want that life-changing type of experience that will change how I view the world, and I think by stepping out of my comfort zone I will be able to accomplish that.”




Thank you, Beaver County Times, for writing this about me!
http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/moon-area-student-to-study-in-south-korea/article_fb0bbca1-4d8a-54e5-b120-f9fbff2fe716.html#user-comment-area

Mark Mustio

Today I received a congratulations from Mr. Mark Mustio! It was so sweet! He wrote me a little letter and laminated the newspaper article that they made about me! He even remembered that I won his "It ought to be a law contest" in 5th grade. It made me really happy that he would take his time to do that. Thank you!

NSLI-Y Poster

This was made by one of the girls on our Korea trip named Christina Huang. She is talented!

Harry Potter in Korea!

I'm so excited! One of the things that I was upset about missing this summer was the premier of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. My friends would all taunt me about how they were all going to the midnight premier and I couldn't...well......THE DATE FOR THE RELEASE HAS BEEN MOVED UP IN KOREA TO JULY 14TH~ Oh yeah! I really hope that my host family/korean friends will take me out to see it XD The original date was in December, but Korea decided to get up-to-date and even more awesome...so all of us can now go see it. This just made me 10x happier to leave in 3 days =D

Host Family Gifts!

Now that I have my host family, I need to start thinking about gifts! I've done some research on what we have here that is unavailable in Korea. I have also thought of some things that are unique to the United States and also unique to Pittsburgh that I can give them. I think I've finally succeeded in finding the perfect gifts to give my future Korean family, the Kwaks! Thinking of a gift for the father, Young-ku, was probably the hardest. Every site that I went on said to get the father alcohol of some sort; more specifically whiskey. This obviously isn't possible >.< so I had to brainstorm! I think that I will be presenting my host father with a calendar of American architecture and also a 3D puzzle of a famous American building (still have to choose which). I chose these gifts for him because he is an architect and I wanted to get him something he could enjoy. For my host mother, Min-ha, I am presenting her with some perfumes and possibly a knick knack (still to be decided). This is because the internet said that these were the most common gifts, and I don't want to be too crazy and out-of-the ordinary for my first days with them! My most exciting gift to her will be Pittsburgh-made maple syrup. I heard that syrup is EXTREMELY expensive in Korea, so I hope to make them French toast for a taste of what I normally eat for breakfast! For my 9-year-old host sister, Nae-young, I will be getting her a Pittsburgh snowglobe, and some Hershey's chocolate. For my host brother, Jae-hyeon, I will also give him some Hershey's chocolate, and either a Pittsburgh Pirates t-shirt, or a Heinz Ward shirt. Heinz Ward plays for the Steelers and is Korean. I heard he visits Korea often and is well-known there, so I hope that my host brother will appreciate it!

I FINALLY got my host family!

Curtis just emailed about my host family! I will be living in Dangsan-dong, Youngdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Korea. I don't know where that is yet, but I know it is about 30 minutes from the university! I have an architect father, a housewife mother, a 12 year old brother, and a 9 year old sister. I was a little disappointed at first because I won't have a teenager in my home, but I feel like maybe I can adapt better with little children in the house. Instead of being away all the time, I think i'll be at home more often bonding with my family because there are kids. I hope they help me! My host family members speak English as a second language except for the mother. She speaks Japanese as a second language! I hope I can use some of my Japanese with her! I'll be living in their apartment with no pets, and my own room. They only expect me to pick up my own things and keep it organized, and also be home at 10PM. It says they have shared internet...so I believe that means I can vlog and blog from their home if they allow! I am so excited and learning this information made it even more real that I'm actually going to KOREA! Wish me luck!

Host Family Frustrations

We have a large group on facebook of the 40 of us going to Korea. We talk every day and in these last few days, the group is BLOWING UP with posts. The most popular ones are about our host families! ....We haven't gotten them yet! There are 5 days and we all will need to scramble to find host family gifts in time. We all realize that Curtis (the coordinator) is busy with the Morocco and India kids, but he told us that we'd have them Saturday, and then changed it to Monday...but still nothing. We are extremely impatient to say that least >.< I'm jealous of some of the other kids though because their host families mailed/emailed/friended them on facebook already. They all have a clue about where they'll be living and the people they'll be living with. I have nada :p  The most surprising thing I noticed when people were describing their families was that many of them didn't have fathers. They were just living with a mother and a sibling. That is something hard for me to wrap my head around because I was always under the impression that Korea has a low divorce rate. Any family would be exciting, but personally I really hope for a mother, father, and at least one host sibling my age that can take me out and sight-see!

The picture was made by a boy going with us whose name is Brett :p

Yesterday I made Hoddeok!

Yesterday I made Honey Hoddeok with Kayla! They're a sort of Cinnamon/Honey filled Korean pancake. I first had one at this Church's Korean Food Festival in Southside. They didn't come out quite the same, but they were still delicious and VERY messy! Tonight I'll be going with friends to the Korean Restaurant, Dasonii, and I hope they'll have some there! ...Or at least some delicious Mandu!

Seven Days!

Oh my goodness...seven days until I leave for Korea. It is just hitting me how surreal this whole thing is. It also feels weird that I have to have a timeline of when I can hang out with all of my friends. I'm having a huge get-together with a large group at a Korean restaurant tomorrow, and that will be the last time that I see many of them until school! It is really difficult managing who I'm going to see when because I have many good friends asking to see me as well as family members. I still have so much to do and buy to be prepared, and time management is key in these last few days. (Too bad I have very little!) I'm starting my packing list today so that I can make sure I have everything I need for when I put it all into my suitcases. They seem so small in comparison to everything I want to bring! I'm packing everything that is absolutely essential and then filling in with things I would really like to bring. I may post my packing list on here to help others! I'm also planning on video-logging while packing for my trip!

Thank you to the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh!

I would like to thank everyone at the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh for providing me with the gateway that I needed to apply to and be accepted by NSLI-Y to study in South Korea at Sogang University this summer! I have to give especial thanks to Miss Unger who is in charge of youth programs within the Council. She has implemented a multitude of programs to reach out and get students in our area involved and informed about the world around them. I have participated in many programs offered by the World Affairs Council which yielded me the things that I needed to make an impressive application. These sorts of things were the G20 Student Summit, the Cyber-bullying seminar, a seminar on globalization, summer seminars, and much more! While these opportunities were important, the most important thing that the World Affairs Council did was to make me aware of this opportunity to study in Korea amongst a few other countries! I had an apprenticeship with the Council this past school year and learned a lot about the world around me. In the final days of the Apprenticeship, we were sent the NSLI-Y site saying that these sort of world-wide opportunities existed. I applied to the program thinking that it was a long shot, but my dream will acutally be coming true. Thank you so much, Christina Unger, and the rest of those of the World Affairs Council for everything that you do with the youth of Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas. Your work has offered me the opportunity of a lifetime and I will be eternally grateful to all of you. In the few days before I depart (June 26) and for the entirety of my trip, I will be blogging and vlogging to show what I'm experiencing in Korea~! Please support the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh and all that they do! http://www.worldpittsburgh.org/index.jsp

NSLI-Y is sending me to Korea!

I'll be traveling to Korea through NSLI-Y. Which stands for National Security Language Initiative for Youth. Here is there website to sign up for future programs just like these! http://www.nsliforyouth.org/nslicms-1.1/

Basically they work with the state department and iEarn in order to send us to Korea/wherever everyone else is going for absolutely free. The main purpose of the program I'll be attending is to promote the study of little-known languages that will be of great importance in the near future. Many months ago I had to spend over 6 hours filling out an online application in hopes of winning the scholarship. There were many great and worthy people that applied, but I was chosen to become a part of the semi-final group. From there, I had to get a physical and sign many more papers. Eventually I got word that I got and I was jumping up and down in excitement. I was actually at a Japanese Culture Convention when I heard news and had just gotten off stage from winning a talent show. It was a great day to say the least! I am so thankful for this opportunity awarded by them and it will be the experience of a lifetime! Myself and the 39 other participants in the Korean program will greatly enjoy this opportunity and will be using it to its full capabilities. As of now, I leave in 17 days and will be working really hard learning Korean up until then. Fighting!