how's korea pt. 2

So i'm back and uploading for everyone again!

At the us embassy, some people met representatives from their schools. (Yes, the nun is a representative and yes they exist in korea. Actually a good amount do.)

I want to learn how to play the korean harp!!

REALLY BAD! I want to learn!

Aint this fountain cool?

Korean money!!!!

This is one of the first places we visited in korea. It's a palace, buddhist.

Lil statue things at the palace.

People were praying. The room was hella nice, but i felt that it would be disrespectful to take pics while they prayed inside.

Isn't it pretty... except josh is all up in my picture!

So, you light up incense here and put plants for dead family members.. and umm i forgot who but someone knocked over a plant!!! haha

The big hidden buddha.

Look how big it is, compared to the people haha.

I will continue later on peace!!

Song of the day: MissA- Good girl bad girl

How's Korea

So, finally.. i have pictures to show you guys!!!!! SO, since i haven't updated in like FOREVER, literally. I will update you guys with pictures!!! isn't that the best? Since I wanted this blog to be a photo blog thingy, that's why i haven't uploaded, but here it goes!!!

BTW, I MISS MY DOGGIES!!!!!!!!

So, when we got to UC Berkeley, after a stupid van driver dropped me and Liz? off at a weird place, we finally got to the orientation. I can't even remember what i though of everyone back then. Lots of us have gotten so close to eachother it's weird trying to remember us before being friends haha. ANyways, this is our little explorer book to keep track of our skills... haha. It was still really empty when i got it, but it's getting filled up. Am I the only one that does it still? ahah

Me and z were roomates... can't u tell? She already had two luggage bag things here! She was hilarious in the room and BTW... she still is a hilarious ditzy chinese girl haha.

So, I was bad on the plane and ripped this page of lady gaga out the magazine. I think the man next to me thought i was hella crazy.

THis was the view from the plane, arriving in korea!!!! I was soo fricking excited ahha.

So, when I got to korea, I couldn't even read the hanguel. THank god for english translations!! Btw, this subway runs through the airport.

the train is coming!!!! Liz is right there haha.

사만다, 신시아, 케일리

Our bus was cool!!!! We had a tv and got some good views of Korea on our way to the Hostel.

OH! These japanese people were filming something for tv in the hostel. It was pretty cool.

So, in Korea... they teach you how to wash ur hands! haha. It's cool.

My first korean breakfast. So the soup, is like seaweed... thingy haha. It was okay. The meat is in the back... it's called Bulgogi.. it's like sweet beef. The red stuff is kimchi... yea. THen i don't know what the other stuff was and then RICE! haha.

Sammie enjoying her food!! Until she tasted the spinach. AUGH! haha.

THe roof of the hostel was mega fun. BTW, i love those shirts. They have our names in korean!!! haha.

Sippin some orange juice.. yum haha.

On our way to the embassy. It's like advertisement for FIFA KOREA on a bus. It's cute! haha.

So!!! This is the end for this post. I will upload some more later!!!

Song of The Day: Narsha - biribaba

Pc BBang

OMG! i'm at a pc bbang!!! It's like a huge room filled with computers, people come here to play. Especially students whose parents hate to hear them play computer games at home. Friends come here too! it's like a socializing place, but no socializing... just computer usage haha. ANyways. I'm here with my host brother, mingi. He's sooo cute! I went to art box (stationery and cuteness heaven!) and he didn't complain! He just kept saying we need to find Noona a scheduler. They did. It's totally cute and small.

How I wish that I could upload pictures, maybe when i go to sogang monday?

Anyways, I learned how to get to sogang today, a bit confusing, but I think i'll manage. I need to get used to the subway station, so I can visit my friends!! Yay! haha. Anyways, it takes me about an hour to get to sogang. Monday we are all planning to eat lunch together, so I have to leave my home at 11, so I can go and eat lunch with Sammie and Kaylee at Sogang in the plaza they have. (It has POPEYES!)Gotta taste that.

Anyways, I will write later, im tired even though it's only like 3:17 pm here. 

Song Of The Day: 4minute - Huh

Korea pt. 2

So, i totally am going to skip all the way til today. Forget about everything that happened (i'll put that stuff up when i put up pics)
Yesterday I met my host family. THey are very Nice. i have a lil brother named Mingi.. haha. He speaks fluent english. THey gave me my own room and are extremely caring. 

I went shopping in Myung dong yesterday before meeting them. It's like a 10 minutes walk from The seoul youth hostel. So yea. Haha. I got a bi rain Poster.

Here in Korea, it's similar to Japan, people will stand outside and shout out some weird incoherent phrases and give you free stuff in order to lure you in. And it works.. i go into all of themm! It's cheap here in Korea. They have TONS of face products and clothing and Myung dong is a great cheap place to go.

I had to buy a new hair straightner and it was only 25 bucks, but mind you some can go up into the 100's haha.

oh! 2pm (yea the ones i put music videos up of alot) are totally having a concert here in SEOUL!!!! Haha. I'm extra excited of course. I totally freaked when I saw it on tv and asked how host dad how to go. I was like 2pm Ottoke! (how) Haha. and he got the message. So i'm picking up bits and pieces of korean hha. Thank god! So this is all i have time for today.

Song of The day: MBLAQ - Y

In Korea! pt. 1

SO! I'm totally in Korea, but I only have a limited amount of time to write this post! (sorry, but i have NOOO idea how to upload pics right now haha.)

Airplane Ride #1: So it totally sucks taking like transfer flights... I was like YUCKY, the whole flight.. just gets tiring and all that recycled air. BTW... i had a ridiculously small bag of peanuts haha! Then you have to of course pay for your headphones! blah!...

Getting to Orientation: So when I landed in San francisco I met a girl going with the Chinese group. She was funny! Haha. SHe had a 62 pound bag for her summertrip. This totally made me realize how UNDERPACKED I was for the semester. I think I should have SUPER packed. But I guess its better? Cause I can go shopping without worrying about the weight limit. YAY!
And I got to see SAMMIE!!!! (we went to Japan together the summer of 08) I was super extra happy to see her! I met like 47 other students going to South Korea and some kids going to China with an ice breaker. (the toilet paper icebreaker.) UC Berkeley had a pretty cool cafeteria, like cereal dispensers and organic food, it was yummers!

Orientation: So we had ALOT of ice breakers and totally  boring orientation hours, but it was all happy. My roomate was Z she was totally funny. haha. Then I totally had to repack everything after the 2 nights there. SOO much mess!

Homesick: I did get homesick, cause The orientation was long and gave us time to get homesick, but i feel wayy better now that im in SEOUL! It's awesome and I still have PLENTY things today and LOTS of time to do it. I know i'm going to be homesick again at some point. Culture shock is kicking in soon (the food and meeting my host family is coming soon!) So don't worry if i'm all negative at some point during my trip, it's normal! haha.

(so i'm running out of minutes again.. so I will continue again soon!)

Snsd- OH (super cute!)

South Korea flights! + Graduation

So i'm officially a high school graduate! Yay for me! We had tons of speeches, but it was a great graduation! I was the first one bawling across that stage! (like I knew I would be haha)

Me and Daysi!

(thank you for the cake vane!)

So, now all I have left to do is learn some Korean and get to packing! I'm even more excited now!

Nsli Update:
We totally go our flight information! I leave June 25th at 11:47 and land in San Francisco at 4:16! We will stay at UC berkely for about a day and a half... (two nights). Then on June 27th at eleven in the morning we will get on our flight to Seoul!!!!!!!! it's an 11 hour flight for those that don't know! I'm happy it isn't more than that! But we get to totally watch movies the whole ride and sleep! yay for me! haha.

A quick note about airplanes: I totally hate how cold they are. I'm gonna wear socks... jogging pants... and a sweater. (i'ma look like I just rolled out of bed! haha)

According to what everyone is saying. I guess we will be having a one week orientation when we get to Seoul? I'm not sure yet. But either way i'm extra exctied!!!

I got my luggage bag! (yea.. i should be able to spot this polka dot bag at the airport haha.)

Nice with polka dots!

I just started to pack (you can see my toothbrush! haha) and now I feel like my suitcase might be TOO small!!!! But it's okay.. cause i'm taking a bookbag. (and a hidden bag inside my luggage.. just in case!)

Song of the day: Bi rain - Love song (wahh.. he's still sexxy!!!)

Dear John, End of Senior Year, Nsli update

So, I just finished seeing Dear John (the movie). So it's wasn't GREAT, but it was good. I cried, just a little bit though. Channing Tatum is... SEXXXYYY. That's all i'll say about that. Anyways, the book was better as usual.

So news:
-UPCOMING TRIP TO WISCONSIN DELLS! We are going to Mt. Olympus on June 5th... if anyone is going there the same day i'll see you there!!!! I'm excited, DUH!!!!! Who wouldn't be? I'll officially be driving (for the first time ever) on the freeway for more than like 5 minutes! (who on earth is excited to do a 2 hour drive... only me.) I'm insured though...(my mom went crazy and put insurance on both the cars, even though I only drive one... but.. hey.)
- Final exams are like.. RIGHT THERE! I'm ready to leave high school. YOu have no idea. Just TWO days of exams and i'm DONE! Done! Done!!!!
-Graduation is on the 8th. Okay get this. We graduate at like 6pm. WHO DOES THAT? I've never heard of a night graduation. That's sooo friggin weird! I should throw a party???? We should ALLLL throw a party... Nah.... things will definitely get out of hand and I don't want to be responsible for ANYTHING. (If you go to Arts, you would definitely understand what I'm saying.)
- Graduation PARTAYY!!! So, i'm celebrating it with my dear DAYSI! (LUV YOU NIG!!!)
On the 12th. Ashley's is totally on the 13th. (i'm happy about that, cause I get to go to hers too!)

April Loves black coffee:
If you've ever been on soompi you've probably seen this blinky thing somewhere in someone's signature. I'm going to say something... small. It was an AWESOME Fanfic. I cried a little and it's one of those 'i can't pull myself away from the computer' stories. I will totally recommend it to anyone. She has awesome writing skills, her foreshadowing is amazing and even the POV writing is done extremely well, I felt every emotion May was having. It was just good. So if you wanna read it log into soompi's forums and look for Conversations between us . (fanfic title)

Nsli Update
So, i've met more than a handful of the students going abroad on facebook. I'm excited to meet everyone and have fun over the summer and the rest of the semester! We are getting super clothes.. 21 more days!!!!

Song Of the Day: Gummy- As A Man (this video is cute)

Nsli Update + Rexnord

So, today I received my packet in the mail. I was super excited. It had some good things. Insurance, what to pack, a girl's story about culture shock,tips. What was funny (kind of) to me was they had a movie list! It was actually kind of cool. I saw Pounds Beauty and My sassy girl already. So i'm hoping to see all of those movies before I leave. Haha. I don't really remember My sassy girl... I saw it YEARS ago. They should have put Sad Movie (it like seriously is sad, I cried so much) and  A millionare's first love (I cried during this one too). Koreans are really... into sad movies? They do a great job with them. Anyways, along with that I also received an email about an oral assesment? Haha. Yea, my Korean is pretty bad. I can only say a few things. But hey, i'll give it a try.

Rexnord.
Okay, so my High school has a tradition with this company. It's like rexnord academic achievement awards. It's an award ceremony, but the seniors always give a little weird show when their names are being called. Happens to be that our theme was: THE LAST DECADE. So, we had lady gaga, tim burton's alice in wonderland, remake of several movies (godzilla, etc) and we even had wii games like Mario Kart. Haha. We were the battle of the electronics (me, ashley, nakila) I was the cassette (old skool), kiki was the cd player, and ashley was the brand spankin' new Ipod. Haha. It was fun. EXCEPT, we had no music and i was introduced as Ashley, but thanks to Benny (who was all like, That's not ashley, that's cinthya) It got corrected, it was kind of funny in a weird sort of way. But yea, some kids recieved awards and etc. It was fun. I got to leave school early (another weird tradition haha.) and now i'm at home.

I actually want to go to the mall and get some cute shoes!!!! But, I have to wait. So, i'm going to wait a bit and study my Korean! YAY!

Song of the Day: TVXQ - Love in the ice (BTW, this is my FAVORITE Korean group, since I was like 13)

The Zoo and NSLI Update

So, I totally went to the zoo last Friday. Since we are all pretty much grown up it was kind of a go on your own trip. So, I DROVE THERE! But parking was like eleven bucks and the entrance was like 9.25... yea not happening. So, we parked across the street and some senior home (sorry!) and we walked there. CALL ME LUCKY, the lady just told us to walk right in. She must have been talkin on the phone with her boo! Super distracted. So, I paid for nothing. Except gas... yep sucks. Anyways, let me tell you about my day.
So, Angie woke me up and asked me if I was still going to pick her up. I said yea, and she said well i might not go... but in the end she came! I then texted Keta and woke her up ahah! So I took my non-school friend along. It would have been fun if I could have brought victoria! BUT anyways... then we picked up Angie and ended up giving Ryan and Margarita a ride (they are pretty funny) and went to eat breakfast and Mickeys... ewww keta found hair in her food! Haha! So we finally got to the zoo like at eleven! But it was fun.

Pictures!

One of the only reasons I come to the zoo. PENGUINGS

I loveeeeeee GIRAFFES!

One of the reason's I'd love to go to thailand is to see and ride an elephant.

Haha... Keta was scared of the goats!

So, finally got an email from nsli (Iearn is actually taking care of the South Korea kids)

And it's like an assesment thingy for Sogang university to see how good our korean is. Yea, i know how to introduce myself, say i love you, sorry, honey, hate you, really. And yea that's about it. oh! And how to say hello and goodbye. So, I did pretty bad haha! But I have this awesome learning book! So, maybe in like a month i'll know sufficient Korean to survive if i ever get lost! I need a dictionary and BTW language resources are really expensive! My 85 pg book was like $20~! I could have bought a cute pair of heels or a cute dress from FOREVER21!

Song of the day: 2pm- tired of waiting (yes, I like 2pm!)

NSLI Update + Prom

So, I totally emailed NSLI, because I found it weird that I wasn't receiving anything! But some of the other students where. Happened to be that it was getting sent to a different email! One that i've never used before... i don't even think it existed! Haha, but i must have put it down somewhere. So, they emailed everything to me (the conference recap, an update letter) and let me know that I should receive a log in for language lounge and some stuff in the mail soon. (YAY!) Now, i'm excited and can totally enjoy the rest of the month of May (with a bit of Senioritis!)

So, how bout that prom?

Yea, it was okay. It could have been better. It was at the Pfister (GORGEOUS HOTEL BTW) So, the location was EXCELLENT, but the Dj wasn't so good. I could not dance for like the first two hours (Which happenened to be the only two hours Domi (the date) was there, so I felt bad that we didn't really get to dance, but I got him next time) and then like the last hour it started to get good. He put bend it over (and chyesss u kno da rest!) I screamed Finally! I even danced the lady gaga bad romance dance (the hands and stuff haha.) This is when you know the DJ must be on something... he played NSYNC ByE BYE... Yes.. we all know the lyrics (loved the guys) and even know the dance moves... but... that was like.. TEN YEARS AGO. You play that at a reunion haha! But it was definitely a memory, I guess.

And If you ever see me... ask me about Domi's car and the ride to prom... Yea, i'm like still recovering from that haha!

Pictures!

Me! haha

Me and ashley doing a weird booty bump, Ashley spanking me, and I totally fit under her dress!        

'

 Song of the Day:  Brown eyed Girls- Abracadabra                                                                                  

                                                                                                                                 

Cinco De mayo

For those of you that don't know, I'm part Mexican and part Puerto Rican. (I think i have the best of both worlds type thing)Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo (no not Mexican independence day it was actually a battle, google it)and it's a holiday to celebrate! Well, anyways I totally ditched school to like rest and go see my Sister's 5 de Mayo program at her school. She was actually running for Senorita 5 de Mayo. She raised a bajillion pennies and collected from friends, family, and neighbors and we went to support her. The program was actually pretty nice, a couple of dances (folklore, cumbia) and they had Mariachis (her teacher performed with them.) They did the escorta: (WHICH I WILL HAVE A VIDEO UP OF SOON!)


Then soon after they had the six girls running for Miss 5 De Mayo come out. So, because there were TOOOOOO many pennies to count they decided the winner would be be chosen by scream. I personally believe this was extremely unfair. First off, the winner was meant to be chosen by the amount they fundraised. This would make sense... the one that raised the most would mean the girl was dedicated (worked hard to go around and ask for pennies, collecting them) and could represent Miss 5 De Mayo in a good way. My sister, by far, had the most pennies (I think 5 jars?) and of course she would have won. Some of the girls weren't even in it to win, some didn't have pennies. (so of course when they heard the winner would be chosen by screams they got excited because they didn't even have to worry about going around collecting pennies, they had a chance) Anyways, i'm getting off track. All i'm saying is they should have stuck with the plan and not switched it at the last minute just because there were "too many" pennies to count. Suck it up and do it. If it couldn't be done, then it shouldn't have even been part of the competition. And it's extremely unfair to change the rules last minute. So, the cheering ended with my sister and one of her friends (all of the competitors were her friends btw) even. Then they changed it to applause only, but it was still too close. So, finally they decided on a coin toss. (crazy i know) My sister picked tails and BAM Tails it was. She won and she got super excited... and of course my mom started her waterfall works.

Pictures:

The Competing girls (Bola is in The Long Dress)

Bola Posing. (nope, I don't know how to turn it around)

The Waterfall Works (my mom) and Bola

Nani and Bola (btw, that's the school's trashcan just all decorated and stuff)

Her Friend (they were all ssupperr excited)

Miss 5 De Mayo goes hood

Me and my sister (yeps she's younger,yet taller. The sun was totally in my eyes)

Then to ruin a bit of the mood, this girl tried getting backstage to tell my sister that she was a cheater (jealous much?) Which was of course impossible. First off, she had the most pennies and she put NONE of her money in (like some girls did) it was all donated money, she was even with the screams and the applause and by luck the coin toss led her to win. So, ladies and gentlemen, how is that really cheating? HAHA! Girls these days... just learn how to let things go.

SONG OF THE DAY: 2pm I hate you

Been A week

So, It's totally been a week since the last NSLI-Y contact (it was the conference call)... so it's really weird. South Korea seems kind of dreamy at this point. Like I got the scholarship, but it's all a dream kind of feeling? Haha.
ANYWAYS... I hope things get rolling and we find out more information next week,hopefully.

So, you're probably wondering what I've learn about South Korea lately? WELL! Thanks to this guy on youtube i've found out that South Korea has a thing for weird ice cream wrappers: .
NOT only that, but also they have warm sushi (note: never eat warm sushi... it's not suppose to be that way and you can totally get sick!) This video made me laugh so hard :

Yea, he's actually pretty funny, feel free to look at the rest of his videos.

So, yes... that's what i've been doing lately. OH! And i've been going crazy cause prom is like... 6 days away! Haha. I need to get my dress fixed, get heels, and uh... get some MEGA beauty sleep. (yea... that was a joke.)

Song of the day: T-ara i go crazy because of you

South Korea Conference Call

So, luckily today I got off of work a little early. Nsli had a conference call to give us some information about our trip! But it was 4pm EST.... which is three central time! So I got off of work at 2:45 and rushed to take a shower and Estrella (my doggy) a bath! My phone was completely uncharged so I charged it and entered the conference call at 3:05. So if you're wondering what a conference call is let me tell you. It's a phone conference. You call, and get an access code you punch into your phone and you are automatically added onto the phone line on which the conference phone conversation is being held on. So it's kind of like 3 way except with alot more lines!

Somethings I learned about our trip:
- We will be going (or planning to) to California for our orientation on the 25th from our home city. The Summer, semester, and year long Korean students will meet eachother and 20 of the China students too! We will have a 1 1/2 day orientation (max) and then land in South Korea sometime on the 28th of June. The Summer language program will end August 14th.
- We all will receive cellphones (prepaid ones with a minimum amount of minutes, but it's still a nice cellphone to communicate!) and monthly stipends for like extra transportation money and food, etc.
- Semester and Year long students are (hopefully) going to have a high school students in their family which they will attend school with. This is actually smart, because it gives us someone to know at school, talk to, and hang out on the weekends. The students will also meet monthly for like cultural fun activities. (I will totally love this!)
- We won't be able to use our laptops during the summer program (I don't even want to take mines! haha It's a drag to carry it around, so this gives me a reason not to even bother bringing it.) So i'm wondering how updated this blog will be during the summer! ahh! I want to update atleast once a week! I wish I could do everyday! (maybe I should bring my laptop...)
- We will be receiving information about our host families and program more during the next couple of weeks and I believe a definite date by the end of this upcoming week? I will keep everyone notified!


Song of The Day: Son Dambi- Crazy

Accepted The Scholarship

So, today i quickly scanned my passport and sent in my signed acceptance letter and i'm excited now that i've done my first (even though I know it's not the final) paper work.

Things I found out about this upcoming trip:
- Samantha (she was one of my friends on my summer trip to Japan) got accepted for the summer scholarship and i'll totally be seeing her all summer at Sogang!
-Sogang is a catholic university where I will be studying for 6 weeks the language (korean)and after that I will be attending a regular high school!
- There is a conference call this Saturday at 4 EST... (so i think it would be 3 o clock here?) Where we get to ask questions and find out a little info about the trip.
- I get to wear a uniform at high school! So cool...
- Forever 21 and H&M are in Korea (I knew forever 21 was... but yay for H&M)
- There are two other girls that I met on a forum that got the semester scholarship!

So, now I'm thinking about maybe grabbing a book and dictionary to practice my Korean (which is EXTREMELY BASIC) I Kind of can read the alphabet! haha. It's going to take some practice. Yea, that totally sounds like a really good idea.

OH! How about I post a Korean song and word every day on this blog? That is smart too!

Note: Sorry about the lack of pics and stuff... eventually they'll start coming. (I love when blogs have pictures... makes them more interesting!)

Songs of the day: 2pm Again and Again

South Korea Here I Come!!

So, for the last couple of months I've been afraid to write in this blog. But I have great news. I got the scholarship! I'm going to study abroad in South Korea for the fall semester (except I actually leave the end of June.)
So this is how it happened:
I was sitting in the computer lab, on my cellphone (shh!!! no one is suppose to know!) and I just logged on to my hot mail account. Then I saw this email from Nsli and I almost screamed, almost. But I realized Tunde was next to me and that would just be plain weird. So instead I made some weird gasping noises and ran out of the room to go look for someone I could tell. I grabbed Morgan and I was like 'i got the scholarship! But My cellphone won't let me see the attachments! But I think it's for South Korea!' She high fived me and then we thought about a computer that could let us get on hot mail in school. TEHAN'S! So I logged onto Hhot mail there and BAM! South Korea FALL SEMESTER! YES!!! I then continued to high five everyone around me (and hug kiki haha.)


And yes... that little ramble was me getting notified of the scholarship.

Anyways, today was totally pay day 8 pcs for 5.99 at Popeyes. So during the 8 hour rush I kept the scholarship in the back of my head and I was totally okay with the busy busy night.

Everyone at work was like 'WHAT!? Didn't you just come back from Puerto Rico? SIX MONTHS! That's too long.'

Haha... aww!

Saying my hellos

SO! This is my blog! Now you're probably wondering what is it about? Well I will tell you. My name is Cinthya and currently i'm a senior in High School. I recently applied for a scholarship to study abroad, with NSLI-Y. The scholarship is actually to study abroad as a foreign exchange student. It's a competitive scholarship started after 9-11 when the government realized how critical it was to have peopple speaks languages like korean, hindu, chinese, arabic, etc. There were about 1,900 applicants this year and I just became a semi-finalist! I just had my interview... an hour long, yesterday. It was actually really smooth and pretty fun. For those of you that don't know me, I was actually fortunate enough to receive a summer scholarship to study abroad in Japan my sophomore year. It was THE most incredible experience ever! So now I have the travel bug! haha. For Nsli-y I choose three languages:

My choices
1. Korean (south korea of course)
2. Hindu (india)
3. Chinese (china haha)

My first choice is South Korean... I would LOVVEEE to go and experience the country and culture. But even though it's my first choice, who would not want to go to India and/or china?! I think I would be happy being a foreign exchange student anywhere!

So I will head out now! I'll write soon!