Student Spotlight: My Seoul Summer Abroad Experience! By Coco Fitzek

Where do I even begin, well firstly, I highly recommend signing up for this program if you’re thinking about it. I met the most amazing people during my 3 weeks. Because we were all thrown in a new environment together and shared similar interests, we were able to grow particularly close. Additionally, since we were all away from our parents, we were able to practice being independent and making our own decisions in a safe space. 
During weekdays we had morning k-pop classes. Our teacher was so fun and knew how to keep the class excited with new topics everyday. We even talked about problems in the K-pop industry, like racism and cultural appropriation. Sometimes we had guest speakers come. Some spilled a little inside gossip and others shared insight on how to gain a job in the industry for those of us planning to return to South Korea one day. Some days we would meet up with our “Seoul-mates”, which were local Korean high schoolers that we sometimes did afternoon excursions with. At the end of our study abroad it was definitely a bitter sweet moment having to say goodbye to them, but we exchanged contacts and I promised I’d be back someday. We also had survival Korean classes, in which we split into a beginner group and an intermediate one, I was a total beginner. 
When we had free time it was up too us to figure out how we wanted to spend it. Often, me and a few friends went shopping or we asked a Program Leader to take us on the subway to somewhere like Itaewon. Our Program Leaders were also super sweet and kept an eye on us but not overbearingly. When it was curfew and time to be in our rooms, me and my roomies watched k-dramas and talked late into the night together. Our last night together was definitely rough and on the last day saying goodbye at the airport, I definitely shed more then a few tears. Although I’m sad to be writing this away from all my new friends, I’m so thankful for all the memories we shared. I will forever be grateful for the experience CIEE has given me, and hope to return to Seoul again soon.