Meeting My Host Family~ 내 홈스테이 가족과 첫만남~
So before I came to Korea and met my host family, I had already talked with my host mother via Kakaotalk and email. Most of the other students also contacted their family before meeting them, and I would definitely recommend doing so! It makes it a lot less awkward when you meet and you can get to know them before actually meeting them and living with them! Before meeting my family, I talked a lot with my mother about my interests and their interests [which helped with gifts], and just about how we are both excited for me to arrive in Korea and meet.
We arrived in Korea on Saturday at around 2:30am, and after more orientation [click here for that blog post], we finally met our host families on Sunday afternoon! My host mother came to pick me up alone since my brother and appa were at church, and we got along really well. The car ride from the hostel to my new home actually was not awkward and we talked a lot~ She spoke English pretty well, so if I didn't understand the Korean she would use English. Once we got to my apartment, we carried my luggage in and she showed me around. After sitting down and talking over drinks and snacks for a while, my brother and father finally came home!!
This was super exciting because I already felt close to my mother and she had talked a lot about my brother~
My father came over and sat with us at the table, but my brother instead just sat on the floor kind of away from us. I was really nervous and kind of worried because I was like "great... he already doesn't like me."
Even when my parents told him to come over and sit with us he didn't move. I said hi to him and tried to talk to him but he didn't really answer or look at me. It was terrible... However, after my host mother and father got up from the table to do something, my little bro wanted me to play this archery game with him. He taught me how, and even though I was terrible, it was SOO much fun! After playing together, he became like attached to me hehe. So despite the awkward moments when we met, we quickly got past that through something soo simple. He also showed me all these things he made in his science class that were pretty cool.
After relaxing and just talking together, my host mother suggested that we go practice using the subway since I was going to be taking the subway every day to 신촌 all alone. It was actually really helpful and fun doing this. We rode from our station and transferred to line 2 then rode until we got to 신촌. After getting off at 신촌 we went to the Hyundai Department Store and had 비빔밥! I looove 비빔밥 so I really enjoyed the food. My host mother also gave me the money to go pay the lady since we had spent a good amount of time working with money earlier that day. [Before my appa&dongsaeng got home, she asked me if I knew how to count Korean money. I said no so she decided to teach me and practice with me! It was veryyy helpful because I had no trouble from then on going out shopping or paying for something hahaha]
On the way back home from 신촌, while on the subway my brother translated all these signs for me. [This came in handy the next day when I had to go to 신촌 alone because I was a little unsure of if I went the right way to transfer, but when I saw a sign he pointed out the day before, I knew I was in the right place haha] He had so much energy while I was still kind of dead!
When we arrived back home, I went to my room and unpacked my stuff. I was exhausted just from doing so much and barely sleeping the few nights before, so I ended up falling asleep right after dinner with my light on. I did this for the first few days actually. It was really cute because my brother would come into my room to show me something or play, and when he would see my sleeping he'd run to our umma and be like "Umma! Umma! Lydia's sleeping!" It took me a little while to establish a normal sleeping schedule- I would fall asleep at 9-11 and wake up at around 4-5am everyday [then just stay awake].
On my first morning with my family, I had Korean breakfast with them. I personally loveeee Korean breakfast, but I know some of the others didn't like it that much. I had breakfast pretty much every morning with them [unless I woke up late]. My umma made breakfast every morning while I was there, which was really nice since I don't usually eat breakfast. I had breakfast with my appa most of the time when I first got there- we would talk about so many different things, and I think we were able to be more comfortable together after the first morning just the two of us had breakfast together. I was nervous we would be awkward, but breakfasts with him were really nice ^^
We got close pretty fast and had a good relationship throughout, but I think that's because I spend time with them. For the first 2 weeks or so, I'd try to go home after school to eat dinner with them [as opposed to going out every night after school]. We really bonded over just talking and eating together. They always asked me the first week if I was alright and if they could do anything for me to help me. I think part of the reason I didn't get culture shock in Korea was because my host family treated me so well and helped me feel comfortable there.
~My advice to everyone who lives with a host family is to GET CLOSE WITH THEM! Make time for them. Spend time with them and not just your friends. Eat meals with them, talk to them, hang out with them, do fun things such as games with them, watch TV with them, etc... The host family is opening their home up to you, so don't just act as if you're renting a room- become a part of the family! Have fun with your friends, but be sure to make an effort to become close with your family! I think the host family is one of the highlights of the whole experience. You can learn sooo much from them [language and culture]! Even if it's hard/different, try to adjust to your host family :)
We arrived in Korea on Saturday at around 2:30am, and after more orientation [click here for that blog post], we finally met our host families on Sunday afternoon! My host mother came to pick me up alone since my brother and appa were at church, and we got along really well. The car ride from the hostel to my new home actually was not awkward and we talked a lot~ She spoke English pretty well, so if I didn't understand the Korean she would use English. Once we got to my apartment, we carried my luggage in and she showed me around. After sitting down and talking over drinks and snacks for a while, my brother and father finally came home!!
This was super exciting because I already felt close to my mother and she had talked a lot about my brother~
My father came over and sat with us at the table, but my brother instead just sat on the floor kind of away from us. I was really nervous and kind of worried because I was like "great... he already doesn't like me."Even when my parents told him to come over and sit with us he didn't move. I said hi to him and tried to talk to him but he didn't really answer or look at me. It was terrible... However, after my host mother and father got up from the table to do something, my little bro wanted me to play this archery game with him. He taught me how, and even though I was terrible, it was SOO much fun! After playing together, he became like attached to me hehe. So despite the awkward moments when we met, we quickly got past that through something soo simple. He also showed me all these things he made in his science class that were pretty cool.
After relaxing and just talking together, my host mother suggested that we go practice using the subway since I was going to be taking the subway every day to 신촌 all alone. It was actually really helpful and fun doing this. We rode from our station and transferred to line 2 then rode until we got to 신촌. After getting off at 신촌 we went to the Hyundai Department Store and had 비빔밥! I looove 비빔밥 so I really enjoyed the food. My host mother also gave me the money to go pay the lady since we had spent a good amount of time working with money earlier that day. [Before my appa&dongsaeng got home, she asked me if I knew how to count Korean money. I said no so she decided to teach me and practice with me! It was veryyy helpful because I had no trouble from then on going out shopping or paying for something hahaha]
On the way back home from 신촌, while on the subway my brother translated all these signs for me. [This came in handy the next day when I had to go to 신촌 alone because I was a little unsure of if I went the right way to transfer, but when I saw a sign he pointed out the day before, I knew I was in the right place haha] He had so much energy while I was still kind of dead!
When we arrived back home, I went to my room and unpacked my stuff. I was exhausted just from doing so much and barely sleeping the few nights before, so I ended up falling asleep right after dinner with my light on. I did this for the first few days actually. It was really cute because my brother would come into my room to show me something or play, and when he would see my sleeping he'd run to our umma and be like "Umma! Umma! Lydia's sleeping!" It took me a little while to establish a normal sleeping schedule- I would fall asleep at 9-11 and wake up at around 4-5am everyday [then just stay awake].
On my first morning with my family, I had Korean breakfast with them. I personally loveeee Korean breakfast, but I know some of the others didn't like it that much. I had breakfast pretty much every morning with them [unless I woke up late]. My umma made breakfast every morning while I was there, which was really nice since I don't usually eat breakfast. I had breakfast with my appa most of the time when I first got there- we would talk about so many different things, and I think we were able to be more comfortable together after the first morning just the two of us had breakfast together. I was nervous we would be awkward, but breakfasts with him were really nice ^^
We got close pretty fast and had a good relationship throughout, but I think that's because I spend time with them. For the first 2 weeks or so, I'd try to go home after school to eat dinner with them [as opposed to going out every night after school]. We really bonded over just talking and eating together. They always asked me the first week if I was alright and if they could do anything for me to help me. I think part of the reason I didn't get culture shock in Korea was because my host family treated me so well and helped me feel comfortable there.
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| My host mother and I together on the first day we met~ Love her♡ |
~My advice to everyone who lives with a host family is to GET CLOSE WITH THEM! Make time for them. Spend time with them and not just your friends. Eat meals with them, talk to them, hang out with them, do fun things such as games with them, watch TV with them, etc... The host family is opening their home up to you, so don't just act as if you're renting a room- become a part of the family! Have fun with your friends, but be sure to make an effort to become close with your family! I think the host family is one of the highlights of the whole experience. You can learn sooo much from them [language and culture]! Even if it's hard/different, try to adjust to your host family :)
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