Fourteen hours ahead of St. Louis, Seoul is the capital of South Korea and the largest city in Asia. For part of the summer their population will have increased by one when Nancy Lin, senior, visits there through an exchange program called Youth for Understanding (YFU).

“[YFU] is an exchange program where you pick where you want to go, connect to a host family, take classes there, and usually tour the capital,” Lin said.

There is a $6,000 tuition fee that includes plane tickets and boarding, Lin said.

She will leave for South Korea Saturday, June 25 and commence a six week program in which she will go to school in the mornings through the program, and tour the city with them.

During the program, there will be a lot of unstructured time.

“We’ll have lots of time with the host family, and apparently we have weekends off,” Lin said.

Though this is not Lin’s first time traveling outside of the country, she said she was a little bit nervous about staying there.

“I’m sure the host family will be nice since they’re willing to accommodate an exchange student, but obviously the language barriers could be a problem,” Lin said.

Lin said she probably won’t find out who her host family is until about a week before her departure.

A friend of Lin’s traveled to China through the same program, and that is how Lin discovered YFU. She chose to go to South Korea to experience the culture firsthand.

“I really like the food,” Lin said. “Their music is good, and their culture’s really interesting. I also have a friend who will be going there through an exchange program, too.”

Lin said she is unsure of what to expect from her trip at this point, but hopes it will be fun.

“It’s just a way to broaden my horizons before going to college,” Lin said.