Tuesday, December 2, 2008

My life as an exchange student in Korea

Hi guys! Sorry I haven't been updating the blog very much but I've just been having way too much fun here! My friend Ruben from the Netherlands said he wanted to share an article with you guys because he's convinced more people should come and visit Korea and SKKU. Of course I said yes, so here it is!

My life as an exchange student in Korea
by Ruben

Korea..?

Let’s be honest. Not a lot of people know what Korea is really like. I think that’s a missed opportunity. As a student from the Netherlands who has traveled through Europe a lot and spent a year living in Japan, I can tell you that Korea is definitely a country that you should want to visit. That’s why I decided to share my experience with you. Hopefully it will inspire you to check out what Korea has to offer.

The University

After careful consideration, the University I chose to go to was SungKyunKwan University (SKKU). SKKU is located in the center of Seoul, the capital of Korea. In this city you can find anything you could imagine. It’s a huge city with around 10 million people living there (25% of South-Korea!). I’ll summarize the highlights: crowded clubs (even during weekdays! Me and Sabira love going out dancing), cheap beer and soju (Korean drink, 20% alcohol), great food for only a couple of euros, karaoke, lots of young people out on the street, modern theater performances (dancing, art, etc), fashionable shops... In other words; there’s simply loads to do.

The campus itself is located on a hill, and while it’s relatively small compared to other Universities, it’s still a lot bigger than what you can find in the Netherlands. It’s also quite modern; in just about every building a computer room is available to you. There’s also a lot of effort being put into keeping the campus green, by planting a lot of trees and flowers. SKKU is built next to a 600 year old traditional Korean school, so those that are interested in experiencing Korean culture are in luck. I still visit the old school building from time to time, simply because it’s such a nice place.

The SKKU campus; lots of green, modern buildings.
Dutch Universities fall short in comparison.


The dormitory is conveniently located near the University. This makes it easy to jump out of bed at the last minute and still be on time. Right now the Korean economy isn’t doing too well, but that’s a good thing for me because it means cheap prices. I only pay 160 euros per month for my room, which is dead cheap considering what you get for it. However there’s one disadvantage.. you have to share your room with a roommate. I live with a Chinese guy, and I have to say I’ve learned a lot about China through him, but I still would’ve liked to have had my own room. It’s a very nice and modern room (built quite recently). Every we cleaning lady’s come by to clean the room for you. You got your own bed, your own shower, blankets, internet, a shared kitchen on the 1st floor that is kept clean very well, a living room with TV and lounge-chairs, and a couple of computers.

Study

Yup, it’s not only about having fun. Or is it? I actually enjoy studying here quite a lot. My main reason for coming here was to learn the the Korean language. They offer you a free intensive Korean course that takes 4 hours per day (from 9 to 1). It’s a lot, but you also learn a lot, and studying a language is actually quite fun. Personally I think that having fun while studying is very important. If you study what you enjoy, you will undoubtedly do very well. That’s why I love studying here.

Of course there’s also a large variety of academic courses that you can choose from. The only disadvantage is that the courses that not all courses are taught in English, so you have to be selective. On top of that, if you take the language courses that means that you can only choose academic courses that start in the afternoon. Luckily they have a great system where you get to try any course that you want for the first week without binding yourself to it. I just tried every course that seemed somewhat interesting and I ended up with some very nice courses. My favorite one is "Game Workshop". In this course we discuss what it is for a game to be fun, and how you can apply that to the design process (harder than you think!). We have to do a lot of group projects which are always a lot of fun. My most recent project was about making a game that you could play on the street with people that are passing by. It ended up being a great success.

Our game-design consisted of going from one point to the other while
passing a bunch of balls over from one person to the next using pipes.
Pass the ball, run to the other side, repeat.


I should tell you that if you want to come study in Korea you should first discuss with your own University whether you can get credit for the courses that you are doing here. In my case I don’t need any more credit. I just study because I want to learn something, not because of some peace of paper that says I did a good job. Also, my experience here gave me the time I needed to think about what I want to do in the future.

Outside of studying

The amount of events on the campus is quite astounding. It seems that every few weeks there is something going on. The biggest event I’ve seen thus far was a concert with lots of famous Korean singers. "Yeah, they do that around twice a year here" said one of my Korean friends, as if it was normal! Another festival had lots of stands around the campus where you could buy food and drinks. At night people would gather and sit on the floor drinking and talking together. It was really nice.

Koreans are simply very nice and social people. When you meet a friend they give you a pat on the shoulder or a firm handshake. Women here often walk arm in arm. In Japan I always had a hard time making friends because people tend to be a little distant there. Here it’s quite the opposite. Go to a bar with some classmates and after a few drinks, you’ve gained a few good new friends.

There’s also quite a few student-organizations which you can join. Dancing, sports, study, drinking, you name it. A lot of these clubs have yearly events. They lure people to these events by sticking a colored rope to the ground which you can follow. This works very well. I’ve quite often seen some really good shows simply by following it. Recently I saw a show of one of the dancing clubs. They have a lot of clubs that are about dancing and they are really good at it here. After seeing the show I definitely want to try and join them.

If you have any problems during your stay, you can visit the International Office of SKKU. The International Office consists of a bunch of people that are willing to help you out no matter what your problem is. SKKU has recently been trying to get more people to come to their University, and that’s why they really spend a lot of time trying to help you.

The International Office also keeps you informed about any possible school trips. There are a lot of events and trips that you can participate in for free if you keep your eyes and ears open. Especially check out the posters that they put up around the International Office. Recently I’ve been invited by an organisation that helps foreigners in Seoul ("Seoul Global Center") to go on a tour. They gave us a short presentation about themselves, after which we had a very nice lunch followed by a trip to the museum. The highlight was the "b-boys" performance that we got to see. "b-boys" is the hippest dancing group in Seoul of the moment. The show was quite a spectacle. After the performance we got treated to a greatly luxurious dinner. We were also scheduled to go to Seoul-tower (a high tower with a great view of Seoul) but unfortunately I already had another appointment.

The“b-boys” performance;
dancing like a robot in suits that lit up in the dark.


Money

Money is of course always an issue when you are studying abroad. If you go as an exchange student, it means that you have to pay your own University. If you’re European like me, that means that it’s going to be cheap. Also you should contact the International Office of your school to see if there’s any scholarships available. One possible scholarship program is called ASEM-DUO. You can get up to 4000 euros for a period of 4 months or longer. Depending on what country you’re from it may or may not apply to you, but you should definitely check it out: www.asemduo.org

If you’re in luck, and the economy doesn’t recover by the time you want to go, Korea may be very cheap for you. Especially for people from the US or Japan right now. Even if the economy does recover it’s still cheap if you’re from Europe. Food is only a couple of euros and your room also doesn’t cost too much. Scholarships are often very much possible to obtain as long as you put in the effort. You could additionally try to contact the Korean ambassy in your country to see if they have additional information about scholarships.

The facts

Lots of possibilities to study, nice people, cheap, and you get to do a lot of events and trips for free. A great experience I’d say. There really isn’t any reason why you couldn’t go. Maybe you’re still in doubt and still have some remaining questions. I would recommend that you just contact the SKKU International Office and ask, because they are always willing to help possible students. You can find the contact details on the SKKU website.

Maybe you want to go, but you don’t have the time. Well, even then there’s a solution. SKKU has a very attractive Summer School program. Depending on what University you are from, you may or may not get a discount, but it’s worth going there even if you have to pay for it. During a period of 5 weeks you get a bunch of very interesting courses. A school trip is also organized every week. And of course lots of fun with all the other students from all over the world. It’s basically everything I’m experiencing here put together in a 5-week package. If you go in 2009 you may even meet me, because I’m planning to join the Summer School again.

Want to go? Ask the International Office of your University and they’ll be able to help you.

Website SKKU: www.skku.edu/eng
Scholarship ASEM-DUO: www.asemduo.org

Promotional SKKU video: