My first
impression of South Korea:
When I first arrived
at ICN airport, I was very tired that I didn't have the time to pay close
attention to the things around me in detail, but I can say that as soon as I
got off of the airplane it was foggy and the humidity was there, but it didn't bother me.
I remember sitting
in front of the McDonalds waiting for the other students to arrive. When there
were enough students to ride on a taxi van they (the DKU students) released us
to head to the university. I remember that on my way to DKU I was falling
asleep and the driver was driving pretty fast and none of us could read the meter.
The driving was a bit reckless compared to the driving from back home. One of
my teacher friends told me that her driver was honking at an ambulance that had
its siren on. SO that was new to me.
When we arrived at
the dorms, there were students handing out papers with information to us and
giving us the dorm key and a T-money card (used for transportation).
I was expecting to
see a lot of colorful buildings, but to my contrary there were lots of beige
and brown apartment buildings. At night, however the buildings came to life. As
soon as the sun starts to set, people go outside to walk around and eat
chimeck. Another thing that caught my attention was the amount of smoking that
goes on. It was sad to see a hot guy smoking and drinking is common among Koreans.
How it all
started?
I guess I always
knew I wanted to go somewhere else, besides California. However, I never knew
or expected to take a big jump when it came to traveling for the first time. I
had heard about study abroad, but I always thought that it would be expensive
and out of my reach. So, I never bothered to look into it until maybe last
spring. I attended one of the meetings that the study abroad office was offering
and I remember thinking, maybe they want us to go so that they can get paid or
something, but I was wrong lol. One of the girls I met in school told me that she
had gone for the summer program and that she loved it, but I was still unsure.
Then I went to talk to the people working there and I told them that I was
interested, but since they saw that I was scared to go. They encouraged me to
try it and maybe not go for a year, but to try the summer program. The application
deadline was approaching, maybe two weeks remained. I filled it out and was
scared that I wouldn’t get permission from my mom, but I knew I didn’t have any
productive plans ahead for the summer, so I turned in the application. I was
never officially informed that I was accepted, so I kind of put the whole study
abroad things to the side. Then I started to get emails about things that they
need from us. I was shocked, and well
was kind of forced to inform my mom that there was a possibility that I would
be studying abroad for the summer. Things happened and then things got more serious
about going to study. (By serious I mean I had to get things done, buy things
and talk to people.)
Cost?
For the program I applied
to, I paid ~$420.00. This included the application, insurance which we had to
pay even though I had my own insurance.
The other thing I had
to pay was the airfare, which I got like three or two weeks before I left, DO
NOT do this. I would say buy it as soon as you get your application submitted
and bug the people and ask them whether you got in the program, usually for the
summer ones you will get in. Anyways I paid around $1300.00 for the round trip,
while others got it for $890.00. Then, I had to pay for the classes. Since, I
would be applying for summer aid, I had to register for two classes and out of
the whole tuition I paid~ $300.00. This was nothing compared to the one thousand
something I thought I would have to pay. The financial aid didn’t go into my
account until I was already in Korea, but the financial aid office did require
me to pay the $300.00 before I left.
The other things I paid
for in my program were the transportation from the airport to the school and
back. The rest of the expenses were just the food and personal expenses, like
for cultural activities, clothes, etc.
What I had to
give the study abroad office?
Before any of the programs
go they have “orientations” this is just so you can sign contracts that you won’t
do stupid things abroad, that you will be careful abroad and that you are
representing our campus abroad. They also require you to give them a picture of
yourself so that they can have it in case you get lost or something. Then you
also provide them a copy of your itinerary information (with this they inform
the other school when you will be arriving and what airline(s) and times.
Who waited for me
in the airport?
My biggest
recommendation which I should’ve mentioned above is to find someone else to go
with you. It can be a group of people or just one more person. This is
important for when you guys have to check in or check out you guys can take
care of each other’s tuff.
Anyways going back,
Before we left, the other school sent us emails about survival phrases, the
weather, the cost of some things, what they recommended you bring, and a couple
of maps (one from the campus and the other was of the airport). In the map it showed a picture of where we
would be meeting. The people who were waiting for u were students from our host
school. They had signs and there were other students who were arriving. I don’t
know how it works for other programs, but my guess is that they also have
designated people who wait for you, because they want you to be safe.
Where did they take
us afterwards?
They took us to the dorms,
which were just above the main campus. There were other students from Korea and
the program coordinator welcoming us and giving us our dorm keys and dorm information
(such as door combination, Wi-Fi info, ac info and most of this was in a little
booklet that they had prepared for us). Most of us were placed with other
students who were there from the same program, not necessarily form our school.
Thus my recommendation is to request a friend if they’re going or if you don’t mind
then it should be fine, but form my experience it would have been better to be
with someone I knew.
What did you do
after you checked into the dorms?
Obviously I was
hungry, but I didn’t have all my money exchanged to their currency so I had to
eat some of my snacks I had taken from home. This is why I recommend you get
the money exchanged before you leave.
Here’s why I recommend
flying with someone: at around 7 pm and were mostly settled, I went out to take
a walk around campus with my flight buddy and other girls we met as we arrived
in the airport.
The rest of the
days:
The following day
after we arrived we had a welcoming orientation. They told us about the history
of the school and had a few culture demonstrations for us. They also had like a
mini ice-breaker so you can meet other people in the program. The following Monday
the internship program started and they gave us booklets and our classroom
info. For the most part the internship consisted of ‘working’ from 9—12 and
then came lunch which we’d spend with our students or other people we met in
the program. Then from 1-4 we had the other half of the internship. (The internship
was to teach English to other college students, not really teach more like practice;
because they know English they just need help with conversations). Once we got
more comfortable with our students and they got comfortable with us we would go
with them to visit places or eat somewhere.
After the internship
ended the Academic portion of the program started. These were the academic
classes that we had signed up for. They also had an orientation for this part.
Some Korean students also took the academic classes with us, so I guess that
that is another way we could’ve met and make foreign friends. The classes were
pretty cool and the professors were excited to be there.
The cultural
activities were done either on the weekends or after our classes were done. And
when we had free time we (you kind of make little groups of people which you’ll
hang out most of the time) would go to the capital or visit other places.
Sometimes, towards the end when I was more comfortable with getting around, I
would go by myself to places that I wanted to go and other people didn’t want
to go again.
Other things that I would
recommend are to talk to people from the country you are going to. Look at the
weather of the place you are going to go to. One important thing which I didn’t
do is to set your email accounts with the dates you will be traveling. I think
that is pretty much itJ
Good Luck,
-MC
