Exchange Report Fall Korea University, South Korea

Transcription

1 Exchange Report Fall Korea University, South Korea Christy Law 1

2 Table of Contents Part 1 Monthly Activity Log Part 2 General Exchange Information Part 3 Items to Bring and Contacts

3 Part 1 Monthly Activity Log August Before the beginning of the exchange program, Korea University (KU) would send you a lot of useful information via . Please make sure you check the regularly. KU provides Airport pickup service so please apply online before you are going to Korea. I arrived on 23 August and took the shuttle bus to Anam where KU is located. Orientation event started from 24 August and lasted for two days. This was a mandatory event for all the exchange students. It was mainly about the administrative stuff such as registering student ID card and foreign alien registration card. Korea University Buddy Assistants (KUBA) is a student association which the Korean buddy would assist you throughout the whole semester. After the mandatory orientation event, on 27 th August, KUBA held a One Day City Tour. KUBA s buddy showed me around the city. I met many new friends from all over the world. After that, I went to Busan for 3 days 2 nights trip with other exchange students from Hong Kong before the semester starts. September The first week was the add drop period. You can add and drop courses online. If you want to enroll into a course that is full, you can ask the Professor to sign on the Extra Permission Slip and submit to the Office of International Affairs(OIA). For BUSS courses, Extra Permission Slip is not allowed. You have to stop by OIA and ask the staff to help you enroll into the BUSS course that is full. The highlight of September must be Ko-Yon Jeon. This is an annual sport competition between KU and Yonsei University. The match lasted for 2 days. The match included baseball, basketball, ice hockey, rugby and football. During the match, you would become the 3

4 cheering team, keep dancing and singing the cheering song. This was an amazing event that you can never experience in Hong Kong. After Ko-Yon Jeon, the after-party in Anam was crazy. The main street in Anam was full of KU students. All the students danced and drank in the street. Also, you can form a train with your friends and ask every restaurants and bars in Anam for free drinks and food. October The mid-term week was scheduled in late October. The mid-term exams were held during the class time. If you have 3 classes on the same day, you may probably have 3 mid-term exams on the same day. It was quite harsh for me. So I spent most of the time for revision in October. In late October, there was a 5 days holiday for Mid-Autumn Festival. I went to Jeju Island for a short vacation. The weather and environment there was amazing. I climbed the most famous hill, HalLaSan. The view on the hilltop was stunning. After the trip, International Student Festival (ISF) was held. This is one of the big events of KUBA. It was a good opportunity for exchange students to promote their own culture and tradition. I formed a team with other Hong Kong exchange students. We introduced others with famous Hong Kong food such as milk tea, peanut butter toast and maltose crackers. We also presented Hong Kong 1980s fashion and famous song during the fashion walk and performance. It was a nice day to know more about other countries culture. 4

5 November November is the perfect season to enjoy the red leaves. You can also find many red leaves around the campus. Instead of staying in Seoul, I went to Naejangsan to see the beauty of the red leaves. Naejangsan is located on the border of North Jeolla and South Jeolla provinces in Southwestern of Korea. It is a wonderful place to enjoy the red leaves. The whole mountain was turned into red color. The view was spectacular. I also went for a one day DMZ tour to have a closer look of North Korea. I visited the Third Tunnel, Donasan Station and Imjingak. In the late November, the semester was going to an end. I was busy with the group assignments and presentations. December It was the coldest month during my exchange period in Korea. Most of the days, the temperature was below 0. The first snow also occurred in the early December. Final Exam Period was scheduled in the mid of December. It was the first time I have 6 exams within 4 days. I spent most of the time for revision in the studying room. After the final exam, the last event was KUBA Farewell Party. It was the time for me to say goodbye to each other. 5

6 Part 2 General Exchange Information Visa Procedures You need a D-2 Visa for your exchange study. KU will send you the admission package which includes all the documents needed for the application. Visit the Korean Embassy in Admiralty for the VISA application. It takes around 5 days for the application to be completed. Orientation Activities The orientation was held from August. It included administrative stuff, campus tour and one-day city tour. Except for KUBA, if you apply exchange through SBM, you will have one more buddy from Korea University Business School(KUBS). International Services & Activities You can always seek help from International One-Stop Service Centre. This is a department to help exchange students to deal with all the issues during their study at KU. KUBA and KUBS s buddy would also offer assistance throughout your exchange period. Accommodations KU offers on-campus housing for exchange students. You can apply at Please refer the application guidelines on the website. Moreover, the supply of the on-campus housing is not enough for all the exchange students. Most of the exchange students have to live in the off-campus housing. KUBS would offer you some recommendations of off-campus housing. You can also find your buddy for helping you to find housing. I took the recommendation from KUBS to live in off-campus housing. The living environment was nice and the facilities were well equipped. Moreover, the location of off-campus housing was much near to the main campus than the oncampus housing. However, the rent of off-campus housing was quite expensive compared to the on-campus one. Courses Registration Course Registration is done in If the course is full, you can ask the Professor to sign an Extra Permission Slip and submit to the office. However, it is not 100% guarantee that you can enroll into the course successfully. Teaching & Assessment Methods The teaching & assessment Methods is more less the same as UST, including assignments, presentation, mid-term exam and final exam. But KU put emphasis on attendance. For some courses, if you skip 3 classes, you will automatically receive an F. 6

7 Sports & Recreation Facilities There are two gym rooms, one is located in the main Campus and the other is in Science Campus. The gym room is not for free. But the fee is quite low. Also, a gymnasium is located in the hilltop. This gymnasium can be used free of charge. Cost/Expenses Air ticket $3500 Accommodation $12000 Transportation $2000 Food $15000 Travelling $10000 Other $10000 Total $52500 Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities KUBA would hold weekly activities including group dinner and sightseeing etc. KUBS would also organize activities regularly. These two organizations are set up for exchange students in particular. It is hard for you to join other social clubs unless you are fluent in Korean. Health & Safety Seoul is a safe place for living. But please be more careful at night because you would see quite a number of drunken people in the street. There is a clinic in the central plaza in the main campus. Also, a hospital is located in Anam. You can get medical service near the campus. Food Most of the Korean food is spicy. You need to be prepared for this before going to Korea. However, there is still some non-spicy food to choose from. If you are homesick, there are some Chinese restaurants near the campus, or you may better cook by you own. Transportation Student ID card can be used as T-money card, just like Octopus card in Hong Kong. Subway and bus are very convenient in Seoul. You can go to every part in Seoul by either one of them. If travelling outside Seoul, KTX and express bus will serve you the purpose. Climate August and September is quite hot in Seoul. But starting from late September, the temperature is getting lower. Autumn in Korea is much cooler than Hong Kong. Winter is really cold. The temperature is always below 0 in winter. Starting from December, snow will start falling. Also, the weather in Korea is really dry. You are recommended to put more lotion on. 7

8 Communication Korean is the main language in Korea. You may find it difficult to communicate outside the campus since most of the citizens are not good at English. Also, most of the information in the street would be written in Korean only. Inside the campus, you should not have communication problem with KUBA s members, students from Business School and the staff in the office. However, most of the other local students can only speak basic English. You should learn some basic Korean before going. Cautionary measures Take good care of your Student ID card. Since it is also your bank card. If you loss it, it would be quite troublesome. Part 3 Items to Bring and Contacts Generally, you can find everything you needed in Korea. - Adaptors - Laptop - Passport - Passport Photo - All required documents - Medicine - Credit card - Warm coat - Scarf - Gloves 8