Exchange Report Korea University, South Korea Elaine Lam Fall 2014 Exchange
Table of Contents I. Monthly Activity Log... 2 II. General Exchange Information... 5 III. Items to Bring and Contacts... 8 1
Monthly Activity Log Late August Korea University (KU) sent lots of emails to notify different important information prior to your departure to Korea, such as course registration, orientation details. I arrived Seoul on Aug 24 and used the airport pick-up service provided by KU. Korea University Buddy Association (KUBA) is a student organization for all exchange and visiting students. It divided all exchange students into groups and each group had 15-18 Korean buddies who provided helps in Korea during the whole semester. A week before the start of semester, KUBA held a 3-day orientation. The first 2 day of orientation was about administration stuff, such as registration of portal ID for KU internal network system, application of student ID card and bank account. The third day was a city tour and we went to Cheongwadae, Gyeongbokgung Palace to have a look of historical Seoul, and watched the well-known Nanta show. After the orientation, my group took us to a pub to teach us how to drink soju and makgeoli, two popular and typical alcohol in Korea. They also taught us many Korean drinking games and all locals and foreigners went crazy at that night. The following days I went to make the Alien Registration card and travelled around in Seoul. September The first week was the add-drop period. However, unlike HKUST, KU online course registration system does not have the waiting list so if the course is full, students cannot enroll into the course. You may ask professors to sign the overriding slips and submit to One-stop Service Centre. Including Saturday and Sunday, there was a 5-day holiday for Mid-Autumn Festival in the first week of September. Mid-Autumn Festival is a large festival in Korea and most of Korean will go back to their hometown. Streets were quiet and many shops were closed. My friends and I planned to go Busan in this holiday but almost all train tickets were sold out as we were too late to plan the trip. We just explored in Seoul, like Lotte World, Ewha Mural Village and Olympic Park. KUBA also arranged a DMZ tour for exchange students to introduce history with North Korea. We visited Imjingak, the Third Tunnel, Donasan Station. After the trip my group took us to Hangang Park to have a chicken-beer party, and of course crazy drinking!!! 2
October Korea National Day is Oct 3 and I finally went Busan successfully~ Busan is located at the southeastern part of Korea and is famous for beaches and seafood. Also at that time, Busan International Film Festival was held in Haeundae and tourists from different countries came to enjoy the party. This year Ko-Yon Jeon, annual sports competition between KU and Yonsei University, was held in mid-october. Baseball, basketball, ice hockey, rugby and football teams from two schools compete with each other. Students sitting on the bleachers were so mad and kept cheering and singing to support the players. KU won all five sport matches this year and it was the first time in history that one school has the result of 5-0 against another!!! The after-party was even crazier. The main street in Anam was blocked and both KU and Yonsei students came to play the train game together. They followed each other with hands putting on the shoulders of people in front of you and beg for free food from restaurants and bars around Anam. There were also band show, street dance performance on the main street and many people got drunk cause they drank lots of alcohol in the party Mid-term week was in late October and every KU student was so busy with it. November Early November is a nice timing to see maple as leaves in most of the places already turned red. I went to Nami Island and hiking on Seoraksan. It was my first to reach the top of a mountain! On Nov 6, there was a major event of KUBA in this semester called International Student Festival (ISF). It was a great chance for exchange students to promote their countries and culture. I was the booth leader for Hong Kong booth and our Hongkongers started preparation like making the booth decoration and buying costume a few weeks before. On that day we made French Toast, Pineapple Sausage and Yuenyeung to serve KU students. It felt like one-day promotion period of HKUST but this time was in KU~ It was also very funny to know other countries culture and have a try of their food^^ The weather started getting cold in late November to -5 degree Celsius and I started to wear thick coat, scarf and gloves to keep warm. 3
December This year first snow was occurred in early December. It was my first time to see snow and I felt so amazed although the weather was so cold. However, the ground was so slippy when snow started to melt but the cold weather froze water to become ice again. The last school week was the final week. Most of the time I stayed in my room for revision and it was the hardest week in the whole exchange period I never got 5 exams in one week before. KUBA Farewell Day was held on the last school day and everyone was busy to take photos with each other. After the semester I went to Jeju alone. I went hiking on Hallasan, the highest mountain in Korea. Although I chose the easiest route, it was still tough, because the hill was fully covered by snow and it was dangerous if nobody accompanied with you. I was so lucky to meet a group of Korean there and they allowed me to go with them. Otherwise, I think I would give up soon. 4
General Exchange Information Visa Procedures You have to apply D-2 Visa prior to exchange in Korean Embassy in Admiralty. KU will send you the admission package and it includes all documents needed, like certificate of admission. When you arrive Korea, you have to apply Alien Registration Card, ID card for foreigners as soon as possible from the Immigration Office. Orientation Activities KUBA held the orientation for all exchange and visiting students from Aug 25-Aug 27. It included all administration works, campus tour and city tour. Korea University Business School (KUBS) also had an orientation party in early September. If you apply exchange through SBM, you will have one more buddy from KUBS. International Services & Activities There is International One-Stop Service Centre in KU to help all exchange students to deal with all academic problems. You can also send email to KUBS International Office if you have any problem regarding the business courses issues. Moreover, KUBA and KUBS buddy are kind to assist you throughout the whole exchange period. Accommodations I have applied on-campus accommodation but unfortunately I didn t get a place, because KU admitted more exchange students this semester. I took KUBS recommendation to live in off-campus housing, called Crimson House. It is very close to the main campus, just a 5-minute walk away, but it doesn t have kitchen and independent toilet. Also, the monthly rent is a little bit more expensive than that of on-campus dorm. Actually, some mainland regular students in KU suggest that one-room around KU is a better option. The monthly rent is not so expensive, around 500,000 won per month. You can search from mainland real estate agent. However, you have to be careful that the monthly rent includes water/ electricity/ Internet fee or not. Also, you may have to pay deposit first (2-4 million won) and bear the risk of differences from photos of the room and real environment. Courses Registration All courses registration is done online. You may ask professors to sign the overriding slips and submit to One-stop Service Centre when the courses are full. However, it is not guaranteed that all professors would like to sign the overriding slips, especially the Korean courses. Therefore, remember to finish online courses registration on time. 5
Teaching & Assessment Methods Teaching & Assessment Methods are similar to that in HKUST, including mid-terms, finals, projects. Attendance in KU is extremely important. Some professors require at least 80% of attendance, otherwise you will received a F directly. Also, around 60% of courses provided by KU are in English, but local Korean students can enroll into these courses. Please be aware that local students and even professors may speak in Korean sometimes, especially for Q&A session. Don t be shy to ask professors to translate in English, otherwise you may miss some tips for exams. Sports & Recreation Facilities There is a sports stadium located uphill, a number of gym rooms inside and an ice skating rink nearby. KU also provides 1-credit sports classes to students, like taekwondo and skiing, but they may be taught in Korean only. Cost/Expenses Accommodation $13,000 Flight tickets $3,500 Food $12,000 Transportation $1,500 Personal expenses/ Travelling $20,000 Total $50,000 Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities As new school year in Korea starts in March, most of the social clubs only recruit new members in Spring semester. Also, they may only welcome fluent Korean speakers, so only few exchange students will be able to join students societies. Health & Safety Seoul is a safe city with nice people. However, you have to be careful when going out at night, especially girls, because we will see quite a lot people being drunk and wandering on the street or inside subway station. Also, smoking is not prohibited in KU and you will discover smoking is quite common among students. 6
Food Most of Korean dishes are spicy. Get prepared before going to Korea if you cannot eat spicy food, but I am sure you can more spicy food when coming back to Hong Kong. If you want to try other cuisines from another countries, you can find those restaurants easily, but Korean elements may be included. For example, kimchi will be served. If you are homesick, it is hard to find real Chinese food in Korea, or you better cook it by yourself. Transportation Climate KU Student ID card can be used as T-money card, the traffic card similar to Octopus card in Hong Kong. Subway can go anywhere in Seoul but you need to walk for a few minutes for transfer. Bus is another choice but the route information is mainly in Korean. Naver map is more useful than Google map in Korea but it is also in Korean. Travelling to other cities far from Seoul you can take KTX, intercity bus or domestic flight. It is getting cool in late September. In late November, it starts snowing and the temperature can drop to -10 degrees Celsius, so remember to bring enough clothes. Also, the weather is dry in Korea and I recommend to buy a bottle of body lotion. Communication Students in KUBA have good English but other local students will feel afraid when you speak English to them. Local Korean can only speck very basic English, so you better learn a few basic Korean sentences first. In shops at tourist spots and some chain store, staff can speak Chinese so you do not have to worry about communication with Korean. Other notes Both HKUST and KU are members of APRU, a consortium of 42 leading research universities in the Pacific Rim. The APRU scholarship is given to either exchange students or study abroad students studying at Korea University per semester. Students don t need to apply for the scholarship since it s automatically provided. For APRU member universities in Asia, students will get 250,000 won. 7
Items to Bring and Contacts Almost everything you can find from shops around KU. - Adaptor - Laptop - Unlocked mobile phone - Passport photos - All required documents - Credit cards/ ATM cards - HKD/ KRW money - Medicine - Winter coat, scarf, gloves 8