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2017-2018 Spring Exchange Report OR Sin Yee Sindy | MARK & OM
Korea University
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Monthly Activity Log February I arrived Seoul during the period of 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, which is 21st February to be exact. An orientation seminar was held on the next day, i.e. 22th Feb, which is organized by Korea University Buddy Association (KUBA), introducing us the university campus, Korean buddies, class registration procedure, Alien registration ca rd application process etc. Another orientation session was held by Korea University Business School (KUBS), which helps us to understand more on its history, culture background, syllabus as well as locations of business related lecture halls. A welcoming party is held at술집(Korean bar) right after the session, where KU business students taught us popular Korean drinking games. I did not travel and play much in February as I was mainly settling things in goshitel (my accommodation).
March On 3rd-‐4th of March, I went to an MT (similar to orientation camps in Hong Kong) in Ui-‐Dong우이동계곡 held by KUBS buddies, where I got a chance to make friends with exchange students that came from all around the world. We played lots of interesting Korean group games and tried Jajjangmyeon (炸醬麵) for the first time. School as well as add-‐drop period soon started on the 5th, and the first week of school was fine since everything is more or less the same as HKUST, e.g. Korean professors first started by introducing syllabus and then proceeded to teaching in the first lecture. I joined my KUBA Korean buddies for lunch every Tuesday and dinner every Thursday, hence we soon became good friends and hang out together often. They brought me to lots of famous spots in Seoul such as N
Seoul Tower, Lotte World and even taught us the cheering practices as well as slogans in Korea University. At the end of March, I went to Jeonju (全州) with my HKUST friends and foreigners living in the same goshitel. We lived in Hanuk (韓屋 -‐ Korean traidition houses), travelled the Hanuk villages, tried the famous Jeonju Bibimbab (拌飯 – mixed rice) and wore Hanbok (韓服 – Korean ancient dresses) there. It is a gorgeous city with nice views, rich cultural contents and friendly people, which makes it a must-‐go place during exchange.
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April From 30th March to 1st April, I went to Busan with my UST friends in order to join Jinhae cherry blossom festival 2018. It is my first time to see cherry blossom and it turned out to be gorgeous. There is no doubt that everyone can take fabulous shoots while walking on the streets, as cherry blossoms are everywhere! The only thing that I dislike is the crowdedness – therefore avoiding to go on weekends would be a wise choice. On the other way round, Gamcheon cultural village (감천문화마을-‐甘川文化村) is not as pretty as I thought it was. Houses are painted in various colors, but they were not as awesome as it was shown in pictures (filter is needed if you want to take a good picture haha). Moreover, seafood in Busan is way tastier and fresher than that in Seoul, which is very worth to try. In the middle of April, it was the midterm week of spring semester. Midterms were held in class and each lasts for 1 hour and 15 minuets, which means they were really packed. In my case, I had 3 midterms consecutively on Monday as I usually take 3 lectures on every Mon, Wed cycles. (Hence well planning of timetable is needed.) After the midterms, I went to visit Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung Palace with my KUBA friends due to the nice weather. By the late April, Seoul’s temperature is neither too low nor high, which makes it a perfect timing to visit outdoor tourist spots. As a history lover, I really enjoyed the tour as my Korean friends explained the historical backgrounds in great details.
May After visiting most of the tourists spots in past months, I started to explore local events at the beginning of May. First, I went to “The Show” and “Music Bank”, which are two famous k-‐pop music programs where Korean groups perform weekly. I get to see the live performance of various famous bands such as Shinee, Pristin V, G-‐IDLE etc. Lining up is not needed as I buy a ticket for “The Show” (~65000 won) and I am a fan club member which allows me to get into “Music Bank” right away. Second, I went to Bukhansan (北漢山) for hiking with nine of the KUBA buddies. It was quite tough as the height of mountain top -Baekundae(白雲台) is 836.5m, which takes us around 6 hours to finish the entire hike. The view on top is very stunning and beautiful, hence I sincerely recommend outdoor enthusiasts to pay here a visit.
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May is in fact the month of University Festivals (대동제-‐大學祝祭), which means all universities in Seoul will invite k-‐pop singers to perform, demonstrate their school chants / dance, gather to stay up and drink etc. I went to three of them, namely that of Konkuk University (建大), Hanyang University (漢陽大) and Korea University (高麗大), which I get to see Twice, Blackpink, Highlight, Momoland, Zion-‐T, Mamamoo, Hyolyn from Sistar, PSY, Winner, Chungha etc. The festival in Korea University is called Ipselenti, which lasts from 1pm to 10pm. KU students gathered in the university sports ground, all dressed in red (colour of KU), put on special make up, sing and dance together throughout the day. The atmosphere was incredibly crazy yet fun, given that 30 thousand people cheering simultaneously in the same venue. All in all, Ipselenti is really the best event to boost your sense of belonging and experience the vibes of Korean youth. Trust me, it’s the most unforgettable event throughout the whole semester.
On 17th May, me and my HKUST friends also did join the International Student Festival and were responsible for Hong Kong booth. We provided traditional Chinese Tang Yuan with Peanuts (糖不甩) and Hong Kong style waffles (格仔餅) served with iced lemon tea in our booth. Moreover, we offered a Chinese Calligraphy name-‐writing service which successfully attracted lots of foreigners. It is a tiring but rewarding experience indeed.
June On 1st of June, I went to Seoul Children’s Grand Park with KUBA friends in order to watch various animals. The number of animal species living there is way higher than what I had expected, which makes it worth to visit. Also I went to Incheon city for 2 days before final exams and visited China Town, Songwol-‐dong Fairytale Village etc. The city has lots of nice cafes as well as restaurants, thus it is an ideal place for a short yet relaxing escape from Seoul. Final exams were held in the middle of June, and again, the exam schedule is set according to the lecture timetable. Hence, I finished 5 exams within 26 hours, three on Monday evening and two on Tuesday morning. It is truly exhausting so well planning of timetable is highly recommended. After final period, KUBA immediately held a farewell party on 21st June as lots of exchange students were leaving on the very next day. Farewell video was played and lots of us couldn’t help but shed tears, it was indeed my honor to have them accompanying me throughout the whole semester. Lastly, I stayed in Korea University till late July since I applied for free Korean language courses and finally arrived HK on 21st of July.
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General Exchange Information。
1) Visa Procedures a. D-‐2 Visa For Hong Kong citizens, you have to get a visa once you wish to stay in Korea for more than 90 days. For exchange students, it is a must for you to go Korea Embassy and apply for D-‐2 Visa before you left. Here is a list regarding the D-‐2 visa application for your better preparation: Certificate of Admission issued by the university in Korea Exchange Program confirmation letter issued by mother university Agreement on exchange program between two universities Latest academic report/transcript Financial status proof Personal account: make sure there is more than 25,000 HKD in latest 3 months Parents account: documents proving the relations between you and your parent is needed (parent’s ID card and your birth certificate) Student card ID card Passport Coloured passport photo (35x45mm) Visa Application form b. Alien Registration Card Details will be announced during KUBA’s orientation ceremony held in February. 2) Orientation Activities As mentioned in my February Log, there are mainly two orientations that business students have to attend, which are held by KUBA and KUBS respectively. Health and medical treatment introduction, course registration details, Alien Registration procedures and bank account opening will all be mentioned in KUBA’s orientation. Also, you will get to meet your KUBA group and Korean buddies at the same time. For the KUBS orientation, business school will mainly introduce their up-‐coming events and KUBS cultures. In my opinion, the orientation of KUBA is much useful than that of KUBS. For your reference, here is this semester’s orientation schedule of KUBA:
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3) International Services & Activities For any international affairs, you can visit the Global Service Centre whenever you need help. They are responsible for student card making, bank account making, language buddy program matching, course registration, transcript confirmation etc. GSC will mainly communicate with exchange students by using email, so make sure you don’t miss any of them! 4) Accommodations a. Halls: CJ International / Anam Global House These are the on-‐campus accommodations provided by school. Single, double and triple rooms are offered and prices are slightly lower/ similar with off-‐campus housings. Here is the price (in won) for each types of rooms:
For further information, such as sizes and interior design of rooms, feel free to visit this website: http://reslife.korea.ac.kr/v1/src/main/page.php?code=rate b. Goshitels: In case you don’t get a hall offer from Korea University, Global Service Centre will send a pdf to every exchange student, recommending some off campus accommodations, i.e. goshitels (考試院), for students to live in. I lived in one of the goshitels recommended by school – Allive Goshitel. There are three room types, in which I lived in type A for 4 months and type C for 1 month.
The best thing about Allive is there are big windows in each and every room, so you won’t feel like “living in a prison”. As other goshitels often have really small or even no windows, I seriously think this is the biggest comparative advantage of Allive goshitel. Unlike other goshitels, the space in Allive rooms are sufficient, to an extent which I can even do stretching exercises in my room. They also provide private bath rooms in every room, so you don’t have to share one with foreigners. The location is a bit far away from Anam main streets (where all restaurants and entertainments located at), but it only takes you 5 minuets to Korea University subway station and 7 minutes to business school buildings. For disadvantage, the manager of Allive gositel doesn’t speak English at all, which causes a lot of inconvenience in terms of communication. If you don’t know any Korean, this might not be the best choice for you. Here are some photos about the interior design of room:
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5) Courses Registration At most 19 credits can be taken by exchange students. Students can create their simulated timetable by registering for preferred course lists before the official registration period. Listing preferred courses during the ‘Preparatory Preferred Course Listing Period’ will help you register easier and faster at the official course registration. To officially register for preferred courses, student must register during the official course registration period for junior/senior years. For course list and syllabus, feel free to visit the following website: http://sugang.korea.ac.kr The following are courses I took in the past semester and equivalent courses provided in HKUST: Course code Course name Equivalent courses in HKUST BUSS415 Risk Management ISOM4520 Statistics for Financial Risk Management BUSS377
Strategic Demand and Revenue Management
ISOM4000OM 4000-‐level Course in Information Systems, Business Statistics and Operations Management
BUSS313
International Business
SOSC2000LEVEL 2000-‐level Course in Social Science
BUSS238 Advertising Management (In progress)
BUSS454
Product and Brand Management
(In progress)
6) Teaching & Assessment Methods Korean professors really emphasize attendance, punctuality and some count a lot on class participation. Textbooks and supporting materials are recommended by professors, but it is not a must to buy. Class materials and PowerPoint slides are uploaded on a platform called “Blackboard”. Unlike HKUST, most courses I took included ALL of the followings: midterms, finals, presentations, group projects and final reports. The workload is not light at all if you treat academic performance seriously. However, exams and midterms here are generally easier than that of UST, if you did revise, it is for sure that you won’t get bad results at the end. (Hard work easily pays off here J)
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7) Sports & Recreation Facilities There are two gyms in the campus, one in 4.18 memorial hall and another one next to ice skating rink. I was the member of the gym next to ice skating rink and membership fee per month is 40,000 won (~280 HKD). Gym facilities are new and user-‐friendly, views outside the gym is nice too. Bath rooms, relax zones and water are all provided. If you are a sports lover, it is really a good idea for you to join the campus gym. For recreation facilities, there are many cafes in the campus for you to take a break. Also, there is a mini underground shopping mall called Chong-‐ang-‐ji-‐ha-‐guang-‐zang (中央地下廣場), where various shops such as Innisfree, Aritum, burger king etc are located in it. 8) Finance & Banking Expense (March-June) Value in HKD
(1hkd=138won) Value in WON
Accommodation 15,362 2,120,000 Food 14,421 1,990,160 Transportation 1865 257,400 Consumption (Entertainment, clothes, cosmetics etc.)
9043 1,247,920
Air tickets 3,000 414,000 Others 3821 527,220 Total 47,512 6,556,700 9) Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities There are many clubs available in KU and a catalog will be given out in the beginning of semester so you can pick the clubs that you are interested. To exchange students, the most important social club goes to KUBA. Exchange students are divided into 10 groups, each group consist of around 70 foreigners and around 15 Korean buddies. KUBA groups will arrange group lunch every Tuesday and group dinner every Thursday. Drinking sessions are held after each team dinner. To me, drinking sessions are really fun as it serves as a great chance to know foreigners as well as local Koreans in person, which is very helpful in helping you to get familiar with your own group. Deep talks and fun drinking games are always there in drinking sessions. But if you dislike drinking/alcohol, you might not want to join the session. My KUBA group, i.e. Onepiece, gets along very well so our group leader often arrange additional outings, meal gatherings and special events within the group. For example, we organized trips and travel around Camptong Island water park and Jeonju together, which is not required by the school. Another social club is KUBS, where we get to meet business school Korean buddies. In my opinion, KUBS is much boring than that of KUBA, as I haven’t met my buddy ever since KUBS orientation session and MT. KUBS did not play an important role in my exchange. 10) Health & Safety I did not get sick throughout the entire exchange period, hence I do not know much about this particular area. If you are sick, you can either visit Korea University Hospital or Korea University Emergency Centre (on weekends) / International Student’s health care Centre (on weekdays) for medical care. There are a few clinics on Anam main street as well. 11) Food As I spent nearly 1/3 of my expenditures on food, you can definitely tell how addicted I am in terms of exploring delicious food in Korea. I normally use apps like “Naver Map” and “Mango Plate” to find popular restaurants. Also, I search local restaurants by using hashtags like #강남맛집 (great restaurants in Gangnam) and #이태원카페 (café in Itaewon) on Facebook/Instagram. Loads of recommendations will be popping up and you can save the location on Naver/Kakao Map. If you know Korean, I highly recommend you to search by typing Korean instead of English as the cheapest yet most delicious ones often do not
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have information written in English. Also, if you are too lazy to go out for meals, I recommend you to install “yogiyo (요기요)” and “bedaltong (배달통)”, which are two popular apps that offer take out services. 12) Transportation
a. Maps Don’t use Google Map in South Korea as it doesn’t work well. People normally use “Kakao Map”, “Naver Map” and “Daum Map”. “Kakao Map” is the best choice when you are hiking as other maps don’t work well in rural areas. However, I would love to recommend “Naver Map” for general usage as it has a Chinese version, which makes everything easier and clearer. (Can look up to Hong Kong YouTuber Ling Cheng’s Naver Map Setting video for detailed instructions)
b. Public transports I normally travel by bus and subway. For subway fee, it costs 1,250 won per time. We use T-‐money to pay for both bus and subway, which is available in every convenient store and subway service center. Korean subway is much more complicated than that of Hong Kong, hence I recommend the app “韓國地鐵” which helps by informing you the shortest route.
c. Taxi If you are in a rush, I recommend you to call taxi by using the app “Kakao Taxi”. As long as you have a Korean phone number, you can use its service simply by entering your set off point and final destination. Taxi drivers will answer your request in 1-‐4 minuets, which is very convenient. 13) Climate Seoul is really cold in February and March; the temperature is around -‐10’c to 10’c within these two months. It started to get a bit warmer in April but the climate is still windy and cold, thick jacket is still needed. I would say Spring comes at around May and you can start to wear short sleeves by then. Spring in Seoul is not as humid as that in Hong Kong. Summer starts at the middle of June and temperature sometimes rises till 30-‐36’c this year. The temperature difference between day and night is huge, so always bring a jacket with you throughout the exchange. 14) Communication In Korea, people use Kaka talk instead of Whatsapp, so make sure you create an account before reaching Korea. Also, for tele-‐communication, there is a plan from SK Telecom which only charges 33,000 for 5GB servies. I think it is the cheapest as well as most flexible plan among all short-‐term plans in Korea. For language, most Korean don’t understand English (outside university area), so make sure you hang out with some KU Korean friends, or else you might have trouble communicating with locals while you are alone. (only for those who doesn’t know Korean) 15) Items to bring -‐ Passport (with copy) -‐ Passport Photos (with copy) -‐ Hair Dryer -‐ Adaptors and chargers -‐ Both winter and summer clothes -‐ Heat pack You can buy almost every types of household utensil in Daiso, so there is no need to bring lots of stuff from Hong Kong to South Korea.