I arrived to Seoul at the end of August with checking and moving in to my room in on-campus dormitory. The next day was our Orientation day, where some Konkuk’s and South Korea’s practilities were introduced (e.g. ARC -> alien registration card, which we must apply for and we need at least 1 course to be an exchange student).
The semester started in September and it’s been kinda a roller coaster, I’ve 6 courses and all of them are taught in English; pretty lucky actually, because some other exchange students have not been happy, since some of the courses that were listed as English course were not so -> the professor is only speaking Korean.
I have been really happy with the courses I planned to and managed to get here, since the competition is so hard in the course registration. My major here at Konkuk is Business Administration and I’ve 2 courses from BA field, and the rest 4 courses are basically for everyone (no major restrictions). The professors have been professional, a lot of readings in some courses and need to catch up to them so I would be more prepared to the final exams that are at the end December and then the semester will end.
The most busiest/stressing time so far was the week before and during the Midterm week last month. There is only one course I am pretty much stressed about will I be able to pass it, because I haven’t got the Midterm exam’s results yet and I know I made some mistakes in there just because of panic.. otherwise this would probably not matter, but I just want this course in my certificate.
I’ve been exploring around the city and it’s activities. Most of the things I did together with other exchange students during the first two weeks after arrival and got to know the city and near Konkuk University’s surrounding areas.
I don’t think I have been eating this much at a restaurant than in here or been in exhibitions, popups or other sight seeings before coming to Seoul. This is something I might try in Finland too, and see is it as fun as here it has been.
Also this was a great chance to meet with my Korean friend, whose tutor I was during her exchange in Finland. <3
It has been kinda hard to get used to the Korean teaching system, where the professor is the one who speaks and students are quiet. And if student wants to ask something relating to the topic they should go to the professor after the lecture or email them-> get an appointment or go to the professor’s office during office hours. So no need to rise hand and ask during the lecture, which would be helpful if someone else has a same question in mind.
One course is also team based one, and I am the only foreigner in my team. It has been refreshing to see new perspectives from others and give my own to them.
Happy to see familiar faces in Seoul 🙂
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