Annyeonghaseyo!

Last week KUBA organized the cheering orientation . KU students take cheering VERY seriously, there´s an actual choreography. Why?? Well, every year there´s a tournament in various sports (such as basketball and baseball) against our rival Yonsei University. The match is called Koyeonjeon, Korea-Yonsei Rival Match (고연전). In order to make sure that KU wins, every student knows how to cheer.

We had instructors showing us what we had to do and most of us wore our red KUBA shirts. There are 18 different songs and choreography´s. Our buddies know all of them by heart. I can only remember two or so. It was extremely exhausting and FUN. I´ve never seen Koreans that excited and active. Amazing! Everybody was jumping and dancing like there´s no tomorrow. Some even hurt themselves cause they were overdoing it.

Afterwards we went for dinner and to have some soju (standard combination in Korea). What a fun day. I look forward to the match, were KU will obviously win! In cheering at least, as Yonsei apparently does nothing exciting during the match.

Picture Credits go to the KUBA, who took lots of fun pictures! Thanks for that!

Go, KU, Gooo

Totally exhausted after that work-out!

Til the next time,

Lena

Annyeonghaseyo!

Uni has started. At my uni it is common to have a so called “introduction week”, where students can add and drop courses after attending different classes. The first lecture I had was held by a german professor (how ironic). For whatever reason I thought the course would be about human development and not just economics. Well, first and last economics lecture 🙂 The topic was interesting, but as I was registered for 6 courses, I had to drop one. 6 is simply too much. As I have no economic background whatsoever the first course had to go.

All professors think that attendance and punctuality is important. Attendance is mandatory in most classes and you get points removed, if you are late or do not show up. Maybe this is because otherwise no one would ever show up. I don´t know. You can tell that KU is one of the top three universities in Korea. The professors have impressive CVs, so do the alumni. Everybody was very strict in the first lecture, to scare off as many students as possible 😉 They told us that the second lecture.

Most classes are rather small, same as in Malmö. One course, Chinese Politics is so packed. The professor uses a microphone and we have to bring a name placard  to every class. Discussion is important and also around 20% of the total grade. Easy, they just want you to talk. You don´t even have to be correct. Non-Koreans benefit, we are used to discussing and saying things in the lecture. Koreans aren’t. They were not taught this in school and are extremely shy. We also have oral presentations, some Korean students were terrified and dropped the class because of this. However, as KU is an elite university the students are really dedicated and know there stuff. I´m looking foward to learn a lot. Furthermore, students always seem very interested in Korea and how things affect Korea. This is very surprising for me. When I study Chinese politics for example, I do not really care how that would affect my home country. At an international and global level, yes not not at an national level. I´ll probably learn a lot about Korea by just listening to the professor and my fellow classmates.

Additionally to attendance and participation we have exams. Mid-terms and finals. No essays like in Malmö but sit-down exams. That’s fine for me, I can do that 😉

The best thing ever! I have no clue how copyright works in Korea, but it seems non-existent. For each course there´s a reading package, with photocopies of all the chapters and articles we have to read. The copies are nicely bound into a book. The book then costs a fifth of what one would spend if you buy it new. Also another benefit: you don´t have 10 books but just one! I love it, so convenient!! Malmö should have this too.

In most classes we didn’t do much. The professors just talked about the outline of the courses. However, three of my professors actually started with the course on the second meeting in the week. Others cancelled the lecture. I had no problems with my courses and I was lucky to have an extra course just in case. Many exchange students had lots of problems registering and getting enough credits. We are rather limited what we can study, in Korea it is okay for a English studies student to study international law for whatever reason.

I´m impressed my the atmosphere at uni. The professors are strict but nice (perfect combination). I’ve been told that Koreans catch up their teens at uni, as before they study 24/7 for the final exam. Getting in is hard, when you´re in it´s not that difficult… At least I hope so. The workload is more, as I have two more courses than in Malmö. Lots of reading, but that´s easy for me. I have most of my classes on Tuesday and Thursday. Mondays and Wednesday I´ll use for studying and doing the readings. Fridays are free!!

I wish everybody a good start for the new semester!

Lena

Annyeonghaseyo!

I’ve been in Seoul now for around two weeks and in that time I´ve seen quite a lot in Seoul. There are still many things I haven´t seen as the city is so huge and has lots to offer. I´ll show you some of my favorite places in Seoul, both touristy and more local.

1. Gyeongbokgung Palace

Seoul has several places in the city center surrounded by skyscrapers. Something I find very unique for a city. Gyeongbokgung was the first thing I visited in Seoul, as it was the first thing in my tour guide 😉 Like everywhere you can watch the changing of the guards. I personally always enjoy that and in Korea people are dressed up nicely and they´re a huge show around it. I immediately bought a combination ticket for all four palaces as it was really cheap, the ticket was only 71 SEK, what a great deal!

They offer tours in english several times a day. I was lucky to arrive shortly before the tour started. The guide was wearing a hanbok (traditional Korean dress) and showed us around the huge palace. I would really advice you to take the tour, as otherwise you do not know what building you are currently looking at. The tour was around 1 hour 30.

Korean palaces are really colorful and rather plain, with lots of buildings. The king had his own path to walk on, I walked on it just because I can 😉 The queen was not allowed to leave the palace, therefore she had a garden at the back of her residence where she could see the changes of the seasons. Also something very interesting: in the palace the korean alphabet (hangul) was invented, so a very historical place.

2.Changdeokgung Palace

This palace is smaller but the most preserved palace in Seoul, therefore being UNESCO world heritage. The palace´s buildings are similar to the Gyeongbokgung but have their own flair.Once again, in order to see the palace it is advisable to join a tour. The tour takes around an hour and is very informative. The highlight of the palace is the secret garden, which covers the most space of the palace. In order to see the secret garden an extra ticket must be purchased ( for very little money) and you HAVE to join a tour in order go inside. The secret garden is a must ! The tour takes around 2 hours and involves lots of walking (uphill!). The guide said that he lost 25 kg just by walking around the garden.

The secret garden is an oasis in the middle of a 10 million people city. Korean landscape architecture focuses a lot on nature and growing things naturally. Very different to japanese or english gardens. There are several buildings inside the garden where the King relaxed and invited officials for parties and ceremonies. The garden is secret as it was not open for public whilst the king was alive ( luckily for us, the king died decades ago).

Note:

All historic buildings in Seoul and Korea in general are not original! During the Japanese invasion in 1592-1598 all historic and cultural sites were distroyed.  Changdeokgung palace was rebuilt in 1610. Gyeongbokgung was destroyed aswell and then once again during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945). Only in the last decade did the government rebuild the palace and several parts of the palace still are under construction. It is fascinating how Korean culture survive the occupation and the government invests a lot of money and effort to restore the cultural heritage.

3. Bukchon Hanok Village

Hanok are traditional korean homes. There are not many left in Seoul, therefore the hanok´s in Bukchon are very special. Small houses with cafes, shops and restaurant. It is a very touristy area, however really interesting and there is lots to see. You can spend hours walking around (HILLYYY) and the cute shops really offer a variety in things.

4.Gwangwamun Square

Probably the most photographed area in Seoul. Gwangwamun is a huge square that starts at Gyeongbokgung Palace and leads to the City Hall. A pedestrian street allows you to enjoy the fantastic view. On the square there are two important statutes: Admiral Yi Sun-sin and Kind Sejong. Both statues are very impressive.

Closeby is the artificially made Cheong-gye-cheon stream, which allows one to escape the fast pace of the city. It is very popular among young couples to go there. You can cool your hurting feet and enjoy the light show in the evenings. Have a look at the city hall, even if it´s just to fill your water bottle!

5. Myeong-dong

SHOPPING! Seoul is famous in Asia for being a shopping mecca! There´s everything. From high end products at Lotte Department store to cheap (fake ) clothing on the market. Especially beauty products are popular. I have never seen so many beauty shops in my life, they repeat every 100 meters. Koreans love their brands, Samsung, LG and korean beauty brands. In order to gain strength you can buy lots of korean food on the streets! Most of it is spicy so be careful!

6.Noryangjin Fish Market

FISH, FISH, FISH. So much fish! The Noryangjin Fish market makes fish lover´s hearts beat faster. Everything that swims in sea and ocean can be purchased here. All is fresh as most things are still alive and fist killed when bought. I did not try any of the fish, as there was too much to choose from. I will have to do so! Baby octopus is very popular. NO, it is not alive! The octopus is killed seconds before you eat it (raw). The octopus´s reflexes are still functioning therefore eating it can be a challenge. Remember to take a video!

7.Han River

The Han river divides the north and south of Seoul. Lots of outdoor activities are offered along it´s banks. Try some jetski or anything else. Janwon Park is popular among locals as you can do sports, relax and enjoy the fantastic view on the city, I did a boat tour ( I always do one, if a river is close). It was fantastic. Seeing something from a boat is always exciting and fun.

8. Gangnam

Gangnam is not just popular because of a certain song, but due to it´s trend setting shops and people. Gangnam is an outer district that has everything to offer. Great clubs, expensive and alternative shops, art galleries and nice restaurants. Gangnam really is worth a visit. So far I enjoyed Sisadong Garosu-gil street the most. Fantastic shops for a rather small budget and young designers can be found on the ginkgo lined road.

9.Olympic Park

Olympic parks are always impressive, in my opinion. Seoul hosted the Olympic games in 1988. The Olympic Park offers a lot. Museums, sports and history. Walk around and feel the olympic spirit. You can walk along the Mongchontoseong Fortress on which you´ll learn about the history of the early Baekje period. Many concerts and sports events take place in the olympic park. I visited the SOMA Museum of Art to see the Frida Kahlo exhibition. Sculptures can be found all around the museum.

10.Itaewon Street

Itaewon is the area where you find the most foreigners. Restaurants offer food from all around the world. If you get home sick, you should come here and eat your local food.Lot´s of shops, restaurants and clubs guarantee a good time.

5 Tips for sightseeing in Seoul.

1. Buy a Tmoney card for the Subway, the “Subway” app is great for the metro.

2. Get a free Tour Guide from the Tourist Information ( each site has the metro stop and exit written on it, super handy).

3. Buy a good tour guide. I´m old fashion, I prefer a paper tour guide. I´m using the one from Lonely Planet. Any tour guide is goo, as long as it has a good map in it 😉

4. Inform yourself about the hours for the tours around the palaces

5. Most museums are free and there´s air conditioning

Wow, that was a lot. Hope that I didn’t bore you to death.

Somehow, once again I couldn’t add pictures as they were to big. Sorry for that! I´ll try to fix this asap!

Lena

Annyeonghaseyo!

Last Monday and Tuesday we had orientation. KUBA (Korea University Buddy Association) organized the orientation for the exchange students. Everybody showed up very early in order to make sure to find the building. KU campus is HUGE!!!

We were welcomed by the university´s president and by the office of international affairs. We are about 600 exchange students from all over the world. Most of the people are from Asia. They told us about the university’s history and about its goal to become ever more international. KU is one of the three elite universities in Korea, therefore studying there is a privilege. Only the top 1% get a spot at this university. I must admit that I´ve never heard of the university, but I am rather uninformed about universities in general. If their not Harvard, Yale, Oxbridge or MIT ;). You can really feel that students are proud to study there, and they should!

After that we had to kill some time before lunch, so the buddies showed us around the huge campus. You´re basically doing your work-out by simply walking up and down the hills. The campus is beautiful. It is new but looks very old. In Korea it is common for companies such as LG to sponsor things and have their name on the buildings. KU receives the most money from sponsors and alumni in Korea, therefore the buildings look super fancy.

We received a welcome package with useful information and a pen (I LOVE PENS). After all the speeches we went to lunch. As we are so many exchange students we´re divided up in several groups. I´m in group 2, our name is “We like 2 Party”. Our group has around 50 people. Lunch was great and for free! We got a 5,000 Won voucher (36 SEK) and we could pick so many different foods. A mathematics student managed to pick food and drinks for exactly 5,000 Won. Mathe is useful after all ;). The campus has several cafeterias, restaurants, shops and even a Burger King.

After lunch we registered on the university’s portal. This took ages, as everything was in korean at first. But my buddy was very patient with me and we managed in the end!

Tuesday, started with registration.This session was rather funny. We all sat in a huge room filling out the registration form simultaneously. Everything was in korea and we did not know what we were actually signing. We were told it is for the student ID card and the obligatory bank account. If you don’t hear from me at some point you know why 😉 It took us over an hour to complete filling out the papers. We had to sign 40 times and write our name in korean. Unfortunately I had the stupid idea to write my full name (Lena Caroline), and not just my first name. Lena is very easy to write :레나. Lena Caroline, on the other hand not so much 레나 캐롤라인. Luckily I have a short last name so that was fine. Koreans have very short names, some people did not have enough space for their names!

Once again we had free lunch. Very rewarding after all that signing and filling out! After lunch we handed in our alien registration sheet ( registering as a temporary resident of Korea). Then the office of international affairs offered workshops about like in Seoul in english, chinese and japanese. Guess which one I picked ; A Canadian and a Korean Kiwi held the workshop, very interesting and entertaining. We were able to ask questions.

After all the administrative work we had chicken and beer ( a very popular combination here) close to the university. My group nearly filled up the entire restaurant. The chicken was good and had different flavours. The beer was disappointing (hey, I´m german I have the right to complain) and rather tasteless. Afterwards we went to a bar where we had soju. Soju is a liquor with 20% ( there are ones with a higher percentage too). It is tasteless and be compared with a very very weak vodka. Koreans love soju!! They sell soju with different flavours (grapefruit, lemon, peach), which taste like lemonade. Soju is a rather dangerous drink and grives you great hangovers. Korea has a strong drinking culture. It is common that you go out with your colleges and drink soju. The company pays! So you can imagine that people pour as much soju into themselves as possible. Seeing passed out people on the street is common.

Wednesday, people recovered from jet lag, hangovers and lack of sleep. On thursday several people joined the optional city tour. I had already been at  of the places, so did not join. I visited another palace instead which was amazing.

For the rest of the week we explored the city. A friend of mine heard that you can buy cheap glasses in korea. I was sceptical! The woman in the shop spoke broken english, but she was an expert in her field! We managed to communicate. “Not good, not good”: glasses do not fit. “Good, good”: glasses fit. And so on. We managed to get a discount by looking really sad and saying “soooo much !”. After 20 minutes the glasses were done! I could not believe it and asked my friend if she can actually see something. She could, perfectly! So if you ever come to Seoul and need new glasses: buy them here !

That was my summary of the orientation. I apologize for the masses of text.

Stay tuned!

Lena