Traditions and modernity harmonize in perfect unison. The perfect example for this would be the “Gyeongbokgung Palace”, the king’s traditional palace in between the modern business district in the heart of Seoul.

With more than 25 million citizens Seoul is not only the capital of South Korea but also its largest city. More than 70% of the Korean peninsula are covered by mountains so the limited space in between is densely populated. The weather is –for German conditions– very hot and humid, especially during the 1 1/2 month long monsoon time between June and August. During this time the air condition is you best friend and you are happy every time you take the subway. There is no better air condition than the one in the subway. Even the platform is air conditioned and there are no errors in the system, frankly speaking the Deutsche Bahn should take this as an example for German trains!

People & Culture

As for European people, especially those who are tall or have blonde hair, you get stared at link you’re an exotic animal. But as time goes by you get used to it and you rarely get treated officiously. Koreans are very shy people keeping their distance while being very polite.

One interesting thing about Korea is that everyone, even older people in their 70’s or 80’s, is staring on his or her mobile phone nearly 24 hours a day. In the subway, while eating and even while walking in the crowded streets. You often bump into people suddenly popping up in front of you not looking where they are walking at. The mobile phones here even have an antenna so people can watch TV wherever they are. The subway is full of mobile TV watching people so be careful of your eyes you might unpurposely be threatened by the antennas coming much too close.

The most cultural experience we made was the “Chuseok” the Korean Thanksgiving, the most important festival in Korea. The date for Chuseok changes every year. It’s celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. Families living miles apart celebrate together for three days in the house of the oldest family member. Self-made dishes, traditional Hanbok clothing, music and games are played during this time as well as celebrating rituals like paying respect to the perished ancestors. Since many people are leaving Seoul for this celebration in their ancestral hometowns the city becomes a ghost town for these days.

University

When we first came to the university we felt very welcomed! All professors are very friendly and helpful. You can really feel that they want us not only to study hard but also to enjoy our stay in Korea.

As a nice gesture every professor went eating with us at least one time. We gladly enjoy the the culture and mentality that they bring up.
Our schedule is good. We are very happy to have Friday-Sundays off in order to explore the country. Also, we have a class called Tutoring. On that day, we all go out doing some activities with our professors and some Korean students which we happily call our friends from now on.

Living

We all live in different places. Two of us live in the Vabien Hotel, the others stay with a host family and in an apartment.

The transportation is quite easy. We either walk or use the subway which is very handy. The living costs are similar to Germany. Except for fresh food, such as vegetables and fruits. They are more expensive than in Germany, that’s why most Koreans go out for lunch or dinner rather than cook for themselves.

Free Time

In our leisure time we mostly go eating, shopping and clubbing. These three things are the main activities that we all enjoy doing besides university:

Here the streetmarkets and shops are open nearly 24/7. You can get everything over here! Actually, you won’t miss anything concerning food: they even sell kebap, tacos, waffles, cotton candy, bread, steak, cutlets etc. Of course we also tried traditional Korean food, for example homemade kimchi and tea.

If you want to go shopping you have to go to Myeongdong. It’s the heart of Korean fashion. This shopping area is overwhelming! Compared to Korea, German fashion is stucked in the Middle Ages. The youth is very creative when it comes to fashion styles.

The look is very important to Koreans. The ideal beauty is being thin and having white skin. Most Koreans spend a lot of money in beauty, skin care and plastic surgery.

In terms of clubbing, Koreans can do party really well! Some of us live in Hongdae which is the location of clubs and bars. We all really enjoy the nightlife over here. In Gangnam there are several famous clubs as well. The clubs themselves are nicely designed and the people are in a good mood. The music is great and the atmosphere is nice, too.

If we don’t want to go into clubs, we often chill around Hongdae. You can just sit there and listen to street musicians. There are many of them that are very talented.

Besides all that, we also do sightseeing and learn more about the culture.
There are several temples and old buildings in South Korea which is a nice contrast to the modern skyscrapers.

Here are the links of two students who run a blog about their daily life in Seoul!

Es gab ein paar Schwierigkeiten mit meiner Freundin, die auch hier studieren soll. Sie darf nicht einreisen, da sie keinen deutschen Pass hat. Das mit dem Visum dauert ja wie wir wissen immer etwas und dementsprechend ist sie leider immer noch nicht hier. Ich war anfangs etwas enttäuscht von der Stadt, da ich sie mir viel pompöser vorgestellt hatte. Sie scheint aber eher wie eine riesige Baustelle mit vielen unfertigen Gebäuden.

Die Menschen hier sind alle super freundlich und hilfsbereit. Hier kann man sich beruhigt verlaufen, es wird immer jemanden geben, der einem hilft. Wenn man sich erstmal orientiert hat, merkt man, dass die Stadt ziemlich klein und übersichtlich ist. Unser Lieblingsort bis jetzt ist der Strand! Weisser Sand und 30°C warmes Wasser, was will man mehr?! Die Uni ist auch sehr schön.

Wir sind auf dem City Campus, der ziemlich zentral liegt und gut im Bus erreichbar ist. Die Professoren sind alle sehr sympathisch und versuchen uns so schnell wie möglich einzugliedern, was bis jetzt auch gut funktioniert hat.

One month ago:

Welcome to KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) and now have fun to find your pick-up service. The first fun thing after arriving at the airport was the sky train you have to take, to get to the baggage claim and immigration. Nobody informed us about this strange  thing but all of the german students were able to manage this first step into their semester abroad.

“Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu” = “Unitiy is Strength”
The motto of Malaysia.

25 students are located in South East Asia, strictly speaking in Cyberjaya, near Kuala Lumpur the capital of Malaysia.  The country is multi-ethnical and multi-cultural. Malaysia is the 67th largest country by total land area in the world. The former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohamad, outlined his ideal in Vision 2020, in which Malaysia would become a self sufficient industrialized nation. Kuala Lumpur (short KL) is a very futuristic and modern city and it is separated into different areas; e.g. China Town, Little India, KL CC and Merdeka Square. It’s totally interesting to visit the different parts, it’s like entering a different world with new cultures in each area.

Although you have a lot of different cultures and also a lot of tourists you shouldn’t wonder if the inhabitants look at you, as if you would be an alien. They don’t know a lot of European so it’s very special for them to see us in this part of the world.

The climate is equatorial and is (unfortunately) characterized by the annual and northeast monsoons. Our abidance is directly seated in the northeast monsoons, they start in October and end in February, we’re in the middle of the rainy season. Until now we’re in the beginning of the season, you realize it through fulminating rains. The humidity is usually high but you get used to it after a while. The sun is very powerful and a few of us already had the nickname “Lobster”.

The country contains 20 per cent of the world’s animal species.

“Driving Innovation for Education”
The motto of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology 

Founder and president of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology is ‘Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Lim Kok Wing’. The university is located in Cyberjaya, Selangor.  Limkokwing has a lot of campuses located all around the world. The university has six different faculties: Design Innovation, Multimedia Creativity, Communication, Media & Broadcasting, Information Technology & Computing and Business Management & Globalization and Architecture & Built Environment. Through the German exchange program we’re allowed to see a few of this faculties.

Through the presence across three continents, you have students from everywhere. This is very interesting, because you make friends with people from all over the world. The university cares a lot of their students and they also have student ambassadors. Ambassadors (4 of our German MHMK students represent their countries here at Limkokwing) help students to get along with the system of the university and they also represent the university at special events. For example at the presentation of the theme song for the Paralympic Youth Games in Kuala Lumpur and it was also possible to see the show of motivation speaker Nick Vujicic, the man without limbs, at Sunway Pyramide in KL.

The university is also very present in the Malaysian politics and is supporting also a lot of  this events. Furthermore the president Tan Sri Dato Dr. Lim Kok Wing established the Award for Global Peace to encourage the world to work towards peace and harmony. This award was given to Nelson Mandela for his action bringing peace to the world.

At the same day, 27th August, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa the esteemed honorary rolls as one of the world leaders to be bestowed with an Honorary Doctore of Leadership by Malaysia’s University of Transformation. All of the students of the university, around 8000, were able to be a part of this special event. Every country had to wear their traditional outfit – it was an amazing event for everyone!

It is very interesting to see the special Malaysian way of teaching. The first weeks had been a little bit chaotic but after a while everything got a routine. Good to know is also the Malaysian time, people in this part of the world are not punctual and sometimes it’s very difficult for us Germans to understand this behavior of being late. Furthermore is food very important for the Malaysian culture. It seems like it would be always lunch time and after entering a class or a meeting you’ll always hear the question “I hope you had lunch?”

The dining hall is the plaza and the plaza is the center of everything.

Most of the events are happening here and every Thursday you’ll see a fashion show at lunchtime.

Limkokwing is totally into branding. The university has a own shop with Limkokwing writing pads and an own cafeteria called “Wings Coffee”.  If you’re not feeling well you can go to the doctor at the Wellness Center and if you want to do your daily workout you just go to “Fit to Fly” the fitness studio. The campus also has a little convenience store, called “10Ten”, a laundry, a print, maxis (phone company) and apple store.

Accomodation

We are divided into two groups. 6 students live on campus and 17 live off campus, in Desaria Villa. The hostels are just for Limkokwing students and for Desaria Villa there is a bus shuttle provided, that takes and brings the students to university or even to shopping malls near by.

Food

The food is very cheap. For one dish (not in a restaurant, where you have to pay taxes and the service charge) you pay around 5-10 RM (~1 – 2 Euro). If you eat in a restaurant it will be around 20 RM (~ 5 Euro) .

Through the multicultural system you have a huge variety of food. You can choose between indian, chinese, malay or even western food. Very important to know is that you don’t use knifes, you’ll eat your soup with chopsticks and everything is very spicy (even if you didn’t ordered spicy). Besides that if you’re eating in a restaurant you’ll see a lot of nice pictures on the menu, but most of the time you get something different as seen on this photos – No risk, no fun! 😉

At Desaria the students have the opportunity to have their dinner at the street food area, you just have to cross a street to get there.

I hope everyone is fine and happy…  We are happy! 🙂
I just wanted to introduce you to Malaysia and Limkokwing University and in the next Post you’ll see a lot of pictures of our trips and adventures.

The journey goes to San Diego in the sunshine State California. This is our home for the next four months. I think for eveybody of us the first week was the hardest week till now. When you first take a step on american ground it feels like a different planet. Everybody is so different and the traffic is most times like a pure chaos. The markets are so big and clothes are so cheap. It looks like a little paradise for us europeans. But specially for our Munich classmates I have to say: There is no really good Beer like a good old „Augustiner“ or „Tegernseer“. With the next stages I will show you some facts about our temporary Home.

San Diego is the second biggest town in whole California with about 1.8 million inhabitants. There are many asian and mexican people in San Diego because of it´s near to the Mexican Border. The Border is about 25 Miles away from San Diego. The citizens call San Diego „America´s Finest City“ because it has such a good climate. It is never really too hot and it´s never too cold. Perfect weather. In our first month there was no rain and I think this will continue until December. Of course the city has a team for every sport. But to be honest, they are really bad. I saw a baseball game about two weeks ago and the San Diego Padres lost it. I spoke with a local and he said this is normal. San Diego looses very often because they are bad.

The most students live in Pacific Beach and in Mission Beach because it´s right at the beach but not to far away from the University. The most famout Quarter of San Diego is the Gaslamp Quarter. There are many bars and clubs where all younger people meet together.

The National University in San Diego was founded in 1971. Since then, they are teaching Business & Management, Education, Engineering, Technology and Media, Health and Human Services and Professional Studies. In a class there are about 20 to 50 people. The campus is very small but they have anything you need. There is a cafeteria, a library and a gym just one minute away across the parking slots.

San Diego is very known for the many surfers at the beach. There are very good waves especially for beginners. From time to time you can see some dolphins swimming with you in the water. But you have to be carefull because sometimes there appear some sharks at the surfing zone.

There are some well known outlets and valleys in the city. One of California´s biggest malls is the Factory Outlet between San Diego and the Mexican Border. There are so many well known brand with prices you can´t imagine.

When you have finished shopping and surfing you can do some very cool trips starting in San Diego. First there is the San Diego Zoo which is very popular and well known. Some of us have been there already and I think more of us will visit it. Also you perfectly can visit Legoland and Disneyland from here. And of course you can do a trip to Mexico. I think a few students have already visited some of our MHMK friends in Camarillo because it´s just a 2 hour drive.

Remember, this is just a first expression of our Semester abroad. There will be more information and funny storys when we are living here longer.

Finally I wish our other friends in the other countries a good time, because this is a fact:

We have a very good time here in San Diego.

But not only its geographical features are exciting. The culture is really different too. 95% of its habbitants are buddhistic where karma is a big issue – so everyone seems to be really friendly and helpful.

Maybe it is interessting for you to know that white skin is an ideal of beauty for Thai people (what does not mean that you are ugly if you are brown – western people are always interessting or exemplary for them). Constitutional monarchy is the governance in Thailand but Thais show much love for their king. It goes so far that you can come into jail if you insult the King, e.g. by kicking on a bill where the Kings face is imprinted. But you should not have such problems if you are not deliberately searching for ones.

Last but not least the heavy traffic should be mentioned. In the prime time you could wait more than half an hour in the jam.

Chulalongkorn University

Founded in 1917, Chulalongkorn-University ist the oldest and one of the most prestigious universitys in Thailand, named after King Chulalongkorn. Maybe that is one reason why everyone is proud of wearing the uniform. We as MHMK-students could decide on our own whether we want to wear it or not, but most of us wanted to experience the whole pleasure of beeing a Student of Chulalongkorn. Moreover the uniform looks smart.

The University itself covers a large area with big complex of buildings so we got a map to orientate on the first day. There is a fitness center, a large area for muay-thai, basketball and tennis court and even a open-air pool which we can visit for free (except we want to attend courses). For different subjects they have different buildings. We are studying at “Communication Arts”. Everyone of the university is really commited. One week before university started they have arranged an orientationday to warm welcome us and give some basic information about studies, professors, the university and some rules. In addition a buddy was allocated to everyone of us who helps us in any situation and showed the university to us.

Everyone is realy friendly, polite and relaxed. Nevertheless everything is structured, especially because one girl is managing communication between university and MHMK-Students. Furthermore our Professors are really commited and professional. Originally they come from USA or Australia but now they are living in Thailand having a successful life career and excellent references. The Professors have a lot of experiences and knowledge and transfer it with a lot of praktical examples to theoretical information – that´s why lectures are so interessting.

Leisure

There are many possibilities to enjoy your free-time in and around bangkok. Bangkok has several streetmarkets and malls where you can buy nearly everything you can imagine. In addition you can go to the cinema or play bowling if you want to (just as a example). You never get hungry because everywhere are restaurants. If you want to explore the cultural side of Bangkok you can visit some beautiful tempels or museums. In the evening you can enjoy the beautiful view of Bangkok on some of the skyscrapers and have a drink. Afterwards there are several clubs to dance and have some fun. But you can also visit some areas around Bangkok. In the north it is more traditionial where you can visit the ancient city or care for elephants on a farm whereas you can visit many beautiful Islands in the south and going to the famous fool-moon party. In the internet you can find several recommendations or guidebooks to decide what you want to do.

You will also make some trips to the north with your University to explore some distinctions of thailand.On the 1th September we went to Klong Klone. We get there by bus and went on a little bambus-plattform by boat where we have eaten delicious seafood, fished in Klong Klone. Afterwards we have planted mangroves in a muddy forest – it was really funny for most of the students. Then we tried something like wakeboarding beeing pulled by a motorboat. Last but not least we went to Amphawa to see the floating market.

Costs

Everything is really cheap. You can eat for 1-6€ a day, depending on where, how much and what you eat. If you cook on yourself it could be even cheaper. Taking a Taxi costs you 2€ for 10km, and if you are not the only one who is sitting in the cab you pay even less.

But you can also take the skytrain or subway which is also very cheap. If you want to visit an Island near Bangkok you can pay 4€ and drive with a little VIP-Bus – it only takes 3-4 hours. Sometimes you have to pay a little fee of 1-2€ for visiting a temple. In a hotel you pay 180-400€ for a month, depending on how luxury your hotel or apartment is and if you are booking on your own or not. Most times it gets cheaper if you book for a whole semester.

Difficulties

Some of us had difficulties adapting to the different kind of food or climate. In the first month many of us had stomach trouble or similiar problems. We don´t know whether it depends on our stomach or on some street-restourants who don´t cock appropriately but we really don´t want to blame someone. Others rent a motorbike on an island and fell down accidently.

You also should be carefull about sunbathing – don´t underestimate the sun! Except such problems we did not have problems yet. Everything is really nice and we are enjoying our time at this excellent university and this beautiful country! If you want to find out some more about our experiences you can visit some blogs of our students. You can find some links below.

If you want to see more of Thailand you can check out some blogs of our students:

It’s been only a month since most of us arrived in the U.S., but we feel like we’ve been here forever. So much has happened those last few weeks. Let’s back up a little:

California, the golden state. This is where 51 of the MHMK-students will spend their semester abroad. To be more precise: Camarillo, California. Camarillo is a town in Ventura County, home to about 800.000 people. And it will be our home for the next four months. Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Ventura, Camarillo – those are the cities where we live. Some of us rented a house, a bunch of people live in apartment complexes, a few people stay on campus or in the Marriott Hotel in Camarillo. As most people who have been to the United States know, a car is essential. You couldn’t get anywhere without one. So that was one of the first things we had to figure out: where can we buy a cheap car? And well, we’re Germans. We know cars. It shouldn’t be a problem to find one, right? Yeah, guess what. It was pretty hard. But eventually, we all bought decent cars.

Since Los Angeles is not too far from Camarillo, we headed there a couple of times. For those of us who haven’t been able to visit L.A. before, it was a great experience: the Hollywood Hills, the Walk of Fame, Venice Beach and so on. There are two ways to get there by car: you either drive on the freeway, which is the faster option (if there was no traffic. But there always is) or you drive along the pacific coast. Let me tell you, the view is just breathtaking and you get to see parts of Malibu, too. The houses in the hills are just insane. How could you not want to live there?

After a week or two, reality caught up with us. It was time to get serious. No more road trips or partying (during the week, of course!). We were pretty excited to see how the campus looked like. The California State University ‘Channel Islands’ used to be a mental institution and we heard a bunch of creepy stories from former exchange students. When we actually got there, we almost couldn’t believe them. The campus is simply beautiful, very green and quiet (since it’s in the middle of nowhere). Some CI-students showed us around and gave us background-information, which made finding the classrooms a lot easier in the first week.

Yeah, the first week has been rough on us. We got used to hanging around, doing nothing, sleeping until noon and just enjoying the fact that we’re no longer in sad, rainy Germany but in California. When we heard that homework is a common thing here and how much we have to do outside of class, we were shocked. Mandatory attendance? Really?

Those things are not the only ones we had to get used to. Although the American culture is not that different, there are a couple of things that seem simply weird. I’ll just give you some examples:

1. Drive-Thru. Why the hell can’t you just get out of your car to pick up your 23 burgers? Are you really that lazy?
2. Drive-Thru. Why the hell can’t you just get out of your car to get money? Are you really that lazy?
3. Drive-Thru. Why the hell can’t you just get out of your car to get your coffee? Are you really that lazy?
4. Drive-Thru. Why the hell can’t you spell it properly? Are you really that lazy?

Well, that’s how it is. By now, we figured out where to buy good food and when to stay off the freeway because it’s so much traffic that once you’re on it, there’s no way of getting off. We regularly crash house parties (we went to an ABC-party which means anything but clothes. True story.) and everyone already knows and loves ‘ZE GERMANS’. In only a few weeks, we met so many nice people who are eager to get to know us, talk to us and show us a good time. We really appreciate the American kindness and it made everything so much easier.

There’s only one thing left to mention: the surfing. A lot of people got their own surfboards and wet suits. And since the ocean is not too far from where most of us live (some people live right at the beach. I hate you for that.), surfing has become a daily habit. We’re real Californians now, I guess.

That’s it for now. I hope everyone’s having a great time, wherever they are. Because we sure have.