I got warmly welcomed the very first day I arrived at Handong university by other students, whose task it is to take care of the new students.
I got warmly welcomed the very first day I arrived at Handong university by other students, whose task it is to take care of the new international arrivals. They were very kind and helpful, even carrying all my stuff to my room without any hesitation. I felt very welcomed and was surprised how ready-to-help the people here were.
During my stay in Handong I am living in a dormitory on campus called I-House. It is a dormitory for international people and Korean students who want to interact with internationals. Hence the language that has to be spoken here is only English. One can make new friends very quickly here because there is a lounge where you will find yourself engaging with a various different people. The dorm life can be a little bit difficult at the beginning though because we have strict rules to follow such as a curfew after eleven. If you want to stay outside longer you have to apply for a so called “overnight pass” every time you need it.
If one does not follow the rules, you will get penalty points and if you have ten penalty points you will be immediately kicked out of the dormitory -so better follow the rules. This sounds very strict and it was very strange for me at the beginning but you will get used to it soon. People who do not like to live on campus do not have to worry since the OIA staff can help you find a stay outside of campus.
The first week is called orientation week, which will help you to get to know other internationals and to provide you with helpful information about the campus life or the life in Korea in general. This week is pretty tough since they have a full program prepared from the early morning till the late evening, so be prepared for an exhausting but fun week. You will play many games and you have to fulfil some kind of tasks in the team you got assigned to. Some games are very entertaining and some can be very tiring.
The staff of the OIA office, the office which is taking care about all the matters of international students, are very kind and will help you in any kind of situation. They will even accompany you to the immigration office and further help you out, which is also needed since the workers there do not speak English at all. Other than that the OIA staff will help you with getting your student ID, which will function as your Korean bank card at the same time. Having a Korean bank account is actually very important because not every ATM machine in Korea works with the European bank cards. That is why you should consider bringing a lot of cash for the first few weeks in Korea because it will take some time until you get your student ID.
The campus of Handong university is very isolated , which means you need to take a bus to get to the city or anywhere in general. I was shocked the first time arriving here and seeing how isolated the campus actually is, but since the bus costs less than 0.80cents you can go off campus very easily any time you want. So it should not be a big of a problem. The campus itself is considered to be small but for Macromedia standards, since our university does not have a campus, it will be considered big in the perspective of a Macromedia student. But actually it really is not too huge since you can get along after a few weeks without worrying about getting lost. The life on campus is very interesting and definitely different than any where else.
Handong university is known for being a Christian university and that will be also strongly represented here. Even though going to chapel after orientation week is not mandatory for us exchange students, you still have to be ready for a prayer during nearly every class. It has a very strong Christian environment but do not be put off by it since nobody will pressure you into something and people are understanding if you are not very religious or practice another religion, like me. Handong has another feature which it is very well known for besides being a Christian university and that is the strong community feeling they cherish.
Once a week you will have the chance to meet with your team, which you got assigned to during orientation week and you will meet up with Korean students and a professor in charge for the team. In this meeting you will play games or discuss various different things. And if I say playing games I definitely do not mean any drinking games, but actual games that we know from playing during our childhood. I know that sounds weird but once you opened up about it you will actually have a fun time and get to know many new people. Alcohol is actually completely forbidden on campus so if you do not want to get into trouble you should leave the drinking part for outside of campus.
In the next blog entry I will tell you more about places you can enjoy a drink or about activities you can enjoy in Poahng in general.
I did really much think about what I could write you about my semester abroad.
I did really much think about what I could write you about my semester abroad.
Now, there are just 2 weeks left until this semester is going to an end. It feels like, 4 Months rushed by so fast, without even noticing.
Studying abroad is something really special, especially when you get the chance to spend this time somewhere completely different.
I had the luck to get chosen for the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. Take the chance guys! Its so worth it!
This University is one of the best in Thailand and well known by everybody. This Campus is by far not comparable with the Campus we are used to. The entire campus of chula is huge and there are so many things you can discover by taking one of the pink chula buses to drive around the campus. There you can find a stadium, 19 faculties, temples, important houses in which the kings lived, sport grounds, post offices and canteens.
Besides the bunch of attractions of the campus, you can also take a seat in the canteen to eat your lunch for 0,60€. To place your order is sometimes really adventures because of the communication problems- but you always find a nice Thai student who is going to help you with the translation.
When it comes to the city, I recommend everyone to come to Bangkok. This city is like no other. In the beginning of the semester, everything seemed really chaotic, unstructured and dirty. Now, I truly like this city with its flaws.
Bangkok offers you almost everything; whether bowling, lasertag, historical temple, walks in parks, different sport activities, etc.
The nightlife in Bangkok can be really fun. There are several clubs and bars where you can spend your nights. You can nearly find everything you are looking for. Whether at the Khao San Road, the Sukumvhit 11 or the Soi Cowboy.
Use your time for travels, like I did. I went to Phuket, Koh Samet, Krabi, Kho Phi Phi, Hong Islands, Singapur, Sukhothai & Kanchanaburi.
And there are a few destinations left I want to visit before I go back home.
Living thousands of kilometers away from home does change you in kind of ways. I learned a lot of things and started to be really grateful for what I have at home and how I grew up.
Because I am one of the last here to write something about studying abroad I would like to give you some advices which will fit in every country when it comes to go abroad.
Be open for new things. Try to adapt yourself as much as possible, even if it is hard. Make friends with local people. Try to learn the language, to be better in communication and interaction with the locals. Be spontaneous, be adventures, be brave, be smart, travel as much as you can and I promise you, this months are going to be one of the best in your life!
Here you can find pictures of my experiences while studying abroad in Thailand.
Crazy how fast time is running, my stay in Buenos Aires is almost over and in three weeks I have to say good bye to the city I called my home the past months. However, I want to tell you more about my other adventures in South America.
The longer we were staying the more we got to know everything. Meanwhile we can call the people owning the veggie shop down the street our friends, we know to which clubs to go and which you should avoid. We have almost filled all coffee loyalty cards from our favourite places and our classes in university are going well.
Coming to the end of the semester I can say that the courses as well as the professors are very interesting, but I would also consider university less demanding and stressful than in Germany. It is mandatory to take Spanish classes which I was very excited about at first since I did not know anything besides Hola, come estas?. Sadly, I have to say I expected more from the class and I would definitely recommend doing a Spanish course before going here as well as some extra hours apart from the ones offered at uni. But enough with the uni talk, let me come to the fun part.
In September we spent ten days in Rio de Janeiro which was incredible. Finally, it was warm! We really needed some sunny days since it was freezing in Buenos Aires. The hostel was 50m apart from the Ipanema beach which is very similar to Copacabana but not that crowded. The Brazilians are one of the friendliest and warm-hearted people I have ever met. We went to the coolest clubs, spent hours at small hidden beaches, went to discover the city itself and made great friendships.
One night we woke up at 3am to hike this insanely huge mountain from which you could see the sunrise over the whole city. When actually hiking I guess we all asked ourselves several times if this was a good idea, but when arriving on top we could not put in words how beautiful the view was. On the mountain next to us, probably on the same height, was the Cristo Statue and somewhere we could see the Zuckerhut as well as the sea all around us. There were a few other people who were dancing at the cliff listening to music and having a picnic. If you go to Buenos Aires travel to Rio has to be on your bucket list.
A totally different place we went to was Mendoza which is one of the largest wine areas world wide and in the western part of Argentina close to Chile. If you like road trips in the middle of nowhere, huge landscapes and having no internet connection, I guess this is the perfect trip for you. We rented a car and a small house with pool in one of the suburbs of Mendoza.
On the eastern side of this area are the Andean Mountains which are the longest continental mountain range worldwide which are incredible huge and beautiful. The variety of landscapes from wine fields, clear blue lakes to snow-covered mountains seems unreal when driving around. We went to visit small Bodegas, tasted Argentina’s best wines, we drove for hours and once accidently ended up at the boarder of Chile.
There are so many more places we would like to visit in Argentina but our budget does not allow us to haha! So now we have some weeks left and it is finally spring. So the sun is coming out while our friends in Germany start to freeze and see the first snow. We will enjoy the rest of our stay before we then leave for Columbia where we will stay the whole December 🙂
While getting closer to our new home for the next semester, our excitement rose to an extreme.
Frankfurt Airport, 6th of September, 14:45: While getting closer to our new home for the next semester, our excitement rose to an extreme. The first thing I saw while landing was a big green island with a little lighthouse on it, this was the moment that I instantly fell in love with Ireland. In contrast to other cities Dublin is just a little one where there is ´leprechauns and Guinness´ everywhere. Just kidding, it’s a big flourishing city with lots of pubs and stores. Small, red headed people crossing the streets of Dublin on the wrong side, might be what you expected but on the contrary, there is Foreign people everywhere! You hear about every language you can imagine. It is a culturally rich country and whoever you meet is lovely and kind. Sometimes even ridiculously kind, apologising even thought something was you fault is a habit the Irish people show often.
Griffith College, a pretty small global village, that can be found in the middle of Dublin is about to become a new home and a new adventure for around 7000 students from all over the world. Its tininess gives it a family friendly feeling. As the housing facilities are also on the campus it literally is like living at university – good for late and long sleepers! No long ways, everything on side and even our own Starbucks, what more is there to ask for. Right, shops and supermarkets – even students need to eat from time to time. As if we were still living in Germany, Lidl and Aldi are close by to do some grocery shopping or to just walk into a shop and feel like you actually are back home.
As the college does not only offer several sporting clubs and society, it also offers special trips and activities.
Being part of the Volleyball team has brought up the opportunity to go on a hiking trip to an amazingly beautiful town called Glendalough. The team coach organises this trip every year with its colleges from the Garda (that’s what the police is called in Ireland), and he allows students to come along to make them see the real beauty of Ireland.
It is a rather long and exhausting way up the hills of Glendalough but it is more than worth it. On top of the hill and even along the way one can look down and enjoy the incredibly stunning view of the upper and lower lake as well as the woods and animals passing bye.
It’s often referred to the phrase a picture tells more than a thousand words, I believe it is true and therefore check it out and built your own opinion – all I can do is recommend to go to a hiking trip like that if you ever happen to find yourself in Ireland, the nature simply is beautiful.
Around Dublin one can find numerous traditional Irish pubs serving the local people, from the most famous places on Temple Bar up to more local places like the Bleeding Horse, there is one for any occasion. You can choose from a variety of classics like, beers and whiskeys, as they both are quite traditional for Ireland, even more so the choices extend to all sorts of spirits and especially ciders. Another great spot here in Dublin is the “Stags Head” where there is are great comedyshow called the “Comedy Crunch” every sunday, monday and tuesday (free entrance and FREE ICECREAM) The Irish love to have an good craic (craic is a typical irish term for fun) .
Pubbing is nice, but what is student life without clubbing? Boring right? Dublin offers whole streets full of clubs that offer an amazingly fun time with your friends and the new people you get to know. From Everleigh Gardens to the Dicies Garden, going out at the Palace or the Flannery’s which is a combination of a pub and a club, a “Clubpub” that offers more space for smokers than for the dancing people, there is something for everyone.
Hi guys, back to the Golden Coast!
I’m here in the United States since three month now – just two more left …
I hope I can give you some impressions.
But at first … University! It’s still great! Indeed we have to prepare, work and learn a lot for the classes, but in general we like the system more and more, because it is easier to pass the class and you don’t need to learn all the stuff at the end.
I have written my midterms a few weeks ago, and to be honest, they are much easier than everybody says! So if you are concentrated in class you don’t need to worry about how to pass class.
The weather is still good! Sure, sometimes it is not warm enough for swimming, but ordinary it is between 20 and 25 degrees.
We have been to some real American housepartys and – they are really that crazy like in movies! Sometimes there are more than 250 people in the front yard, on the balcony and other places in or around the house – it is unbelievable. Most times the police have to break them up.
But if you want to get invitations for housepartys, make friends! Otherwise there is no chance for you to go to one of them.
We also have been to some more typical sport activities, like football, basketball, ice hockey and baseball. Some of them are very expensive, but I think if you have the opportunity to watch the Lakers or the USC Football team – go ahead! It is a great experience and the feeling is definitely totally different than in Germany!
In the meantime we did a trip to the Grand Canyon – it was amazing! It is a beautiful nature with a stunning view.
And we are also going to do some more trips: we will fly to Vancouver and New York, we want to go to Palm Springs, Yoshua Tree Nationalpark, and San Diego. If you organize the stuff you have to do for university well, there wouldn’t be problem if you travel for some days a month.
So, that are the latest news from the Golden Coast!
In my final report I will show you some pictures of our trips to Vancouver and New York!
