South Korea: A Subpar experience in an interesting country Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

It should be noted that there is a separate 'International College' thats teaches entirely in english. The courses are for both the Communication and Business Majors. These courses are taught almost entirely by foreign staff. Their styles vary, but often reflect their nation of origin. The course work was built for english as a second language students, so obviously it is toned down in its intensity. It should also be mentioned that the school itself can be significantly more unbending and unchangeable in its systems than US counterparts. If you want to do anything in anyway other than the prescribed one, you cannot, unless you have some connections with some person of power and the ability to call a favor from them.

On-site administration of your program

The Center for International Relations administration is easily contacted at Hannam. They have many multilingual coordinators and sufficient staff. You can drop in at their office at any time and you don't really need an appointment. They are very happy to help you with most any of your issues, but there are a lot of things they cannot do, and it often feels like everything they do is the first time they have ever done it. They can help you, but you have to ask for everything. If you do not push and make an annoyance, they won't give a second thought to you. Many standard processes at other schools are things you must actively seek out and request.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

When I arrived my room was disgusting. Moths, mold, mosquitos, dirt, grime, dust, bad smells, and hundreds of ants. My foreign roommate didn't seem to mind, I guess his culture is okay with those sorts of things. I lived out of my suitcase for a month. The volume of my dorm mates and the surrounding area prevented me from adequate sleep. My full time job for the first month was to try and find replacement accommodation. I failed. I received the minimal amount of help from the administration possible. Many bug bites and sleepless nights later I gave up. Eventually the winter came and many of the ants left. I switched to a marginally cleaner room with a new roommate with an appreciation for cleanliness. Still the room was extremely small, I didn't have much with me, which was good because there really wasn't anywhere to put it. It should ABSOLUTELY be noted that my situation is NOT standard. My room was significantly worse than most of the others in the same dorm building, although most agree it is sub par and small. My room had a TRUE infestation, the real problem here was the school's inability to foresee this and their inability to solve it. It was MY problem, not theirs. I was honestly insulted by this. A specific note. You ABSOLUTELY should request " Nuri-Hall" it is farm from campus, but it is MUCH larger, MUCH cleaner, MUCH nicer, and MUCH cheaper. Don't let them tell you otherwise.

I love Korean food. Once you've been around and found the restaurants with food you like, you'll be a regular. Try all the different dishes your new friends recommend, you'll never know what you'll fall in love with. I would recommend getting a lot of meals from near the campus itself. My classmates told me the food was more expensive than outside of the school, but that didn't seem true to me. I frequently found large meals for 4,000 to 6,000 won, which is around 5USD. Try the Korean restaurants, many have free side dishes, free rice refills, and large portions. You can eat up because a lot of this is healthy. It should be mentioned that you really will find yourself eating the same stuff over and over again because their isn't much variety to Korean Cuisine, most of the restaurants serve dishes from the same 10-20 dish pool. If you really want some american cuisine, there is tons of Pizza and Chicken available. Ask around for the places with the best deals.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Take the field trips, visit Seoul, it is the best city there. Try to soak up as many interesting events as you can, but don't go to too many cities unless you're a korean diehard, because they are pretty much all the same.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Korea is the safest country I have ever traveled to. You can just wave around 100,000s of Won and people might stare or make funny comments but it is EXTREMELY unlikely you will ever have a run in with a bad guy. In fact I've never even heard of it. As for health, products are readily available local pharmacies. I don't have any experience with the hospital system, but my international peers seem to have good feelings about it.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Select all that apply

• Dorm

Select all that apply

• International Students

Select all that apply

• Local Students

• Korean food
• Extremely safe
• Really nice people

• Anticipation of westerner's needs
• Academic flexibility
• International dorm