Letter Home - S. Korea. Ekaterina Vasilyeva and Ekaterina Ponomareva

1. In what country and University are you studying?

We are studying now in Chungbuk National University (CBNU) which is located in Cheongju, South Korea.

2. In what Study program are you studying at Centria?

Un Centria UAS we are studying Industrial Management degree, but in CBNU our faculty is Economics. 

3. What are the courses like at the host University?

There are a lot of engineering courses and courses which are connected to mathematics/physics/chemistry. They are mostly focus on theoretical part of the subject and preparing a HW for the next lecture.

When we arrived, we got information that the list of available courses was changed and therefore, we had to replace some of them. Because of that we had more courses which are not connected to our specialty, but still interesting.

4. Describe the study culture?

The study culture in Korea is quite hard. They used to prepare to lecture very well and they spend a lot of time in library or study cafes. Grades plays the most important role in their studying life. As well, they have a rating which influence on the grand (or better say how much cheaper will be the education for them). Additionally, only 40% of Korean students can get A or A+ (this doesn’t apply for exchange students).

Our studying courses are really different from subject to subject. The course about economics mostly just have lectures which has a lot of theoretical knowledge and homework. But courses about language and culture contain a lot of teamwork and interactive tasks. For example, play of traditional tea ceremony course about culture or rope play for language class.

5. What is your study group like?

The group is quite big, more than 20 people. For some courses (Economic and English Literature) it consists of mostly Korean students, but for others (like Understanding of Korean culture) there were only foreigners. Teacher always use microphone, so everyone can hear him well. People there are mostly friendly and nice.

6. Please describe what the everyday life is like in your host country? What do you like in particular?

Ekaterina P:

Actually, my everyday life is not differing so much from my life in Finland. As I don't have a lot of courses I do study about 4 hours every day in a class. I like the most the fact that the student campus is really huge and there are a lot of events for students like festivals or fairs.  

In the weekends I mostly try to travel and see beautiful places around like parks, fortress, beaches etc.  

Ekaterina V:

My everyday life is mostly active: I am trying to meet new people and taking part in different activities (like English club, English Clinic, Astronomy club) and travelling. I also don’t have so much courses, so I like to explore the city and travel to cities nearby. As was said before, we have really huge campus and lot of activities. Additionally, International Student office is supporting us and organizing different events like festivals and trips.  

7. What has been challenging? Why?

Ekaterina P:

The most challenging thing is strict attendance and deadlines in school. Other challenging things is Asian food in cafeteria (which even native Korean students don't like). Other challenging thing as difference in culture and language with people in Korea. For example, not each good place for eat has a translation in English. But, however, people are usually trying to help even if they don't know English with gestures at least. 

Ekaterina V:

For me the most challenging was also language. Not all Koreans can speak English, and even if they can, they are shy. So, it was a little bit hard to integrate to Korean society. And in the dormitory instructions were mostly in Korean or Chinese, so it took a lot of time for us to guess hot the laundry works.

8. What has been the highlight of your exchange so far?

Ekaterina P:

I think that the first days in Seoul are the greatest highlight as it was the first experience. Walking around historical building, seeing new people, eating a lot of street food, watching a concert of favourite group really made me feel that this exchange will be wonderful. 

Ekaterina V:

As well, the travelling to other cities and meeting new friends. And the festivals, they were amazing! Also. It was my first time to participate in different clubs (English club and Astronomy club). Many people were trying to help us and introduce to their culture, that was wonderful.