Person 44 Basic Information 1. Name Ricky Cheung 2. E-mail address: rickycheung1@hotmail.com 3. Exchange university Sungkyunkwan University 4. City Suwon 5. Country Korea 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish autumn semester (HT) 7. Academic year 2013/2014 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Computer & electrical engineering 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Mixed undergrad/postgrad 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Civilingenjör i Teknisk fysik 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 3 Studies 12. Tell us about your studies on your exchange. If you are stuck for ideas you can for exemple write about: The differences between Uppsala University and the exchange. What were the teachers like? What courses would you recommend (or not) for future exchange students? The relationship between teachers and students. The academic level and quality of your courses. Access to computers. Examinations... When I got accepted to go to SKKU, I was worried that the teaching methods would be very different from Sweden. Studying in Korea and Sweden might be very different for some, but for me the difference was not so great. As I study engineering, the teaching is pretty straight forward, but in Korea there is more emphasis on teaching from the book than problem solving. Some exams in SKKU was more focused on memorizing things than others, so some exams were different from what you do in Sweden, but it is manageable. Most of the teachers in SKKU were really good at english and they are all friendly, so asking questions in class is no problem at all. Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. The orientation at SKKU was held in Seoul for both Seoul and Suwon students, so you get to see and meet all the new exchange students for the entire university, which is great. There are plenty of korean buddies whose job is to help the exchange students settle in and show everyone a good time, and they were all very welcoming. If you have any questions about Korea, they are the ones you want to ask. They plan a lot of activities and events, so you will have plenty of things to do, like one-day trips, cinema nights, parties etc. The orientation is great to meet and befriend both koreans and other exchange students, and it s so much fun! :) Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 126 av??
Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? I lived at the dormitories inside of campus for both of my semesters, which I think is good as it is close to all your classes. The dorms are quite recently built, so the rooms are clean and new. One room is for 2 persons, so you have to share a toilet and a shower. The rooms are quite spatious so you will have your own desk, shelves, wardrobe and a bed all on one side of the room. As an exchange student, the room you get is shared with an other exchange student (same sex of course). Your finances 15. Describe the cost of living. Did you find CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? The cost of living is very cheap compared to Sweden, so for me, CSN was more than adequate. I took a full loan from CSN for both semesters, so I had nough money to spend during my entire year in Korea, including traveling around asia for almost 2 months during the winter vacation. Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specifically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on offer? As an exchange student, you will most likely spend a lot of free time sightseeing and traveling around in your first half of your semester. The buddies that helped you during the orientation will still have things planned out for you during the entire semester. I usually go to Seoul on weekends as there are much more things to do in Seoul, and it takes about 1 hour from Suwon to Seoul. Your exchange on the whole 17. Please sum up your exchange experience. If you have any other tips for future exchange students, or any other comments feel free to include them here. Being in Korea as an exchange student has been a fantastic experience for me, and I would recommend all students to go out on an exchange. You get to meet great people, expand your view of the world and have a great time! Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by email to individual students requesting it. Do you also approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University s website? Yes 19. Do you have any photos you would like to upload and include in your exchange report? - 20. Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s. - 21. Publishing of pictures - Thank you for submitting your exchange report! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 127 av??
Person 137 Basic Information 1. Name Olle Ahlberg 2. E-mail address: Ollhelm@hotmail.com 3. Exchange university Sungkyunkwan University 4. City Seoul 5. Country Sydkorea 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish spring semester (VT) 7. Academic year 2013/2014 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Företags / nationalekonomi 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Mixed undergrad/postgrad 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Nationalekonomi 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 2 Studies 12. Tell us about your studies on your exchange. If you are stuck for ideas you can for exemple write about: The differences between Uppsala University and the exchange. What were the teachers like? What courses would you recommend (or not) for future exchange students? The relationship between teachers and students. The academic level and quality of your courses. Access to computers. Examinations... Professorerna på Universitetet var väldigt kompetenta och alla hade höga utbildningar från kända universitet från USA. Jag hade lite problem med att få de kurserna som jag hade planerat att ta innan utresa. Är man registrerad på en kurs är det ofta inga problem men man kan bara registrera sig på kurser inom sitt huvudämne t.ex. nationalekonomi. Om man vill söka kurser utanför sitt huvudämne föreslår de att man ska mejla professorerna eller fråga första dagen på terminen. Se till att mejla professorerna i god tid och få godkännande. Det var många kurser som var fulla när man väl var där vilket jag fick erfara. Dock var det inga problem att hitta kurser på plats om man är lite flexibel. Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. Informationen från universitetet är väldigt pedagogisk och det var aldrig några problem att förstå vad som krävdes av en. Man får ett varmt välkomnande och man blir tilldelad en personlig buddy som tar hand om en de första veckorna. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 411 av??
Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? I början bodde jag ett ett av universitetets studentrum. DEt finns tre olika hus där man kan bo och jag bodde i MigaonB. Vi bodde fyra personer i en liten lägenhet med två små sovrum, ett kök och en studiehörna. Lägenheten var okej och tror att standarden var högra än vad det brukar vara i sydkoreanska studentrum. Efter tre veckor flyttade jag dock till en egen lägenhet som låg lite längre bort från universitetet vilket kostade ungefär lika mycket som studentrummet så föredrog att bo ensam. Hemsidan till lägenhetskomplexet som jag bodde i är http://www.koreastudio281.com/ och jag bodde i en lägenhet nära Ssagmun station och tog ca 40 minuter till skolan, dörr till dörr. Your finances 15. Describe the cost of living. Did you find CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? Överlag är det rätt billigt i Sydkorea men beror lite på vilket område man är i och vad man köper. Maten i vanliga mataffärer är relativt dyr vilket gör att man mest äter ute på restaurang som är billigt. När du kommer hem kommer du att avguda konceptet Chicken n beer och koreansk bbq. Hyran på både studentlägenheten och lägenheten jag hyrde privat låg runt 3000 kronor. Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specifically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on offer? Det finns massvis av olika klubbar man kan gå med i. Jag gick med i ett fotbollslag och spelade fotboll 2 gånger i veckan men om man hellre vill dansa eller måla finns klubbar för det också. Några dagar under utbytesperioder anordnades speciella aktiviteter för utbytesstudenter dessa kunde t.ex. vara restaurangbesök, besöka platser, krukmakeri eller fester. Your exchange on the whole 17. Please sum up your exchange experience. If you have any other tips for future exchange students, or any other comments feel free to include them here. Överlag är jag mycket nöjd med mitt utbytesår i Sydkorea och skulle varmt rekommendera att göra samma sak. Det man ska vara beredd på att maten är lite annorlunda, dock mycket god. Det enda som var tråkigt är att sydkoreaner ofta är väldigt introverta och lite svårflörtade. Så mitt tips är att gå med i en av klubbarna för att komma lite närmre kulturen. Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by email to individual students requesting it. Do you also approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University s website? Yes 19. Do you have any photos you would like to upload and include in your exchange report? - 20. Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s. - 21. Publishing of pictures - Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 412 av??
Person 68 Basic Information 1. Name Mattias Thisner 2. E-mail address: thisner.mattias@gmail.com 3. Exchange university Sung Kyun Kwan University 4. City Seoul 5. Country South Korea 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish spring semester (VT) 7. Academic year 2013/2014 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Culture and Language 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Cultural Anthropology 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 2 Studies 12. Tell us about your studies on your exchange. If you are stuck for ideas you can for exemple write about: The differences between Uppsala University and the exchange. What were the teachers like? What courses would you recommend (or not) for future exchange students? The relationship between teachers and students. The academic level and quality of your courses. Access to computers. Examinations... The studies at Sung Kyun Kwan University was diverse and lots of fun. I recommend everyone to take at least one course with korean students (for example an english course) as the international courses provided by the university are for international students only. In other words, no korean students. They have a very good student run club, maple and hi-club, (as in organisation not as in party...) that host a lot of events and trips around in Korea. These are great fun and you get to meet all the other exchange students and some korean students that are involved in these club activities. You may also contact them at any time if there are any problems with anything, really helpful! The professors had mixed fluency in english and also mixed professional standard. Some where strict about the Korean hierarchy where a student was never to question a professor where as others invited the communication and was very giving, welcoming and friendly. However the courses manily had a pretty good standard where the students would learn a lot from the material given. The university itself was really nice with three awesome school cafeterias where you could buy food from different places with a wide variety of dishes to chose from and with another four coffee shops where you could buy coffee, tea, smoothies and other beverages. It had a hair salon, flower shop, bookstore, phone store and so on. It was like a small city. One of the bad things, however, was that (as in most of Korea) almost all of the websites and all of the documents can only be run through internet explorer and the windows operating system. Fortunately the school have massive computer rooms all over campus where one could send and receive all information that could not be handled on a, for example, macintosh or a linux computer. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 200 av??
Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. I had a personal contact in Korea that came and picked me up and showed me my accommodation off campus that I found through her. So therefore I felt very welcome as well as by the University who fixed, in collaboration with hi-club and maple club, a welcome ceremony and event that answered most of the eventual questions and let everyone meet everyone. It was really nice. Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? I got my accommodation through a contact in Korea, it was awesome. It was quite small but at least I was paying Korean prices which is significally better than the same room through an english website for foreigners. So if you have a contact in Korea, no matter how small, USE IT! Your finances 15. Describe the cost of living. Did you find CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? CSN was quite adequate for Korea. I ended up paying less rent than in Uppsala, but I live pretty cheap in Uppsala as well. However if you want to go travelling I suggest you get working beforehand so you can gain some economic freedom to travel as you want. Here in Korea, on a student Visa, the government gets really mad if you work more than 10 hours a week and the pay is not very good so I would not recommend that. Unless you find a good english teaching job, they generally pay pretty good and you wont have to work more than 10 hours a week (not that you will have much more time on the side of studies and other stuff). Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specifically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on offer? They have a very good student run club, maple and hi-club, that host a lot of events and trips around in Korea. Other than that I would like to add that Korea is a geographically pretty small country with a lot of good transportation systems in place so it is really easy to travel Korea. Also, Seoul with its 24 million inhabitants have a lot to give with museums, theme parks, clubs and pubs etc. Worth mentioning is that once a month all of Korea (I believe, if not then all of Seoul) have a free entrance day to all of the governmentally owned museums. Really nice! Your exchange on the whole 17. Please sum up your exchange experience. If you have any other tips for future exchange students, or any other comments feel free to include them here. Tip number one, the most important one: Make sure to have access to a computer running windows operating system and has internet explorer!!! Everything that is done with the university websites (such as applying for courses in the beginning of the semester) is done with internet explorer or not at all! It does not work with ANY other web browsers. Second tip: Find and keep contact with a korean buddy upon arrival. The koreans are very friendly but most of them (outside Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 201 av??
of the university) does not speak english. So therefore it is good to have a korean contact that you can call in case you need help translating something. But also if you have questions about the korean culture and such. Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by email to individual students requesting it. Do you also approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University s website? Yes 19. Do you have any photos you would like to upload and include in your exchange report? - 20. Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s. - 21. Publishing of pictures I approve of my pictures being published and used in Uppsala University s marketing of international exchanges Thank you for submitting your exchange report! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 202 av??