Person 50 Basic Information 1. Name Julia Lysén 2. E-mail address: julia.lysen@gmail.com 3. Exchange university Yonsei University 4. City Seoul 5. Country South Korea 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish autumn semester (HT) 7. Academic year 2012/2013 8. What did you study during your exchange? business 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Master i Industriell ledning och innovation 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 4 Studies 12. Write one or more paragraphs describing the following: The dierences 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. Hemma i Uppsala läser jag en Master i Industriell ledning och innovation och är innan dess utbildad byggingenjör. I korea valde jag dock att enbart läsa kurser i Business, eftersom det var kurser som jag kunde tillgodoräkna samt att de var större utbud på dem gentemot kurser inom byggteknik. Generellt så är jag nöjd med de kurser som jag tog i Korea. bland var lärarna något svåra att förstå eftersom de har en ganska så markant brytning. De kurser som jag läste var Business communication, International communication, Business & society, International Trade practices och International business environment. De kurser som leddes av lärare som hade engelska som första språk var lite mer givande, och när man söker kurserna så ser man ganska fort vilka som leds av personer som är bättre på engelska, bara genom att titta på deras namn. Heter de inte något typiskt koreanskt så är de ofta riktigt bra på engelska. De kurser som jag tog var hälften med enbart utbytesstudenter och hälften med koreaner. De kurser som var med enbart utbytesstudenter var lite mer givande i form av diskussion och grupparbeten, men jag uppskattade verklgien att få jobba med koreaner och lära sig hur de arbetar,samt så är det ett enkelt sätt att lära känna koreaner på. Vissa är inte alltid bra på engelska, men koreaner har en förmåga att alltid vilja andras bästa och gör alltid sitt bästa och försöker så långt som det går prata engelska. Studietempot är annorlunda mot sverige då alla kurser på terminen läses parallellt och man har lite smågrejor att göra hela tiden. Sen så har man både midterms och nal exams. Men om man arbetar lite varje dag eller är eektiv när man väl arbetar så har man lätt tid för alla aktiviteter som man vill hinna med även utanför skolan. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 138 av 547
Orientation and reception 13. Write one or more paragraphs describing the following: How you were welcomed as an exchange student. Orientation, information, activities. Första veckan var jag på en introduktion och var med på det mesta som skolan annordnade då det kändes som en bra start att komma in i livet i Korea. På yonsei annordnas mycket aktiviteter och olika grupper beroenda på vad man är intresserad utav. Det kan vara saker som Sport, musik eller matlagning. I slutändan trappades dock aktiviteterna ner men då hade alla lärt känna så mycket folk runt om på skolan,vilket är väldigt lätt då alla utbytesstudenter är i samma situation och att koreaner är fascinerade av västerlänningar, så då var det fullt upp med att umgås med de man lärt känna ändå. Och Seoul är en stad där det händer saker hela tiden, och jag underdriver inte när jag säger att jag på min höjd satt hemma på mitt rum cirka 10 kvällar under hela min vistelse där. Accommodation 14. Write one or more paragraphs describing your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satised? Do you have any tips for future students? SE TILL ATT SÖKA BOENDE I TID!!!! jag var lite sen att söka boende och ck bo utanför skolan. Jag bodde mitt i ett område som hette Sinchon på ett ställe som kallades Hue Residence. Det var ett koreansk par som hyrde ut rum i deras hus. De serverade fritt ris och nudelsoppa och trots mitt lilla rum med ngt dålig luft trivdes jag bra. Hade 5 minuters gångväg till skolan och tunnelbanestation. Jag tror att om man bor på campus träar man mer utbytesstudenter och det kan vara enklare att bara umgås och tex. titta på en lm. Men jag trivdes med att bo mitt i smeten med fem minuter till burger king och närmsta shoppingcenter. De studenter jag umgick med satt sällan hemma på campus utan umgick mer i mina områden, något som självklart underlättade. Dessutom är Seoul en stad där det är enketl att ta sig överallt emd ett bra tunnelbanestation och vi åkte runt över mest hela staden. Your finances 15. Write one or more paragraphs describing the cost of living. Did you nd CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? För min del räckte Csn gott och väl. Min hyra låg på cirka 2500, och trots att jag var ute och åt 2 ggr om dagen så hade jag pengar över att åka ut och resa efter min vistelse i Korea. Visserligen hade jag jobbat och sparat lite under sommaren innan jag åkte. Men om man inte är alltför slösaktig så tror jag att csn räcker för de esta. Grönsaker frukt och att laga mat är ofta dyrare än att gå ut och äta. Kläder nns att köpa i alla möjliga prisklasser och taxiresor är löjligt billigt. Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on oer? Universitete anordnade lmkvällar, matlagningskurser och sportaktiviteter. Jag tränade på fritiden på skolans na gym, och sedan så åkte jag och mina kamrater runt i staden och utforskade den ofta på egen hand. Men skolan anordnade mycket och man tilldelades en cellgrupp i början med cirka 20 personer från olika länder där det även anordnades aktiviteter. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 139 av 547
Your exchange on a 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. Jag har inte ångrat en sekund att jag åkte utomlands, snarare bara att jag inte åkte tidigare. Jag har lärt mig mycket engelska, vilket var mitt största mål med resan. Jag har även lärt känna en helt annan kultur och så många människor världen över. Jag är så tacksam att jag ck möjligheten att åka iväg och skulle åka imorgon igen om någon frågade ifall jag ville. om det nns intresse så skrev jag en blogg udner tiden som jag var iväg, så vill du veta mer gå in där och läs: mittlivsomkorean.blogg.se Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Oce 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 Thank you for replying to this survey - your input is greatly appreciated. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 140 av 547
Person 49 Basic Information 1. Name Per Sjöström 2. E-mail address: persinternetpost@gmail.com 3. Exchange university Yonsei University 4. City Uppsala 5. Country Sweden 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish autumn semester (HT) 7. Academic year 2012/2013 8. What did you study during your exchange? Korean, Physical Education, Sports and Leisure Studies 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Physiotherapy 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 5 Studies 12. Write one or more paragraphs describing the following: The dierences 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 way of studying is very dierent in Korea, compared to Sweden. In Sweden, there is a lot of focus on understanding and applying the knowledge. In Korea, there is a lot of focus on memorizing. This leads to that they are extremely good at subjects like mathematics, anatomy and physics, but not as good at subjects like english and rehabilitation. For me as a physiotherapist, it became very obvious. My fellow students could have a theoretical idea on how to treat a condition because they had read it somewhere, but they did not not why and how to practically do it. But they study extremely hard, and if you take courses outside the Study Abroad Program, you are expected to do the same. If you want to have time to meet friends, travel and do lots of stu outside of school, I would recommend to take only classes at the Study Abroad Program. If you want to meet Koreans, study harder but potentially also learn more, I would recommend you to take classes outside of the Study Abroad Program. Learning Korean at Yonsei, at least at the lower level, is mostly about learning how to read, write and speak in extremely formal ways. Sadly, you don't get to learn much about how to do daily conversation. Therefore, you don't get to apply what you have learnt much. Because of that, I would not recommend learning Korean at Yonsei. Instead, if you want to learn how to speak Korean, get a language buddy and try to speak as much as you can. The relationship between teachers and students in Korea is also very dierent from how it is in Sweden. In Korea, especially if you take a class with Koreans and with a Korean professor, they pay genuine interest in you as a person. I was having lunch and dinner with many of my professors, and that was nothing unusual at all. As a Swede, it felt a bit strange, but I must admit that I really liked it. But, in the classroom, the setting is dierent. There the Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 135 av 547
professor are doing you a favor by teaching you, and you are not to question the professor at any time. This is part of the Korean tradition where age and status is extremely important. The academic level and quality of the courses diers a lot from course to course. The same with examinations - some courses have regular mid terms and nals. Some other courses just have essays and reports. I can therefore not say that the academic level is either better or worse than in Uppsala - it's on a case to case basis. Since Korea is one of the most modernized countries in the world, there is no problem with access to computers. The campus also have free wi pretty much everywhere. Orientation and reception 13. Write one or more paragraphs describing the following: How you were welcomed as an exchange student. Orientation, information, activities. Koreans are generally not very good at speaking English. Since they speak so little English, they are very shy about speaking it and prefer not to. But, Yonsei have a couple of dierent clubs for exchange students, such as the Buddy Program, Language Exchange and Yonsei Global. These are generally very good at organizing stu for you to do. If you want to you can be teamed up with a buddy who you can ask about anything and helps you with just about everything you could need. I had a great buddy who denitely contributed a lot to my great semester. During the rst week you will be able to attend a lot of information meetings and welcoming seminars. Don't panic if you don't understand much of these. It's usually a ton of information that gets handed to you in a short period of time. Attend these and see if you pick up anything of value. If nothing else, it's a good way to meet people. But if you miss any information or such (which you denitely will), you can always ask your buddy. Accommodation 14. Write one or more paragraphs describing your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satised? Do you have any tips for future students? I lived at the International House, a dorm house for international students. Yonsei also have a house called SK Global just next to the International House. It is newly build and a bit more expensive. I would say that these dorms are very good. The prices are reasonable and you will live door to door with most of your friends. If you don't get a room at the International House or SK Global House, you can always get a room at a so called hasukship (boarding house) near campus. These are usually a bit cheaper. Your finances 15. Write one or more paragraphs describing the cost of living. Did you nd 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 will be more than enough money for you in Korea, especially if you also apply for the extra money that you can loan if you study abroad. The rent is about the same as in Uppsala, maybe a bit cheaper. But eating out is very cheap, about 20-25 SEK for lunch and maybe 35-45 SEK for dinner. You can of course pay even more or even less depending on what your standards are. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 136 av 547
Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on oer? You will have more than enough things to do on your free time. During the rst couple of weeks, you can sign up for dierent student clubs. Yonsei have all kinds of student clubs, including cinema, tea drinking, tness and martial arts clubs. Pretty much anything you want to do, there is a club for that. Quite a few of these speak English, but pretty much everyone are open to foreigners and they are usually very keen to help you understand what they are doing. A few of these clubs are also opened especially for foreigners. But, Seoul is more than Yonsei, so try to spend time outside of Yonsei as well. Seoul oers so incredibly much to do, so it would be a shame to spend all the time at the university. Your exchange on a 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. I am very happy that I did this exchange semester. Because of lack of CSN, I could only stay one semester and not two. But I met so incredibly many nice people, both Koreans and exchange students. The Korean society and way of studying is very dierent from the Swedish way, but as long as you are prepared to make a few adjustments compared to how you live and study in Sweden, you will have an amazing time. Yonsei have a beautiful campus and tons of dierent courses in English. Seoul is maybe the most impressive city in the world and if you want to travel than China, Japan and South-East Asia is not far away. It's easy to get lost in all that you may have to study, but try to remember that you are not only there to read - you are also there to have the time of your life. Don't let school get in the way of your education! Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Oce 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 Thank you for replying to this survey - your input is greatly appreciated. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 137 av 547