Annyeonghaseyo!

My name is Marissa Horst, I’m currently 20 years old (22 Korean age!) and I’m spending the spring 2016 semester at Seoul National University in South Korea. I’m a half Dutch, half Filipino regular student at Maastricht University. Loving life at the moment—sitting at a cafe near my place, drinking coffee (iced, they’re a fan of iced coffee here and my basic knowledge of Korean failed me), borrowing wifi and writing a bit. I’m very excited to be blogging about my experiences. Doing this in part to, hopefully, persuade future exchangees to choose my destination, but also to show my family and friends I’m still alive. It’s been quite difficult to find the time to update them about my adventures with the time difference (sorry!).

I arrived a bit over two weeks ago, and my time here so far has been amazing. This post will be about my time here so far, and the next one will have all the practical details for those planning on coming here after me 🙂

Why did I choose South Korea?

A lot of exchange students I’ve spoken to have great reasons for choosing South Korea as their exchange destination. Some people have their roots here or a lot of Korean friends back home. Others are passionately in love with the Korean culture. I simply chose a destination I never thought I would have the opportunity to visit, let alone live in. This exchange is my first truly independent adventure, so I decided I might as well take a plunge into the unknown. As a friend of mine so eloquently put, doing your exchange in South Korea is a way to get out of your comfort zone, but in a softer way. Of course most things are very different from back home (the food, the people, the culture), but it’s similar in the way that the standard of living in Korea is quite high (a quick Google search says it’s above average), they are economically and technologically advanced, and they are open to westernization. Definitely not regretting my choice!

My experience so far  

The first few days were spent meeting new people and eating a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. Culture point #1 I’ve noticed is that Koreans take their food seriously (my mom is the same. Go Asia!). Food to Koreans is what coffee is to Europeans. It’s social, fun and yummy. Fortunately, it’s relatively cheap. You can easily find a good-quality meal for 7,000 won/5 euros (on campus it’s even cheaper, because it’s all government funded). There is a a lot of pork, a lot of rice and sidedishes, and very little fruit (it’s there, but it’s too expensive for my student wallet!).

Korean bbq. Yum!!

These wonderful people saved me from starvation and helped me get over my jet lag on my first night here. Thanks for putting up with me after a ten hour flight and a lot more hours of no sleep!

My personal buddy, Miji. She’s awesome! If the dishes in the picture tickle your fancy, go to a Korean restaurant and order “bossam”.

Kiyeon, who gave me a crash course in “How To Survive Being An SNU Student”. Also known as Life Saver.

A meal at one of the SNU cafeterias. 3,000 won and pretty good. This is called “bibimbap”. If I recall correctly, it means “mixed rice”, and you basically just mix everything.. with the rice…

This is my favorite restaurant. They serve Korean bbq but with beef instead of pork! We went there with about 12 people and without reservations. I thought it was too full to fit all of us, but somehow the nice Korean lady managed to squeeze us in!

PIG FEET. YUP.

 

This is my favorite Korean dessert from a place called “Sulbing”. It’s similar to another Korean dessert called “papingsu”, except instead of shaved ice it’s shaved milk, and it’s delicious. My mouth is starting to water just thinking about it. My friend and I are on a mission to taste every flavor. I’ll update you on our top 3. The one in the picture is chocolate, yummmm.

I have so many more pictures of good food with even better company to show you, but I’ll contain myself.

After the first week, I thought I’d been doing way too much socializing and eating and not nearly enough “cultuur snuiven” (my favorite Dutch saying, it literally means “culture sniffing”). Surprinsingly enough I’d picked up a lot more of the Korean culture than I thought. I was able to relay a lot of information I’d learned from the people who helped me survive in my first week (mostly funfacts and Korean drinking games) and was often mistaken for a returning exchange student. Either way, I thought it was time to finally start exploring my surroundings. I went out to do cultural activities with friends, but also with the College of Business Administraton (CBA) faculty and Korean students that have an elaborate buddy program for exchange students.

 

View of Seoul from the N Seoul Tower. Pictures can’t do the city justice!

Koreans have a strong couples culture. It is seen as very important to be in a relationship. These benches can be found throughout the city. If love hasn’t found you yet, they will act as your Cupid!

Similar to the Pont des Arts in France, couples can eternalize their love for each other by attaching locks to the fencing around the N Seoul Tower. Alternatively, phone cases are used as well. So romantic!

The Gyeongbokgung Palace is a must see. This is a pagoda in the area, I was lucky to see it covered in snow.

Colorful Korean architecture. Parts of the Gyeonbokgung Palace when it’s not snowing.

 

Myeongdong is one of the most famous shopping areas. It’s vibrant and crowded, and after five you can get streetfood there. My advice: taste as much as possible, especially the things that look a bit weird!

This is where I’ll wrap it up. It’s hitting lunch time and my water boiler finished cooking the water for my instant noodles (it’s called assimilation, guys.). Gamsahabnida for reading, and see you next time!

Cheers,

Marissa

Tags: Exchange, Korea, Marissa, marissainkorea, Seoul, SNU, South Korea, Spring 2016 Seoul National University - South Korea