This past week has been a bit more difficult for me. I have begun to struggle a bit and feel a lot of the effects of culture shock. I was informed that culture shock is a cycle that will likely occur multiple times while abroad. I have talked with a lot of friends here and have found that many of us are going through the same thing. Some in different programs, some at different times, and multiple times so far, but without fail we all go through it.
I knew culture shock was inevitable, but I hadn’t heard anyone talk about how defeating it feels. For me, it has started to feel l like a very lonely process. There are people around me whom I trusted and am so grateful I have talked to, yet it still feels quite lonely. It feels really weird to be so far away from everything I have ever known. What is really hard for me is learning the different cultural pieces that come with a new country, along with the different languages. I greatly miss talking with a stranger in the street about some mundane thing. Here, it is much more difficult to relate and be understood.
Being abroad and struggling with culture shock has made me much more grateful for the community I have in the United States and empathy for people who are no longer able to live in their native countries. It is so very difficult to try to fit into a whole new world and I cannot imagine how difficult that could be for people under different circumstances.
In order to combat the feeling of homesickness I have tried doing things that would help destress me at home. I go for a walk, listen to music, and remind myself of all the amazing things I have in my new city. Sometimes watching a favorite movie or book that I may have enjoyed a lot from my childhood helps. I make a lot of phone calls to loved ones, but oftentimes these are difficult and have me missing home more. Overall, I find ways to remind myself that I am secure and so happy to be abroad. There are so many amazing things I am experiencing here and I cannot wait to learn so much more. Good and bad coexist together and finding the happy medium is what is difficult, but definitely possible.
If anyone else is homesick, just know you’re not alone! Reach out to someone you know around you and chances are they are going through similar things. One of the fun parts about being abroad or even in any new place is forming a new community. This community is there for the good and the bad so do not feel guilty to lean on them.
It has been around a month since I arrived at Korea University (KU). So I have decided to share my experience thus far. The aspects of KU I have chosen to reflect on are the campus, classes, cafeteria, and dorm. I chose these 5 topics because there are significant cultural differences and similarities that I find interesting.
Campus
The campus is very pretty and holds lots of history, especially during the Japanese occupation. There are buildings and statues around campus that have bullet holes, not only from the Japanese occupation but also from the Korean War.
Firstly, compared to the University of Denver (DU), KU has a significantly bigger campus. To walk from one end of DU to the other takes 30 minutes. At KU it takes 2 hours. All of the on-campus dorms are on one side of campus, on top of a hill. Convenience stores are scattered around campus for easy access to snacks and drinks. Because I am used to a small campus, I do hate walking to class. From my dorm to class, it takes about 45 minutes. At DU my walk from dorm to class was under 10 minutes. Because Korea’s biome is forest, everywhere is steep hills. This truly adds to the walk-to-class experience. At KU the STEM buildings are across a major street. So if you decide to take STEM classes at KU, be prepared for the long walk.
Overall the classrooms are pretty typical. For the classes I am taking, the average number of students is 50. Which for a university with about 40,000 students is a pretty good size class. I find the professors to be fairly nice and understanding. Of course there are still some rude and strict professors.
The most frustrating aspect of classes for me was class registration. To simplify the registration process, there are 3 chances to get classes. The 1st chance is creating a preferred course list. Then the system will randomly select students to go into their desired classes. For some students, they get all the classes they want. For me and other students, you get no classes. 2nd chance is more cut and competitive. At 10am everyone registers at the same time. if possible, your preferred course list can be used to quickly register. If you are too slow and it fills up then you have to find other classes. The worst part of change 2 is that even if spots are available in the class, you can’t register because your category is full. for example, if you are an exchange student then the available spots for a class will have 2-4 spots available for exchange students only. Even if the class allows 30 students and the count is at 20, then you won’t be able to register because the cap for exchange students was made. On the 3rd change, it is the most stressful because that is when the category caps are removed. Meaning that if a class allows 30 students then anyone from any category can fight to fill the last remaining 10 spots.
On the 3rd change, I was able to register for all of the class I wished to have, which was 3 business classes approved by DU for credits and a Korean language class. This overly stressful registration makes me thankful for DU’s registration processes. It seems fair to me to slowly register by most credit students to least credit students.
Compared to the US, the cafe room is pretty good. KU has 5 cafeterias around campus, but many students just go to the on-campus or local restaurants for lunch. One downside to the KU cafeterias and restaurants is the lack of customization. So if you have diet restrictions due to personal or religious reasons then it is up to you to find food that you can eat. Korean food culture isn’t keen to do removals or substitutions.
My favorite aspect of the KU cafeteria by my dorm is the self-service ramen station. For the price of 5,000 won. you can make and customize your own ramen. There is a variety of ramen to choose from, like shin ramen, jja-pa-ge-ti, sesame seed ramen, and much more. next is to choose your unlimited toppings. You can choose from rice cakes, eggs, green onion, cheese, and kimchi.
At DU I was previously an RA, so seeing how Korean dorms function is interesting. My dorm, Anam International, has 5 floors, with the laundry in the basement, and the communal kitchen on the first floor. All dorms are doubles, each with their own private bathroom.
The rooms are quite spacious. Each roommate gets their own wardrobe, bookshelf, and desk with chair. Because I am a part of TEAN, I got bedding for free. Like any college, it is important to get along with your roommate. Here at KU, they do not do room switches. They Highly encourage you to get along with your roommate; unless there are extreme circumstances.
At DU they hire 3rd party security, but at KU, they hire their own security. The security have their own desk at the front of the building. The security guards also do other tasks such as distributing resources and organizing mail. The RAs at KU are much more hidden and unknown. When I moved in, I didn’t know we had an RA until the 3rd week of living here. The RAs will sit at the entrance of the building next to the security desk, every day from 7pm-10pm only. This is drastically different from DU which is a Desk Assistant and/or RA who will be at the front desk from 6am-12am.
The aspect I hate most about the dorm is the communal kitchen. Some of these residents don’t know how to cook or clean up after themselves. If smoke is detected in the kitchen then the entire building turns on its fire alarms. It has been about a month of me living in the dorm. At least once a week the fire alarm goes off cause people are starting fires in the kitchen. Another reason I have the communal kitchen is the shared fridge/freezer. Not only is it fully packed all of the time, but it smells terrible all of the time because people are horrible at keeping track of their food.
