The first day of the program was such a fun day! At 10.00 A.M we all gather in Global Plaza and finaly we met each other. There are 24 students from all around Asia Pacific, we have to get in touch frequently in a month ahead. This is so much fun to have new friends from other countries. we had some Korean dishes for lunch and very complete. It's kinda Korean set menu starts from appetizer till dessert.
Eventually I ate raw salmon fish, after such a long time I denied to eat them. Because I don't trust how Indonesian restaurants treat the fishes.. hehe
Tomorrow I will have so much more fun, We are going to Yeosu Expo. Yeosu Expo is the biggest expo in Korea. And we're gonna have overnight, pack and check my belonging to get there. So, It must be so crowded but I don't know what expo it is. I'll tell later then. See you! :D
hi Nur i came across this blog it is very interesting to see the perspective of some one from out side on joining a South Korean university. I was actually curious about how about bad was the language barrier and did it become a issue. Another thing is the Muslim outlook how bad is the situation ? hope you write soon. don't stop you have a good blog
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Faraz
Hi Faraz,
DeleteThank you has read my blog. It's been a year since I was in Korea. I spent 2 months in Korea for summer school, it was so much fun. I'll write it later as much as I remember what had been going on during my stay.
If you're in Seoul, there are more people who can speak English. But If you go to other cities, there will be less people who can speak English. So, I suggest you to learn Korean daily words or conversations at least, because you have to deal with locals a lot. But peoples in small cities are more friendly than in metropolitan cities.
Other than that, becoming Muslim in non-majority Muslim countries is always different matter. During my stay, it was Ramadhan so I had to fast day long. It was so hard because I used to fast for 12 hours only, but in Korean I had to fast for more than 15 hours. Looking for halal food and masjid to pray is not an easy task. So during my stay, I tended to eat seafood and vegetable (fortunately, locals really like eat vegetables and fruits) and I couldn't find any masjid in my city (it was Daegu city, 4 hours from Seoul by bus or 1 hour by train). If there's masjid, it's long way to go.
Because I was so obvious that I am Muslim (wearing hijab), people in my program are so really open-minded about Muslim. I didn't have troubles. But some locals did look me as stranger haha, starred at me while I was in sidewalk. Even at the first time it did irritated me how locals looked at me, as the time went by I just didn't care. I thought it would be the same reactions given by locals who were in non majority Muslim countries. So, I counted it as usual reactions.
Hi Nur,
ReplyDeleteO ok you just went out there for like 2 months that must have been fun ! what major are you studying, i am a Fresh Mechanical Engineer and i was thinking of doing a short program(6months) NUK. it is nice to hear that the Muslim thing is not that bad. Yah the fasting thing is tough i was in Canada once during ramadan ended up fasting for like 18-19hours that was rough. anyways nice blog keep up the good work. best of luck in what ever you are perusing currently.
Regards,
Faraz