Motivation
The motivation I had to participate in this study was to immerse myself in a new culture in a country I have not been to before. On top of that I wanted to develop my independence skills as I have never travelled alone before.
Personal Development
I gained new friendships and learnt new Korean phrases during my time here. I also lives in a dorm and had a roommate for the first time. Living with a new person I had just met was a little scary for me at first but we were able to get along well and discussed our sleep schedules and tried to both be very understanding of each other. Since this is my first time living with a new person, I had to make sure to be more accommodating and understanding. I now have friends who I still keep in contact with from all over the world.
Academic Development
Yonsei University’s academic system is very different in terms of attendance. Yonsei’s school policy requires attendance to be marked and also contributes to the overall grade and if you miss a certain number of days you could fail the entire subject. I personally didn’t find that much of a challenge since I was only there for 4 weeks and I also lived on campus. The class I took was social psychology which was from Monday to Thursday and was very laid back compared to UQ. This also meant that I had the long weekend to relax and go explore the city of Seoul.
Professional Development
I developed skills in;
Communication: Being able to overcome my fear of socialising in bigger settings allowed me to make so many new friends and developed my communicating and socialising skills.
Confidence: I believe I developed more confidence with talking to others after this experience as I was able to talk to many new people from all difference backgrounds and cultures.
Time management: I had a long list of things I wanted to do during my time in Seoul but I also had classes to attend and assessments to complete. I made sure to thoroughly plan what I wanted to do each day to optimise the time I was there.
Accommodating: My roommate would often sleep earlier than me but to make sure I didn’t always stay up later and disturb her sleep, I managed my time so that I was able to do everything I needed to do before going to bed just in time for when she sleeps.
Problem solving: Travelling alone for the first time in a different country meant that I only had myself to rely on. Since I had to rely on myself I had to be able to solve any problems that arose. Making sure I was calm and thinking in a logical matter before panicking allowed me to solve any problems or challenges I had. Also not being scared to ask others for help when needed.
Empathy: Studying my social psychology course allowed me to learn many life lessons and to understand people better. This will be especially useful in my field as a social worker since I will be always working with people.
Advice/Top Tips
- Naver maps is an app you MUST download to be able to navigate around Seoul as Google and Apple maps does not work in Korea. Papago app is a more accurate translating app.
- Make sure to bring cash since the only way to top up your T-Money card (transport card) is with cash.
- Korea uses card a lot so making sure you have a card that doesn’t have extra fees such as Up, Wise or Revolut (I used Up since it is Australian).
- Don’t bother buying an Airtag to track your belongings as it does not work in Korea
