Exchange Report Yonsei University 연세대학교 Seoul, South Korea

Exchange Report Yonsei University 연세대학교 Seoul, South Korea TAI, Yu BBA in Global Business and Finance, Year 3 Fall 2016 I. Monthly Activity Log August On-campus housing check-in starts on the 26th of August. I arrived in Korea one week in advance and traveled with my Korean friend. I booked a 7-day train ticket at a discount rate of 42,000 won. I traveled from Seoul all the way south to Busan and visited several cities in between. Gyeongju and its relics were breathtaking. Gyeongsang and the history of Silla were capitating. Busan and Haeundae Beach were my favorite. Jello and its ancient village in the mountains were beyond description. Jeonju was the city of the best Korean food. All of them were so unique and unforgettable. The last few days of August, I spent my days exploring Seoul for the first time in my life. My local friends showed me around and took me to the most authentic places in Seoul. It was an amazing experience. September September was in comparison pretty chill. As I have finished traveling around Korea already, I spend most of my time making friends and attending classes. My major activities are all in Sinchon, Hongdae and Edae eara. There are a lot of food options affordable for college students. Although I didn’t join the Mentor’s Club, meeting new friends wasn’t challenging at all. I met some local friends in the finance classes I was taking and also some exchange students I met in dorm. I usually dine with my local friends near school and explore around Seoul with other exchange students. I also went to my first K-pop concert in Incheon for free. Since I am not a K-pop fan, it wasn’t too much fun for me. But my friends sure enjoyed the festival. ^ Hiking at Bukhansan ^ Seoul Tower Asian group photo October The biggest event in October in Yonsei University students is the Yon-Go Game. Yon-Go Game is series of sports competition between the two rival schools - Yonsei University and Korea University. This experience was unique because I never get to have a rival school. I have never felt so excited and passionate towards a school sports game. From the chanting rehearsing sessions to the weekend of all matches, all exchange students, not the mention the full times in Yonsei, were all hyper about the game. I only successfully signed up the baseball game, since the other games tickets were all out. At the game, we received free Yonsei caps and banners along with some sponsored goods (those served as my breakfast) all painted in the Yonsei color – blue. Most people had temporary tattoos of Yonsei logo on their faces, including me. Throughout the game, we chanted, sang, cheered and danced. Although we lost the baseball match, it was an unforgettable experience cheering for the same with a bunch of friends with school pride. ^ Getting our school logo tattooed ^Korea University students cheering November After I finished my midterms, I bought discount tickets to Kansai, Japan. Spent 6 days in Nara, Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe with my friend. November in Seoul is already pretty cold. The temperature drops to around 0°C in the early morning. Yet, it is the best season for photos. As most tree leaves would turn into either red, orange or yellow, sightseeing is the best activity to do during the season. I personally find the autumn view on Yonsei campus the best in Seoul. Apart from Yonsei campus, Nami Island (남이섬) is a popular tourist spot to go during the season. ^Lantern Festival in Seoul ^Yonsei in autumn December December was a hectic month packed with essay deadlines and final exams. ^ Cold winter in Seoul ^Hanbok in Gyeongbokgung II. General Exchange Information Course Registration Classes taught in English mostly reserve seats for exchange students. If you are planning to take MARK or MGMT courses in Yonsei, it would be harder to get in those classes, since most exchange students sign up for the easiest courses. In my case, I mainly enrolled for FINA courses and there was no waitlist. The 6-credit KLI Korean courses is very demanding yet useful. Please consider carefully before enrolling the course. Accommodations I would highly recommend incoming exchange students to live on-campus. I lived in a single room in SK Global House and the experience was amazing. Most exchange students by choice would stay in school dormitory during their whole exchange in Yonsei University. Yet, on-campus accommodation is not guaranteed for exchange students. Please remember to login the system beforehand and check for the application open time period. Or you might get rejected and end up living off-campus in 하숙집 or 고시원. As renting an apartment is expensive (and apartments require “key money”, usually up to millions of KRW) in Seoul, most students will not include it as a choice. 하숙집 and 고시원 are not necessary bad, they have lower rents comparing to Yonsei dormitory. Yet, the quality may vary. You must check and negotiate in person as the photos online were never trustworthy. If you happened to know some Korean friends in Seoul, you’d better ask them to accompany you throughout the progress. I lived in SK Global House single room throughout the exchange program. The room was very spacious with your own fridge, bathroom, toilet and balcony. Yonsei doesn’t charge your extra for air- conditioning and floor-heat. There is a small gym with basic equipment downstairs in SK Global House. There are a few restaurants in the dorm as well. 20min walk to city center (신촌 area). Teaching & Assessment Methods I took 18 credits in Yonsei University, including 4 finance courses, 1 entrepreneurship course and 1 Korean course. The finance courses there are very theoretical as the professors focuses more on the macroeconomic prospective. In Yonsei, even for lecture theater courses with more than 200 students, the professors would encourage students to go up on stage to prove and explain formulas to all other students. I would recommend Professor Taeyoon Sung’s Finance courses: ECO3134 Money and Banking and ECO3130 International Money and Finance. He is one of the famous Korean economist who shows up very often on Korean national new channels. He shares a lot of his past experiences and some new prospective on the financial market in class. Apart from BIZ3134 Entrepreneurship Management, all the other exams has no multiple choice questions. The exams require you to explain and prove a lot of theories. Yet, as calculators are not allowed during the exam, the calculations will not be too complicated. Finance & Banking I withdraw money from my global currency account in Taiwan and deposit it into my Korean account. Every transaction has a service charge, so I always withdraw the maximum. Yet, in my case, the service charge is only 3600 won per international transaction. I recommend you to open a global currency in your home country first, or else you will be bring tens of thousands and exchanging it in Myeong-dong (명동). I opened a bank account in Woori Bank (우리은행). Woori Bank offers free payment student account with no minimum balance. Woori Bank debit card is extremely convenient to use in Korea, as Korean Won is such a weak currency that one meal can cost over tens of thousands. During my stay, I rarely use paper money and coins. Expenses (in KRW) Expenses (in HKD) Accommodation (SK Single) 2,642,000 KRW 18,134 HKD Living Expenses 946,000*4=3,784,000 KRW 25,961 HKD Travel Expenses 420,000 KRW 2,882 HKD (Korea and Japan) Telecom Service 80,000 KRW 549 HKD TOTAL 6,926,000 KRW 47,540 HKD Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities Most exchange students would choose to join the Mentor Club upon arrival as they hold a lot of orientation events. I personally didn’t join any of the clubs, since I already know some of the exchange students and full-time students there. It is easy to meet new friends in classes, common rooms and study rooms. Communication will not be a problem as most of the Korean full-time students in Yonsei University are fluent in English, some even Chinese. Transportation T-money (the same as Octopus Card in HK) is available in convenient stores. You can top up T- money at either convenient stores or metro stations. The card can be used for all the transportation in the Seoul, including trains, buses, and metro. Communication I used pre-paid card from olleh in the airport. You can simply top-up your pre-paid card balance in convenient stores. Internet data will expire within a month after purchase. Since wifi is accessible everywhere on campus, I usually purchase 1GB every month at 15,000 won. It comes with free wifi spots everywhere in Seoul. Even on the subway and in city center, olleh wifi would be available. Food Exchange students here rarely cook. Unless you dislike Korean food to the point you cannot bear with kimchi, school canteen meals are amazingly tasty and cheap. On top of that, eating out in 신촌 is cheap and convenient as well. Chinese food is available in most tourist spot even thou I would not say it’s authentic. Western food is a bit expensive in Korea for unknown reason while spam and sausage are considered premium. Delivery service is common in Korea. You can politely ask the staff in SK Global House front desk to help you with the orders if you haven’t mastered Korean delivery-service-related technical terms.

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