Study Abroad In Korea?

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[little mixed girl]

wow ... i love this post

I am a senior at San Diego State University (SDSU) and majoring in Electrical Engineering. I have always wanted to study-abroad somewhere in East Asia during the summer and The International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) offers two summer sessions to Korea, one for Yonsei University in Seoul and one for Ajou University in Suwon. I'm leaning towards Yonsei since it's such a prestigious university in Korea and from past reviews here it sounds fun. Anyone know if Ajou University is any good during the summer?

I am actually quite scared of being one of those Non-Korean-Americans outcasts as I am Filipino-American. Also, I don't know squat of Korean, just a few phrases and can read most of the hangul script.

I just have a few questions for those who have already gone.

1.) I have never travelled alone, more worse to another foreign country, so when should I schedule my trip to Korea? Should it be the day before school starts or earlier?

2.) Is VISA accepted there in Korea? Hopefully, some sort of International VISA. Or am I better off with Traveller's Cheques? I want some form of emergency credit that's wired to the USA just in case.

3.) What is the voltage in Korea? I know in Japan its 110V, USA is 120V, and Philippines is 220V. I don't want to fry my laptop

4.) How much do male haircuts cost in Korea? Is it hard to find a barber shop? I'm thinkin' of bringin my clipper but I'm doubtful my future roommate would know how to cut hair. (Gotta have nice trim if I'm stayin there for a month heheh )

Here is more info on the two programs ISEP is offering this summer.

1) your school should have a deadline for apps. you have to apply through the school.

you can apply alone, but it's harder...and you can't get financial aid. so check your study abroad office for that.

2) i think u can use visa in korea, but it's best...in my opinion, to bring traveller's checks then go and open a bank account. they'll give u an atm card that u can use to withdraw $$.

that way all your cash is safe, it's in won & u don't have to worry. when u leave you can just take what's left over and exchange it back to $$.

3) i think the voltage in korea is the same as the states, BUT the plug is different.

you can get a special plug from some stores that allow u to plug ur laptop, etc into the wall.

4) depends on your hair type. for krn guys the price is probably something like $5-30, if u get a perm it'll be more.

Actually I've just applied to go to Yonsei for Fall 06. So if everything goes well, I'll be in Korea in August! I can't wait!

I'm not Korean or Korean-American. TT___TT

1) You said non-koreans tended to stick together? Do the europeans tend to stick together? And then the Japanese together? Or what? I'm just kinda curious about this..

2) When you were in Korea, how much did you spend per month? Like on food and entertainment and shopping and what not...

3) How did you handle your money? By this I mean, how did you bring the money to Korea? Did you start a bank account in Korea or did you just relied on your credit card?

4) How many days before the start of school do you think I should arrive in Korea?

Thanks in advance! (I hope my exchange application gets approved soon...)

1) i went during the summer & stayed in the international house. during the summer it's mostly americans, specifically korean-americans. there were probably 5 white ppl in the dorm...maybr 8 if you count 1/2 white ppl lol.

mostly the non-koreans hung out together with a few korean-americans. the majority of korean-americans were about hanging with each other.

2) i was only there for 1.5 months, and i had about $1,000 with me.

i had to buy some books for my krn & other class...but that probably cost like $30-40 all together.

there's no cafeteria in the dorm so you ALWAYS have to eat out/order take out. there's a microwave so i guess you could make ramen or stuff like that.

i feel like almost 1/2 of my money went towards food. food in korea can be cheap and there's a lot of it (serving size), but like any place, eating out all the time takes its toll on your wallet.

3) i opened an account at woori bank. i had all of my $$ except maybe $60 in travellers checks.

what i brought in cash was what i would exchange at the airport so that i could take the bus to the city and pay for my taxi ride to the school (airport bus to shinchon is like $8, and from the bus stop in shinchon to the dorm is like $3). the rest of the money was to tide me over til i could get to the bank.

banks in korea are closed on the weekend. so, if you get there on a friday night like i did you have to wait the whole weekend before you can exchange your cash.

just take your passport with you to the bank and have someone help you fill out all the stuff. they'll give u a bank book and an atm card.

atm card is JUST for taking money outta the atm. you CANNOT use it like a debit card...unfortunately.

4) they'll tell you what day the dorms open. if you get there before the dorms open they won't let u in. so try to get there the day of or day after the dorms open.

[kilaalaa]

^ Thanks so much for all the information! I can't wait till I get to Korea!

[Guest aaandy]

1.) I have never travelled alone, more worse to another foreign country, so when should I schedule my trip to Korea? Should it be the day before school starts or earlier?

2.) Is VISA accepted there in Korea? Hopefully, some sort of International VISA. Or am I better off with Traveller's Cheques? I want some form of emergency credit that's wired to the USA just in case.

3.) What is the voltage in Korea? I know in Japan its 110V, USA is 120V, and Philippines is 220V. I don't want to fry my laptop

4.) How much do male haircuts cost in Korea? Is it hard to find a barber shop? I'm thinkin' of bringin my clipper but I'm doubtful my future roommate would know how to cut hair. (Gotta have nice trim if I'm stayin there for a month heheh

I guess you can't get in unless dorms are open. Fortunately, I have family there .

I never used my credit card, I brought cash with me and instead of exchanging it at a Bank or Airport, I did it in Namdaemun which is illegal but you get more for your dollar that way. I'm pretty sure you can use your Visa though.

Voltage is not the same, I think it's 150-220 and you can goto any little shop and pick up the plug converter for like 50 cents.

Hair Salons are everywhere. Although when I was in Korea my friend for a $8 hair cut and it ended up turning up bad. I went and got my hair done in an expensive salon and it turned out really nice haha. Remember quality shows in how much you pay.

1) You said non-koreans tended to stick together? Do the europeans tend to stick together? And then the Japanese together? Or what? I'm just kinda curious about this..

2) When you were in Korea, how much did you spend per month? Like on food and entertainment and shopping and what not...

3) How did you handle your money? By this I mean, how did you bring the money to Korea? Did you start a bank account in Korea or did you just relied on your credit card?

4) How many days before the start of school do you think I should arrive in Korea?

Look at your school, kids have there cliques it'll probably be somewhat the same.

I haven't gone to Yonsei yet, but I spent about 2,500 in less than a month. I could've done with 500 honestly, I went and bought alot of nice things though :P

[little mixed girl]

^ yes, that's nice, but there are ppl going to yonsei that won't have relatives to supplement their incomes.

:mellow:

[Guest aaandy]

lol, my parents just bought my plane tickets and my relatives gave me a place to stay. i got a job

As for the VISA thing I just thought maybe you could use credit and leave your money in your checking and just handle your money online. Not sure how that works internationally but I'm all over online banking here heh. Actually you can check if you bank has one in S.Korea, I just found out that Bank of America does.

[Guest chibifry]

Voltage is the same -.- you just need a plug converter, like LMG said.

[little mixed girl]

lol, my parents just bought my plane tickets and my relatives gave me a place to stay. i got a job

As for the VISA thing I just thought maybe you could use credit and leave your money in your checking and just handle your money online. Not sure how that works internationally but I'm all over online banking here heh. Actually you can check if you bank has one in S.Korea, I just found out that Bank of America does.

some girl used her visa card when she was in korea.

it was just a hassle to use it.

it's better/easier to just open an account.

besides that, krn money only goes up to 10,000won which is like $10.

who wants to carry $1,000 worth of $10 bills with them?

also, your bank will probably charge u for doing stuff like that...

[Guest hunnibunni]

some girl used her visa card when she was in korea.

it was just a hassle to use it.

it's better/easier to just open an account.

besides that, krn money only goes up to 10,000won which is like $10.

who wants to carry $1,000 worth of $10 bills with them?

also, your bank will probably charge u for doing stuff like that...

i plan to handle my money online as well..that's what i usually do when i go to korea..my mom used her american express and visa credit cards and when we returned to the us, the next month's bill had all the purchases we made in korea converted to exact us dollars on our bill without any extra charges.. and then she just paid it off like she usually does

anyways, im taking summer courses this summer (i was born there) and i miss it..can't wait! :P

[Guest SweetyLuv]

You can use VISA in Korea. The easiest thing is probably to get a check card from your bank that is a VISA, and use it. You don't have to worry about paying off bills this way. BUT check with your bank about currency conversion charges. It won't be a large amount, but you don't want surprises!

If you'll be there for a prolonged stay, open an account in a Korean bank(pay attention to what kind of ATMs you see a lot in the places you plan to frequent--Woori is pretty widespread) and put some cash in it. You don't want to be stuck with only your credit card, and you don't want to leave a wad of cash in your room wherever you're staying.

In Korea, the voltage is generally 220V. In the US, it's 110V. This means the plugs are different(In Korea, the pins are round). However, newer buildings tend to have 110V plugs, but you'll want to have an adaptor just in case.

[Guest sunshinex3]

so if you're a graduating highschool senior going to a university by fall, you can't enroll in the summer program? :(

[little mixed girl]

^ there's 2 different summer programs at yonsei.

the DIEE program is longer and i think it's strictly for college students ONLY.

the KLI program is shorter, has a curfew and seems to be aimed at the high school/young college group...

but you'd have to check yourself...

[Guest mentlkase]

Anyone been on the KUBS abroad/internship abroad? It seems very appealing considering for us they pay you to come...( You still have to pay at ure school in the states i think.)

[Guest sunshinex3]

^ there's 2 different summer programs at yonsei.

the DIEE program is longer and i think it's strictly for college students ONLY.

the KLI program is shorter, has a curfew and seems to be aimed at the high school/young college group...

but you'd have to check yourself...

yesssssss. i'm gnna go this summer~ :P

[Guest kittenmasks]

The credit card thing: it depends on your bank. I have a Bank of America Visa CREDIT (NOT checking) card. When I was in England, I used that a lot to pay for basically everything. It didn't charge me a conversion fee, but I noticed that most banks (including BoA) charge a conversion fee if you use your CHECKING card.

So, if you're going to use your checking card, I would suggest taking out large amounts or exchanging large amounts at once. The smart thing to do is wait for the rates to be the lowest (when I was in England, it hit the record low exchange rate 2 months into the program and the first thing I did was head to the bank) and exchange a lot then.

Also, I advise avoiding the banks for money exchange. Their rates tend to be higher and some charge additional exchange fees. It's usually included in the rate so you don't see it. It took me a month to realize this and found a MUCH better exchange rate at a private exchange. I usually got 3-4 pounds per every $100USD more than I did at the bank, which is about $9-$10. And when you're exchanging $300-$500+, it WILL add up.

Oooo, word of advice: if you're going to a private exchange, HAGGLE!! I usually tell them I'm going to be exchanging at least $200USD cash (they like $100 bills more than $20's for some reason - carry the Benjamins; they have better street cred!) and they'll give you a better rate.

[little mixed girl]

haha the USD/krn won exchange rate is soooo crappy right now.

like 989krn to $1....

the first time i went it was like 1,187won to $1 -_-

[Guest madeinktown]

god, i was going to consider study aboard to pick up some korean but after what i saw in the first post, no thanks. national student exchange sounds a lot more appealin than studying in korea.

[little mixed girl]

^ haha i don't want to discourage you!

but ppl should be aware of what to expect from the summer program...especially if they are non-koreans.

i still had fun times on the program...away from many of the dorm ppl.

there's some good ppl that do the summer program, it just might take time to find them.

the main problem is the korean-americans who go to korea with the purpose of forming "korean-american only" cliques.

study abroad should be an experience that all ppl can enjoy together, and it's crap that there are ppl that ruin it for others -_-

[Guest madeinktown]

^i'm korean american but i don't mind making korean friends who aren't americanized. iono, i'll think about it some more after i see what programs they offer in study aboard to korea.

[Guest kittenmasks]

^ haha i don't want to discourage you!

but ppl should be aware of what to expect from the summer program...especially if they are non-koreans.

i still had fun times on the program...away from many of the dorm ppl.

there's some good ppl that do the summer program, it just might take time to find them.

the main problem is the korean-americans who go to korea with the purpose of forming "korean-american only" cliques.

study abroad should be an experience that all ppl can enjoy together, and it's crap that there are ppl that ruin it for others

I think it also just depends on the people who happen to go with you. I'm really glad I went to Oxford last semester because honestly, the people who are going this semester are NOT FUN at all. It just varies.

So for those who are going or considering going, don't base your entire judgement on what one person's experience was like. There are going to be good and bad. But it'll depend more on what YOU make of it. Study abroad is only as good as the person who's experiencing it.