On Aug. 19, 2022, I embarked on my journey to Seoul, South Korea, to begin my study abroad year. I had been waiting the entire summer for the trip to start and I couldn’t believe that it was finally happening!

After arriving in Korea, I did not eat anything for two days due to a mixture of jetlag and stress. Even though I had taken four semesters of Korean classes before coming here, the way that natives spoke was much different than how we practiced in class. People talked much faster and slurred words together to the point where even simple phrases were quite unrecognizable. It was unbelievably stressful, feeling almost as if I knew nothing about the language when I prepared so much beforehand.

I finally built up the courage to go to a restaurant and order myself some food. Since it was going to be my first ever meal in Korea, I wanted something pretty special and authentic. I chose to eat doshirak, which is a plate containing rice, various types of meat and lots of different side dishes. It was absolutely delicious and I could not believe how cheap it was.

I had made quite a few Korean friends before coming here because I was a member of the Korean Student Association and I was an ambassador for the LEAD program. I am so lucky to have been able to celebrate my 21st birthday with some of them by going to Busan. Busan is a coastal city in the southeastern tip of South Korea and is known for its picturesque beaches and delicious seafood. When I went to Busan, the weather was absolutely amazing, the cool ocean breeze made the weather much more bearable compared to that of the hot and humid air in Seoul.

The day before class started, Aiden, another Mizzou student who is studying abroad at SNU, and I went to familiarize ourselves with the campus. The main entrance to the university is stunning, the iconic gate and the mountains in the background are even more beautiful than I imagined them to be. However, since the university is built into the base of the side of Gwanak mountain, there are a lot of slopes in the campus, which makes walking around campus quite tedious.

The first day of the fall semester, most of my friends had classes that day. I, however, did not because of my language program which would not start until the following week. That night, my SNU buddy group had our first-ever group dinner together at a Korean-Chinese restaurant. The food was quite good and I was happy that I got to try tangsuyook, which is sweet and sour fried pork, a dish very popular in Korea. After that, we were supposed to go to a pub with all of the other SNU buddy groups but it was too crowded so we ended up going to a more secluded bar with just our smaller groups.

My SNU buddy group had a campus night where we went to the top of the third engineering building which is the highest point on the campus. On the rooftop, you can get a magnificent view of the southern half of Seoul. However, the climb up there was not easy. It took about 25 minutes to go up the steep hill. The view was worth all of the effort. Even in the school library, you can get a pretty decent view of the city. The school library is my main studying location because it is refreshing to see the mountain and the tall skyscrapers off in the distance when I glance up from doing my work.

The first month was not without its troubles. Since it was my first month here, I had to learn many of the gestures that are seen as respectful and disrespectful as it is a big part of the Korean culture. I also had to learn how to fit in with the natives as Korean culture is very conservative and when you are out in public, you do not want to draw any attention to yourself. An example would be that when you are walking, you should keep your head down and avoid making eye contact with a stranger walking by, even if it is unintentional, can be seen as disrespectful.

Age also plays a very important role in Korean society, as the younger people must always pour drinks for the eldest person first, and everything must be given and received with two hands and a bow, whereas the elder person can do so with one hand. Registering for things such as a phone number, bank account or even making an account for a web service in Korea is very difficult. Most workers and customer service representatives do not speak English and registering for things as a foreigner usually requires extra steps compared to a native.

However, even with the hardships, it was still such an amazing time and I would not trade anything for the memories that I made during that period.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: Seoul National University