Independent University Newspaper
Copenhagen Business School

Popular searches:

Independent University Newspaper

Copenhagen Business School

South Korea: I can now add real faces to some of the voices in my online classes

Student with a mask wearing a pink rain coat and

(Photo: Frederikke Viltoft Mygind)

Go on exchange |   05. Oct 2020

Frederikke Viltoft Mygind

Blogger

I am slowly but surely adjusting to my new everyday life in Seoul. The standard of my room is a nice middle way between being at home and the hostels I experienced during my two sabbatical years.

The common areas and shared facilities are, of course, less occupied and dirty, due to COVID-19, which is now a good thing because the cleaning lady that used to work here recently quit her job, and the manager can’t find a new one because they are afraid of getting corona from foreigners, so now the manager is doing all the cleaning.

This empathizes how ignorance is bliss and what can easily now seem like normal everyday life to me – as I haven’t experienced it any other way – is still very far from normal.

sculptures in Korea with masks

(Photo by Frederikke Viltoft Mygind)

My everyday life is still influenced by the social distancing measures in place. However, we have now gone down to level 2 in social distancing, which means that restaurants and shops are now allowed to operate during normal hours as long as they comply with the government rules that include customer entry logs with the time, date, name, temperature, phone number and address of everyone that enters.

As a result of the reduction in social distancing measures, we have been able to do some of the postponed initial introductory meetings with our Korean buddies. They have introduced us to some of the local bars and places to go out and sing karaoke close to the school.

The fact that we are now more able to meet up in person has also given more of a community feeling among all the exchange students from different dorms and the buddies. I can now add real faces to some of the voices in my online classes.

The online classes will continue until at least after the Chuseok holiday, which is from the 30 August to 4 September. This is the Korean thanksgiving where everyone travels across the country to spend time with their families. The government is worried about the big risk of a lot of new infections, so they are keeping the current measures in place.

restaurant in South Korea

(Photo by Frederikke Viltoft Mygind)

I have learned a few Korean words to be able to communicate a little bit in order to get by, as the most common response to “Do you speak English?” is a nervous head shake. However, everyone is still very helpful and instead they type their Korean response into Google Translate and show it to us in English.

In Korea, eating out is actually a lot cheaper than buying and cooking food yourself unless you want to only eat ramen noodles. Therefore, we eat out every day for both lunch and dinner but to avoid coming home looking like a rice cake or fried pork cutlet, we eat oatmeal for breakfast. Eating out has also become a very nice and social thing to look forward to on days when we have many lectures.

Every day, we eat lunch in one of the school cafeterias where we are working our way through the entire menu selection. Sometimes the outcome is better than others, but there are always delicious all-you-can-eat free sides dishes available, such as fish cakes, kimchi, seaweed salad, yellow kimchi, corn & mayo salat, and marinated potatoes.

One of the most helpful words that I have learned so far, apart from hello, thank you, and excuse me, is Soya sauce (간장/ganjang). Korean food contains hardly any salt, which for my Danish taste buds is sometimes needed – especially for Gimbap, which is a sort of Korean version of sushi.

However, we have now made friends with one of the women who works at the cafeteria and when she sees us she automatically gives us soya sauce – a major accomplishment in getting fully integrated at the university.

coast line in South Korea

(Photo by Frederikke Viltoft Mygind)

We have really been making the most of the fact that we don’t have any classes on Fridays and late classes on Mondays by traveling the country a bit. We have gone on two extended weekend trips in the past two weeks. Last weekend, 11 of us went to Jeju Island, which is a vacation island located southwest of the Korean mainland. We took a plane late Thursday and were back early Monday morning, which cost only 17$ for the roundtrip.

At Jeju Island, we saw several beautiful waterfalls, volcanic cliffs, the remains of a huge volcanic crater, the beautiful beaches, and took a day trip to Udo Island where we spent the day exploring the island on electric bikes. This weekend, three other girls and I took a trip to Yangyang, which is by the seaside on the east side of Korea 175km from Seoul. Yangyang is located close to a famous national park and amazing surf beaches.

Beach in South Korea

(Photo by Frederikke Viltoft Mygind)

The first day we went to the Seoraksan National Park, where we took a cable car as far as possible and hiked further to the top to see the amazing view even in the fog. The next day, the weather was much better, so we decided to spend the day on the beach. In the coming days, during Chuseok, we are planning to go to a big amusement park, hike the city wall, see all the flowers now blooming in the Olympic Park, and start studying for the mid-term exams.

I am very excited to see Seoul and all its beautiful nature in autumn colors but, for the moment, I am enjoying still being able to walk around in summer dresses and Birkenstocks.

Small houses in South Korea
(Photo by Frederikke Viltoft Mygind)
Waterfall in South Korea
(Photo by Frederikke Viltoft Mygind)

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

South Korea: I can now add real faces to some of the voices in my online classesby

  • News

    Why so sudden? The CBS financial crisis explained

    Employees and union representatives have posed many questions in the wake of the 17 August announcement of a firing round. In this interview, University Director Arnold Boon explains how Senior Management has been working with the budget and a change of financial strategy since the fall of 2022, and why layoffs are now necessary.

  • Blog

    Uncertain times: Essential for business schools to understand their market

    The alliance of European business schools met at CBS in June to enhance recruitment strategies, stay informed on industry trends, and analyse where the global economy is heading. The CBS MBA Programmes shares some key take-aways from Associate Dean and Professor Jesper Rangvid’s presentation.

  • News

    Working hard all summer: Bachelor Admissions

    The employees in charge of bachelor admissions at CBS are a small exclusive team. They ensure the validity of diplomas and the fulfilment of entry requirements for bachelor’s degrees at CBS – and, not least, that the applicants get the necessary help to upload the right documentation and find their way around the application procedures.

  • News

    Union reps want transparency about redundancy packages

    The unions are hoping for a fair process – and the AC club is calling for transparency about redundancy packages. Academic union representatives expect that actual dismissals can be avoided among faculty members, whereas administrative staff are expecting layoffs.

  • Gif of the week
  • News

    Snapshots: CBS staff busy preparing for a new semester

    For the staff at CBS, the weeks and sometimes even months leading up to study start are spent busily preparing for new and returning students and a brand-new semester.

  • Guide

    Those odd little words

    Some words of advice from CBS WIRE’s proofreader Helen Dyrbye, a British expat who has lived in Denmark for decades. Here she explains a few tiny words that can occasionally spell BIG trouble.

  • News

    Community is key for study start 2023

    This year, showing both new and returning students the concept of ‘community’ at CBS is a top priority. There is room for everyone, and you can find others that share the same interests as you. Those are the key messages from the Student Communications team. This is highlighted by two campaigns, during the introduction week and at the Bachelor Kick Off.

Follow CBS students studying abroad

CBS WIRE collaborates with Videnskab.dk

Stay connected

Close