Why did you choose this University for your exchange?
"The university had very good rankings and the selection of courses really caught my eye, although in the end they were not the courses truly offered. The country itself also played a huge role in my decision, as I've always lived in Western countries and I felt that I could really use a change of environment and perspective. It just seemed like an amazing opportunity to come to Asia, and to experience the country in ways I might not have the opportunity to in the future."
Did it meet your expectations so far?
"I expected it to be a difficult transition in many ways. I was quite worried about the language barrier, which to be fair is quite significant. It is rather funny to walk around and not be able to read anything because you don't even understand the alphabet; or to see the name of someone texting you or in Zoom have no idea what they are called! But it is possible to work around it, and it's not as incapacitating as I thought it would be. Furthermore I would say that from my experience here it is much more relaxed than I would have previously thought, which is surprising given how hectic the lives of most Koreans are. There are, however, a few points of maybe cultural divergence between the Netherlands or the west at large and South Korea that I came to find more problematic than I had expected. However I must say that experiencing such differences is not only something I expected but something I desired and that brought me here, so in this sense it thankfully did meet my expectations."
Could you give an example of things that you find difficult or problematic?
"Well, for example, in the other countries I’ve lived in I'm always treated as a foreigner, but quite as an outsider. The Netherlands is a perfect example. I receive pretty much the same treatment as a Dutch person would receive.I am included in their friend groups, I am able to participate in all aspects of daily life, I am able to go anywhere. Here, that is not always the case. You do get a quite different treatment being a foreigner, especially when it comes to COVID. For example, at some point Koreans were allowed to hang out in groups of 6 while foreigners were only allowed in pairs. Or how vaccines not given outside of Korea are still widely disregarded, and so foreigners are excluded from the benefits of being vaccinated.
And this differential treatment is not limited to government, given how homogenous Korean society is foreigners really stand out, which makes it easy for differential treatment to occur. This can be something neutral as people looking at you curiously but also in very negative ways such as cab drivers charging significantly more for rides, or a few places not allowing foreigners in."
You also mentioned that a lot of things were more chill than you expected. In what sense?
"I think firstly the pace here at university is more relaxed. I would say that out of my five courses, only one of them is close to the PPE level in terms of speed and expectations. The other four are slower and assessment is not as complicated. It leaves me more time to do stuff outside of university. Another major selling point in Korea is the food. Besides the amazing cuisine, eating out is very affordable. So instead of having to cook at home as I Would in the Netherlands, I can just eat at a restaurant twice a day, which saves time, energy and keeps me from having to eat food I cooked. That is just amazing. I think it is a combination of all these things plus the sheer amount of unconventional things to do, such as weekly hiking, animal cafes, huge shopping malls and weekend trips really make it feel like more than just an academic experience."
Overall, how do you think you will look back on this experience?
"It has been extremely positive. I wanted to challenge myself, to go as far as I could and to experience a new culture and the shock that comes with it and that's exactly what I got. Even though it's definitely not always positive, it is what I was hoping for: the country is beautiful, there is an insurmountable amount of things to see, food is amazing and the levels of safety are just remarkable. However, as much as I enjoyed it, I don't see myself living in Korea again. It’s been amazing for a couple of months, but I think I’d struggle to bear the problems mentioned before and others such as pollution for longer time periods."
What advice would you give to PPE students who still want to go on exchange?
"My favourite thing about exchange is that it allows you to turn your life upside down, to give up the routine that you're used to and in a way go on vacation into a life that is different of your own. It’s more than just the changes in the weather, in the people you see or the subjects you study, it is really an opportunity to change perspectives, goals and more. Even if you don't go as far as Korea, it is an amazing opportunity to step out of normality and therefore I can highly recommend doing it. Another advice I can give is that from my experience PPE has a very particular approach towards the subjects it teaches, which entails that exchange universities may focus on entirely different points compared to what we are used to. In my case I felt this in economics courses, whereas PPE focuses on understanding the assumptions, implications and “intuition” of economic models Korea university focuses almost exclusively on memorizing formulas and making calculations. So I think that students should keep the possibility of different approaches in mind in order to not be disappointed."
