When I thought about how my time at Ewha would look like before actually coming here, there were certain things that I had expected. What I already knew was that Ewha is a respected university, so I expected a good environment to study, hopefully interesting classes, a beautiful campus and a great location within Seoul. And of course I hoped to get to know Korean culture better and to get to know what exactly would be different and unfamiliar. All in all, I was looking forward to this time and already expected it to be very, very interesting.
Now, after spending almost three months here, I can say that studying here is indeed an inspiring experience. With some classes being the most interesting and motivating ones I ever had, the campus is very beautiful indeed, which explains why it seems to be a popluar attraction for tourists. The area near the campus also offers lots of things to eat, discover and try out. Yet, there are things that I could not have predicted.
Of course, some things were surprising in the beginning, whether it is how our pictures for the ARC were photoshopped (to an extent that we wondered who these persons on the photographs were), incredibly spicy food or the discipline of Korean students to work much harder than at least the image of an average student that I have from home.
More than that, I discovered my passion for everything containing green tea and ceramics, which I could never have done as a class in my home university. In fact, I am also surprised that living here does not feel as unfamiliar as I had expected. Also, I did not expect people here to be so incredibly helpful whenever you are in a situation that is hard to handle on your own. For example, I had lost my iPod once in a bus and was very, very lucky to get it back with the help of some very kind people.
The biggest surprise above all, however, would be getting to know so many nice people from all over the world that would show me different perspectives on life and the world. Living together with some of those people and finding friends that I will definitely miss when I return home is what makes the time here not only a great experience in general, but something to look back on and feel happy about. Because I guess the people you meet and the experiences you make can shape you in a way that you can never predict.
Overall, I can confidently say that I enjoy being an exchange student at Ewha and having the opportunity of living in a place like Seoul. That is because there is always a place you haven’t seen yet, a street you haven’t walked through, even if it’s only within a distance of a few hundred meters, a new cafe, an exhibition you have not looked at and food you havn’t tried.
Being here in Seoul always brings new, unknown and inspiring impression because even if you feel a bit lost sometimes, at some point you end up realizing it is not that bad to not exactly know where you are.