End of 1st Semester

So it's actually been a while since the end of the first semester. Sorry I've been gone for so long! Final exams actually ended on December 21st, which I believe was a week after UHM actually finished. Exams were definitely different than what I had expected them to be. I guess I got used to having exams being broken down into multiple midterms throughout the semester. From my experience at Yonsei, the midterms cover a much broader range because there is only one midterm and one exam. It also seems fairly common for professors here to give 3-4 short answer questions for their exams. Throughout the semester I was very worried about how my grades would turn out. I honestly didn't do very well on my midterm exams, but there were a lot of other people struggling too. There's actually a huge curve at the end of the semester. Someone in our class said that most professors pass about 80% of the class.
Professors gave us the percentage weights of things like participation, exams, and homework, but many didn't tell us what they expected from us. Other than topic, font size, and spacing, they gave almost no instructions for how to write our papers or make our presentations. I guess we had a lot of freedom to choose.
Note: Koreans seem to LOVE fancy presentations (i.e. colorful, animated, and very clustered presentations). Back home we were taught that we shouldn't have too much text on powerpoint slides, but they don't seem to mind huge blocks of text here either.

Yonsei University

Facebook
One thing that you should do before getting here is to check out different Yonsei Facebook pages (i.e. clubs you're interested in joining, the dorm page, and someone will probably make a page for the year that you're studying abroad). It's very helpful for finding information and asking questions.

Travel
Once you get here, you're gonna need a T Money card for traveling (I've also seen it sold as a cell phone strap or you can connect it to your Korean bank card, but that's kinda complicated). You can buy this at any convenience store or I got mine at the information/help booth in the subway. You can put money on this card at the convenience store or there are machines at every subway station.

Food
Yonsei doesn't have a meal plan, but there are a lot of places to eat on campus. There's a convenience store, a cafeteria, and a few small restaurants in the basement of the SK Global House. There are also a lot of restaurants around the east and west gates as well (the international dorms are located near the east gate). It seems like you can buy food in the basement of almost every building on campus, including the library. Cafeterias are pretty efficient. You usually pay in one place and receive a number, then go to that station and wait for your number to light up and you can take your food (don't forget to grab a tray with utensils and side dishes!!).


Overall, I really enjoyed Korea and Yonsei. I'm definitely glad that I decided to stay here for a year. Although I miss Hawaii, I decided not to go home over winter break, even though it's over 2 months long. It's a great chance to immerse myself into Korean culture. Thanks again to Mr. Freeman and Mrs. Freeman for this amazing experience!

View from SK Global <3