731833
Maurits Meeusen
M.j.meeusen@tilburguniversity.edu
Spring 2014
2014-2015
Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
Admission, arrival, housing
When arriving in Korea, there was nothing organised by Yonsei for incoming exchange students.
Fortunately, it was pretty easy to find the right bus which stopped in front of the Yonsei dormitories. At
the dormitories there were plenty people to help you out in case you had any questions and the whole
proces was very fluid. The first 2 days included housing and academic orientation, a lot of events so you
could get to know people and introduction to your mentor and cell group. The cell groups are created by
Korean students, to help out and meet exchange students. The Yonsei dorms were clean and had proper
facilities. However, due to the comparitively strict rules, the lack of a proper common room or lounge
was dissapointing, since there was no way to hang out with all genders after 10PM. The application for
dorms was very easy to do and I had no problems whatsoever regarding getting into the dorms, nor
were there any when I lived there.
Location of University/city
Seoul is absolutely amazing. It is almost incomprehensibly enormous and there is always something to
do. It has street performances, lots of clubs and parties, ancient temples and hiking trails - it's a mix of
traditional Korean culture and a modern metropolis. Yonsei is one of the best located universities in
Seoul. It is located in Sinchon, which is a great neighbourhood with plenty of cheap food, places to party
and hang out and lots of students. It's also only a single subway stop or a 20 minute walk away from
Hongdae, which is in my opinion the most fun neighbourhood in the entirety of Seoul as a student. The
only place that is far away is Gangnam, which is not nearly as fun as Hongdae or Sinchon. Seoul as a city
is completely incomparable to Tilburg, due to sheer size, amount of people living there and history.
Academics
I took four courses in Yonsei. 2 American law courses which were graduate courses, 1 focused on the
legal system and 1 on the American Constitution. The other two were English Law and International
Human Rights, both undergraduate. Unfortunately there was no possibility for me to take any Korean
law courses. I can definitely recommend the two American law courses. The coursework was a lot but
not too much, the professors were very good teachers and there was plenty of interaction. The
undergraduate courses I liked less, since they felt more like high school courses where there was a very
strong focus on memorisation instead of actually understanding the subject matter. International
Human Rights was a very rewarding course regardless, because of the subject matter. I did not enjoy
English Law and Legal system, both due the teacher and the way the course was taught. I have studied
more in Korea then I did at Tilburg University. However, this was mainly because of motivation and not
because of the workload. The graduate courses were of similar or possibly higher level then the courses
I have taken here at Tilburg University, although the grading - due to a curved grading system - is
significantly less harsh. The undergraduate courses were of a lower level and were moderately
dissapointing to me. I am very happy with the fact that all the work I put into the graduate courses paid
off and I think the experiences I have had in Korea have definitely made me a much better student,
which (or so I hope) will aid me in my continued studies at Tilburg University.
Social life
There were a ton of events. Especially the first month, there were events organised by both the
university as by different organisations every single night, ranging from parties to watching Korean
movies, eating Korean food and going on trips around the city. I had contact with a lot of local students,
due to the fact that my classes were not categorized as exchange classes. As a result, there were a lot of
Korean students in them, as opposed to some of the exchange courses. However, all my closest friends
and most of the people I spent time with were exchange students. I had no problems with getting along
with people and I have met some of the most amazing people there. I have traveled to the Philippines
with some of them, and we organised a number of other trips within Korea. The social part was one of
my favorite parts of the whole exchange experience and I have made friendships that, hopefully, will last
a lifetime.
Living Costs
I had saved up a lot of money from working beforehand and used my regular student grant. This was
enough to get me through the 4 months. Korea has very cheap restaurants, but if you want to cook
yourself it's way more expensive. Because of this, you only eat out which makes living there a lot more
expensive then living in Tilburg. I spend, if I didn't do anything special, between 10 and 15 euro's a day.
However, with partying, trips, events and going out for more fancy dinners that number rises
astronomically. The textbooks were pretty normally priced and often some of the students posssessed
PDF's of the textbooks which were shared by everyone. Most of my money there was spent on food, or
traveling expenses. Public transport is very cheap compared to the Netherlands. Housing was paid in
advance, so that wasn't part of my budgeting while I was there. I spent about 4000 euro's in the 4
months I was there, housing not included.
Culture
I did not experience any culture shock, mainly due to the group of friends I met. Korean culture is
somewhat dualistic and is very different from Dutch culture. It is more conservative, more hieriarchial
and their youth culture is very extreme compared to my own. The main thing I learned about my own
culture is that no one really knows the Dutch and that we're pretty straightforward (or rude) compared
to other cultures. Also, the great differences between American and European culture suprised me
greatly. Korean culture was very interesting to me, but I prefer the Dutch culture, mainly for its stance
on social rights, homosexuality and religion. It's hard to explain Korean culture in a few sentences, but it
has so many different customs and ways of interacting with each other that were completely unknown
to me. I also traveled to the Philippines, which shocked me with how incredibly poor it was, as well as
how filthy and unsafe Manilla felt. I didn't really get to know Philippino culture, but the Philippino
people were all incredibly friendly and helpful while we were there.
Personal development
I have not an experience that has changed me this much in such a short amount of time as my exchange
semester to Korea. The people I met there were intelligent, motivated, friendly, social and they
motivated me to be a better person and try harder. Meeting so many people from different cultures was
a very humbling and exciting experience. I would not do anything differently. The best experience was
either my trip to the Philippines, or some of the moments I spent with the people there. I will never
forget either of those experiences, or any of the people I met there. My most important lesson I had
learned was that I still have a lot to learn, which is a tad cliché but very accurate regardless.
Tips for future students
Go on exchange. Seriously, just go. It will be one of the best experiences of your life and if you have the
right mindset, you can learn so much in such a short amount of time. I can also recommend South Korea
if you are interested in going to Asia. It has a lot of gorgeous nature, is close to South East Asia and has
acces to cheap flight tickets, it's culture is incredibly interesting and Yonsei was a great university. Make
sure you budget properly and be open to any experience you may have while you are there. Make sure
to make the most of the short time you're spending there.