Student Report
Name of the University: Keimyung University
Exchange semester: Fall 2014
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
I received the acceptance letter from Keimyung University about 7-8 weeks before the
semester started. The International Office at Keimyung was frequently sending
information about deadlines, housing and the buddy program.
You are assigned a buddy about a few weeks before the semester starts. The buddy will
contact you either by email or social media. I would recommend downloading an
application called Kakao Talk, which is Korea answer to Facebook Messenger or
Whatsapp. It will be much easier to contact your buddy thorugh this messenger app.
You will also receive a International Student Hand Book from the International Office at
Keimyung together with the acceptance letter.
Applying for a visa
For the visa application you will have to bring the letter and papers already filled out by
Keimyung University that you received with the acceptance letter along with the visa
application form found at Korea’s embassy in Norways webpage. The fee was
approximately 350 NOK and paid in cash. It took me 5 working days after I visited the
embassy till the passport with visa was returned to me in the mail.
Travel
Since there is at the time no direct flight from Norway to Korea you will have to transfer.
I took Qatar Airways both ways and the time including transfer was about 17 hours. The
airplane will land at Incheon International Airport 40 minutes outside Seoul. There are
several ways to travel from Seoul to Daegu. By train, bus or domestic flight. I would
recommend the KTX train, which is Korea’s high speed train that takes less than 2 hours.
The price is 40.000 KRW which exchanges into 280 NOK.
Housing
Housing is provided by the school. You will be able to choose which of the three
dormitories you would like to stay in ( KELI house, International Dorm or General Hall),
but it is not sure that you will get the exact dormitory you apply for.
I stayed at the International Dorm. You will have either one or two roommates that you
share your room with. The price was about 5000 NOK for the entire semester.
There is a curfew at all of the dormitories at 23:00 every night, including weekends. You
can apply to sleep outside campus.
Costs
The rent for the dormitories are from 4000 – 5500 NOK for the entire semester. If you
would the to eat at the dorm cafeteria it will be about 1500 NOK for the semester. I did
not take the meal plan and ate out at resturants every day. You can easily get dinner out
for about 3000-4000 KRW which is about 21-28 NOK.
Culture and language
Daegu is a big city, but not very international compared to the other big cites in Korea.
Generally it is viewed as a conservative city. It is located two hours from Seoul and less
than one hour from Busan which are both much more international.
The general English knowledge in Korea is very limited. At the University most people
have some English knowledge, but a lot of Koreas are quite shy to speak English.
However, they will try to help you if you are lost. You will have to take a Korean class at
the University and that will be very helpful. Even with a very limited vocabulary you will
get around much easier.
The International Office will offer a Korean Culture Exchange Program where you can
learn anything from tea ceremonies to traditional pottery and calligraphy.
II. ABOUT THE SCHOOL
The school
The main campus Seongseo is located about 20 minutes with the subway from the city
centre in Daegu. There are two other campuses downtown which is the Art School and
Dongsan Medical Center. The school was founded 115 years ago by Christian
missionaries. Seongseo is a huge campus and to walk across will take you about 40
minutes. The student body is approximately 28.000 students.
Course registration
A few weeks before the semester starts you will receive a email from the International
Office about which classes will be available that semester and instructions how to
register. I had to fill out a form and send back to the International Office. However you
can change, add or drop classes the first week of the semester, so you can try out classes
and see if you like it.
Academic calendar
Arrival date:
First day of the semester:
Last day of classes:
Examination period:
Any special events/holidays:
Other:
1. September
2. September
16. December
17-23. December
18-20 September
(Korean
Thanksgiving)
3. October (National
Foundation Day)
9. October (Korean
Language Day)
20. December
(Dormitory closes)
Arrival
I arrived in Daegu the 29th of August and was picked up at the train station by my
buddy. She helped me taking a taxi from Dongdaegu Station to Seongseo Campus where
the dormitories are located. We went to the guard office and picked up the key for my
room and went out to a mall to shop for bed linens which is not provided by the dorms.
The first day of school we had an introduction day with the international office. We were
divided into groups and had tours of the entire campus aswell as a lot of information
about the school and korea in general.
The International Office
The International Office was great. They spoke very well English and were very helpful
with whatever you needed help with. They give out a lot of information and can help you
with almost everything.
Promoting BI and Norway
There was no such thing as a student fair at the University. However, I hosted a Norway
day at the ‘’International Lounge’’ where I had a presentation about Norway and BI.
Koreans were very curious about Norway, and especially the Vikings.
Social activities
The International Office will hold a couple of field trips that are really worth going on.
You will be able to visit old temples and astonishing mountains. The International
Lounge will host a field trip almost every weekend that you can sign up for. At the
International Lounge you can study or get free coffee. You will probably also meet some
Koreans coming there to meet foreigners and to learn out either our language or culture.
A great way to meet new Korean friends.
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
The classes are much smaller than at BI. I had classes with about 10 – 30 students. All
my classes were in English and the teachers were very competent and had a good
knowledge of English and the course in general. Since the classes are so much smaller
you will have to participate a lot in class which will be a part of your final grade.
Attencende is also accounted into your final grade (10-20% of final grade). We had
several power point presentations during the semester and there was a lot of teacherstudent interaction during class. Attendance is mandatory.
Course materials
None of my classes had any mandatory books, but you could buy them for about 50-150
NOK per book.
Exams
Most classes have a midterm and a final exam. However the system is very different
from the one back at BI. Final exams only accounts for about 20-35% of your grade. The
rest is midterms, presentations, assignments, homework and pop-quizzes throughout
the semester, which means the workload is more spread out.
Description of courses
10150-01 CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
This is a very interesting course where you will learn about all the different cultures that
are represented in your class as well as a lot about Korean culture. I would recommend
this course to anyone who will attend Keimyung. You will be graded by participation,
attendance and one presentation.
10363-01 KOREAN LANGUAGE PRACTICE (1)
This is a mandatory course for all exchange students. This course
is really useful for learning the basics of the Korean language. Korean people, especially
the elders, really like it when foreigners try to speak Korean and they will be more
helpful if you know a few phrases. You will be graded by a mid-term exam and a final
exam.
16751-07 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
This was one of the mandatory classes we had to take while studying here. From the
course description: “This course is designed to study competition from the perspective
of top management, focusing particularly on the sources of competitive advantage and
the interaction between industry structure and organizational capabilities”.
You will be graded by a group presentation (with a written report), several pop-quizzes,
a mid-term exam and a final exam.
32279-01 BASICS FOR WORLD ECONOMY
“The course's goal is to introduce students to the basic analytical building blocks of
international trade theory in order to promote an understanding on what drives
international commerce.
The course will foster students understanding of international trade, international
economics, and international finance in our globalized world” – from the course
description.’
In this class there is no exams, but you will have weekly assignments you have to hand
in.
10361-01 KOREAN HISTORY
This course was a very interesting and you will get a great overview about Korean
history back from the year 2600 BC until the 1990’s. This course was graded by one
midterm, two assignments, one presentation, attendance and one final exam.
On a final note, how will you sum up the exchange experience?
My exchange semester was very great. I met so many incredible people and friends that I
have for a lifetime. I learned a lot about the culture of Korea and a lot about myself. I
would recommend going all the way to Korea to anyone who is interested in something
more than a normal exchange semester. You may come across some hard times but it is
all worth it in the end.
Do not hesitate do contact me through the International Office if you have any questions
about Korea or exchange in general.