Student Report
Name of the University: Keimyung University
Exchange semester: Fall 2013
I. PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before leaving Norway
We received our acceptance letter and information about our semester abroad from the
exchange university about two months before the semester started. We exchanged emails
frequently with the International Office at our exchange university who updated us on
different deadlines and answered all of our questions regarding the exchange.
Furthermore, Keimyung University has a buddy system where you are assigned a Korean
friend who will help you with anything necessary before and while you are in Korea. The
buddy will send you an email a few weeks before the semester starts and you can
communicate with each other through emails or KakaoTalk (popular messaging app in South
Korea). It made the experience a lot better knowing you had someone who could help you
whenever you needed help (especially with the language barrier).
They also created a handbook for exchange students, with information about visa, housing,
directions etc.
Applying for a visa
For the visa application you need to fill out the application form (which you need to download
from http://nor.mofat.go.kr), and bring the papers you received from the exchange university,
your passport and a couple of pictures of yourselves to the Embassy of the Republic of
Korea in Oslo. You will also need to bring a transcript of your bank account. It takes 7
working days to issue the visa, and you have to pay a fee of 300 NOK. The process went
very smoothly and because the university did most of the paperwork, you just have to hand
over all the documents to the embassy and pick up your passport and visa after about a
week.
Travel
We ordered our tickets through momondo.com and KLM.com. The travel time is about 15-18
hours depending on what route you choose. After arriving in Seoul, there are many ways to
get to Daegu (where our university is located), such as by plane, train or bus. We took the
KTX (train) and it cost us around 250 NOK and takes about 2 hours. With the slower train
(which are cheaper) it can take up to 4-5 hours. From the train station it takes about 20
minutes with a taxi to campus, and it will cost you around 100 NOK.
Housing
About one month or so before the semester starts, you will be able to choose between three
different kind of dorms that Keimyung University offers; The KELI House, the General House
and the International House. In all the dormitories you will have to share a room with one or
two people and in KELI House and General House you must share bathroom and shower
with the other residences on the same floor as you. The International House is of higher
standard and you will have your own bathroom and the rooms are a little bit bigger. The price
for International House is of course a little bit more expensive then the KELI house and the
General House. The curfew for all dormitories is at 23:00, even on weekends. You can apply
to sleep outside campus if you want too. We both stayed at KELI House this semester. If you
don’t want to sleep in the dormitories, it is fairly easy to find an apartment to rent close to
campus.
Costs
The cost for renting a room at KELI House was about 4000 NOK for the whole semester.
There is also an optional meal plan (3 meals a day) if you live in the dormitory, and it will cost
you about 1500 NOK for the whole semester. If you don’t want the meal plan, there are
several cafeterias and food courts on campus, and a lot of restaurants near campus as well.
They also have excellent delivery services in Korea if you just want to order in. Not all
classes require you to buy books, but the books are not as expensive as back home. You will
also find that food and transportations costs in general are pretty cheap, especially if you are
comparing it to back home.
Culture and language
Daegu is a very conservative city. But since it is located in the middle of the country, it’s a
great spot to use a as a traveling base. From here you can either take the train, bus or plane
to anywhere in South Korea.
The university has a Culture Experience Program for international students where you can
sign up to learn more about the Korean culture. It can be everything from calligraphy to
traditional tea ceremonies.
The English level among the Korean population in general is not very good, but it is better
among the younger population. At the university all the student can speak English to the
degree where you can ask them for help if you are lost. Off course the level is different from
person to person, some of them speaks very good English while others don’t. But even
though they don’t speak English very well, they will still try and help you. We never
experienced any major language problems while studying in South Korea, maybe because
we both knew a little bit of Korean before we came to South Korea.
II.
ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Keimyung University is a private university in Daegu, South Korea. The university is
composed of three campuses which are named for their locations within the city; Daemyeong,
which is near the downtown area, Seongseo, which is in the western part of the city, and also
Dongsan campus which includes Dongsan Medical Center. Our campus was located in
Seongseo.
“As of May 2013, Keimyung University is comprised of over 26 000 students and over 2 400
faculty members and employees in 99 majors, 68 departements in 11 faculties and 20
colleges, 13 graduate schools, 34 attached and affiliated institutes including Dongsan
Medical Center and 17 affiliated research centers” – from our handbook.
The school campus is really beautiful and consists of a huge area with several buildings for
the different departments. However, it is located a bit outside the city center area, so it will
take you about 20 minutes with the subway to get down town.
Course registration
About one and a half month before the semester started we received emails regarding the
course registration for our semester abroad. However when we arrived some students had
some problems with their courses and they weren’t applied to any courses. Some of the
courses listed didn’t have enough students, so some of them were cancelled. However, you
can apply and change courses until the second week of the semester. The International
Office was very flexible about the dates and very helpful. For exchange students we had
about 2 weeks to decide what we want to take and if we like the courses.
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)
23. December
(Dormitory closes)
Arrival
Upon arrival you will be picked up by your Korean buddy as mentioned above. Your Korean
buddy will help you get to campus and the dormitories and help you with anything you need.
This made the experience a lot more pleasant.
The semester started 2nd of September and classes ended around 13th of December, with the
final exams the following week. The first day will be an orientation day, where you will meet
the other exchange students and get information about the campus and the semester.
The International Office
The International Office at Keimyung University speaks very good English and is very
helpful in answering any questions or help you with whatever you may need. They usually
give out all the information needed, and if you need anything more don’t hesitate to ask
them.
Promoting BI and Norway
Regarding promoting BI as an exchange destination there weren’t any arranged activity such
as a “student fair”, but the students here were very curious about Norway so we got a lot of
questions regarding studying in Norway.
Social activities
The International Office will sometimes arrange field trips or recommend trips for the
exchange students to participate to experience the Korean culture.
Keimyung University also have something called the International Lounge, which is a place
where you can study and meet other exchange students, but also where Koreans who want
to meet foreigners to learn about new cultures and languages. It is a great place to meet new
people and the staff at the International Lounge also arranges events sometimes like
Halloween parties etc..
III. ACADEMICS
In the classroom
All of our courses were taught in English and most of our professors spoke perfect English
and had a lot of background and experience in the field that they were teaching in. The
teaching style at Keimyung University was quite different from the teaching style we are used
to having at BI. The classes are smaller (around 15-30 students) so participation and
attendance will play a big part of your final grade. They also have several group presentations,
assignments, mid-term exams and final exams. This requires you to work evenly throughout
the semester, instead of just reading for one final exam like we are used to back home.
The syllabus is also much easier and the school had more practical approach to the theories.
Course materials
Most of the courses we took this semester didn’t require any books. There were mostly
Power Points created by the teachers. As mentioned above, they have a more practical
approach to the theories through team presentations and activities in class.
Exams
In most classes, you will have a mid-term exam and a final exam. Unlike the system we are
used to at our home university, the final exam does not count for a 100% of your grade. In
some courses they only count for 30-60%. They will grade you based on class attendance,
in-class quizzes throughout the semester, assignments and presentations.
Description of courses
10150-01 CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
This course was one of my elective courses and probably the easiest course I took here. But
it was very interesting because we were mostly exchange students from different parts of the
world, so we learned a lot about how communication works in different kinds of cultures. You
will be graded by participation, attendance and one presentation.
10363-01 KOREAN LANGUAGE PRACTICE (1)
They will say that class is mandatory 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, oral 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.
20438-01 INTRODUCTION TO KOREAN CULTURE
This course gave us a good overview of Korean traditional culture, while also providing us
with the essential historical and geographical background for a better understanding of
Korean culture.
You will be graded on attendance, two assignments (one written and one presentation), a midterm exam and a final exam.
32279-01 BASICS FOR WORLD ECONOMY (32279-01):
“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.
Please do not hesitate to contact us through International Office if you have any
questions.