Compared to my experience in the fall, spring semester was more toned down and a bit more stressful. I think the fact that it was my last semester of university made things more stressful. I was worried about my future after graduating and getting my credits and grades into my home university. Academically for spring semester, I took only three major classes and a full time internship for a startup venture company in Seoul. This lead to a more different experience than my time in fall semester.
Since I was not in a lot of classes, it was harder to make new friends and the classes I enrolled in was still English instructed, but there were not as many exchange students in them. One thing I noticed about Korean universities is that they sure love group projects and presentations. It was a good learning experience being forced to work with native students; however, the results were not always favorable. In one class, my group was fantastic and very efficient. In the other class, not so much. The nicest and briefest way to describe that disastrous group is “knowing two languages is power.”
I did a lot less things in Yonsei because I was already accustomed with studying in Yonsei university. Also, since I was a year student, I tried not to get too attached with the exchange students who were only there for spring semester. I had a difficult time after most of my fall semester friends went back to their home countries. I felt like I had to start all over and explain a lot of things to the new students. It was a small window to what the native students might have felt when forming friends with exchange students. Plus, I was on campus a lot less since I mainly worked at home for my internship.
I would say that I am a more unique case of an exchange student in the Yonsei program since I lived off campus during my whole time, stayed at my relative’s home, and started to think of staying more long term in Korea after my exchange program ended. The commute from my place to campus was roughly an hour and half or two hours (during rush hour) since I lived in the other side of Seoul. After more than six months of such a long commute, this made me more unwilling to come to campus unless it was necessary such as lectures. Since of my internship, I was also a lot more focused into job seeking in Korea for after graduation. These things made me feel disconnected with the exchange students and I instead focused in the relationships I have already formed outside of campus.
I would encourage future exchange students to come in the fall semester since spring in Korea is notorious of the yellow fine dust that plagues the peninsula seriously these days. A lot of foreigners are highly sensitive to the dust and may get sick from the exposure if not using a face mask properly. Plus, fall semester in Yonsei is more fun than the spring semester because of Yon-go-jeon. There is a spring festival where the university hosts some K-pop idols to come and sing. However, Yonsei’s are normally not that fun compared to the other universities. It may be fun to hardcore K-pop fans but there is not that much of the adrenaline filled school spirit that is found in the fall.
Overall, I think it was a good fit for me to do a full year in Yonsei. I definitely get to say that I experienced the whole package. It was a good mix of both worlds. In the fall, I got to be like any other exchange student and have fun. In the spring, I had more of an experience of what it is like to live as a native college student in Korea. I am really grateful for being to experience the best year of my college career and wouldn’t have wanted it in any other way.