On student mobility in another country, the most important thing is to understand your responsibility for the time spent there

Alexander Starshinov, a 2nd year student of the master's program "Socio-economic and political development of modern Asia", talks about his internship at Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea.

My major is Korean studies, so I didn’t have much choice (as well as doubts) where to go. And though the competition for mobility was extremely tough (given that Sungkyunkwan University was the only South Korean university on the list and there were only two places), I somehow managed to get accepted for it. In any case, that was good that HSE University maintained contact with at least one Korean university during COVID-19 pandemic. Although I perfectly understood that it would be difficult to study abroad during these hard times, for me it was vital to spend time in the country I am currently studying – even under such unfavorable conditions.

I won’t describe all the hardships I encountered during the visa process, upon arrival (the Korean bureaucracy turned out to be not as effective as it is commonly portrayed) or during my two-week quarantine within the confines of four walls. The main thing to remember is to do everything in advance, to think about different scenarios how things might go – although some problems will arise in any case and they will have to be solved on the spot. And most importantly, always have cash with you. This will help you out a lot one day.

I arrived in the Republic of Korea in early August and after going through quarantine I moved to the dormitory. It was clear that this place was mainly “designed” for foreigners, and most of the residents indeed were exchange students (although I, for instance, lived with a Korean from Pusan). For various reasons, other Korean residents hardly interacted with exchange students (and vice versa, exchange students did not interact with Koreans). Moreover, among foreigners almost nobody spoke Korean (except two guys from Taiwan), and as a result two parallel worlds existed at the dorms.

Moreover, due to COVID-19 “student life” (in the conventional sense) has suffered a lot. Some classes were online, some were offline, but this, in fact, had little effect on student life per se. It seemed like social ties in principle fell apart, even our buddies, in general, did practically nothing to somehow help us get used to Korea.

One of the reasons for this was that the Republic of Korea introduced strict anti-COVID measures, which were based on several principles: limiting the number of people who can gather together, setting “curfew” for businesses (on average, everything closed at 10 pm) and introducing system of QR-codes. Because of that I decided to get vaccinated with Pfizer, because without the vaccine I had to take a PCR test every two days in order to go somewhere with friends. Fortunately, PCR tests could be done quickly and at zero cost.

The coronavirus, of course, had a significant impact on classes, but I would say this impact was different depending on the subject. In some cases, it wasn’t that significant – I would emphasize National Strategy class that turned out to be the most interesting one for me. First, the teacher decided to conduct it offline (which was a huge relief). Moreover, Professor Kim Tae-hyo himself had an ample political experience, he was a member of Lee Myoung-bak’s team, and was directly involved in creating a blueprint for different political projects. In addition, he was a really good lecturer and tried to somehow shake our group up in order to actually discuss issues – and because of that I really enjoyed his classes.

Studying Korean language was much more difficult. Unfortunately, these classes were online, which, to my mind, wasn’t good for studying a language. It's not that you can't learn a language online – of course, you can – but it's much harder to do this psychologically. In addition, due to anti-COVID restrictions, at first it was very difficult to interact in Korean even in daily life, talking and listening with facemasks on is far from being easy. Again, under such conditions, the only chance to somehow raise your language level is to get some Korean friends, but that, obviously, wasn’t easy as well.

The main trap that anyone studying at a university in a non-English-speaking country can fall into is the so-called “bubble for foreigners” where everyone speaks English. In Seoul it is quite easy to fall there, moreover, most Koreans will also speak (or try to speak) English with you, even if you use Korean. I wouldn’t say that there is a universal way to avoid this bubble – just try to spend extracurricular time in different places. Fortunately, Seoul is a giant “anthill”, so you can literally find everything here – from contemporary art exhibitions to gay clubs and bars that fit every taste.

Obviously, COVID has a big impact on the entertainment industry, but even then people continued to spend time together. In summer and autumn Hongdae and Itaewon (the main “party areas” of Seoul) were literally packed with people who simply drank on the streets right outside the closed bars and restaurants. Still, later it got colder, and the number of people on the streets at night decreased significantly.

Since I've been involved with music for quite a long time, I wanted to find something interesting related to it in Seoul, but it wasn’t easy to do at first.  Due to anti-COVID measures, some of the clubs and performance venues were closed, although, of course, some places have found ways to get around these bans, or to simply reformat. All in all, there still were venues where you could just have a good time and dance.

Seoul electronic scene turned out to be quite diverse – stylistically ranging from house to experimental techno, the places’ format also varied from techno bars (Vurt, Tanzbar) to full-fledged venues (Modeci, Ring). Among others I can highlight Volnost (its name, however, comes from a Czech, not a Russian word), in my opinion, it is the best and most atmospheric place of such kind – moreover, I met quite a lot of interesting people there.

The more experimental side of Seoul’s music scene also exists, but it is more sparse. The only place that purposefully held some kind of experimental concerts even during the pandemic period was GhettoAlive. GhettoAlive did a lot of performances related to jazz, improvisation and Korean fusion, and these concerts were organized at a very high level. During these performances the venue was packed full, there were practically no empty seats. There are probably many more experimental venues in Seoul but, unfortunately, I did not have a chance to learn about them or take a visit.

There are also quite a few vinyl stores in Seoul dedicated to different kinds of music, from electronics (like Junction, one of the best vinyl stores I've ever seen in my life); experimental independent scene (RopeEditions; there experimental electronics concerts were sometimes held, one day Jin Sangtae, a narrowly known legend of Korean experimental electronics, performed there); stores of a more classical format, where you need to rummage through an endless number of boxes and shelves (Metavox, Hyang Music). There were also a bunch of “modern” format vinyl stores: Mmm Records, Mosaic, Gimbab Records; there also were stores that just sold all sorts of old interesting things including vinyl (for example, Cosmos Wholesale). I personally think it's worth going to a record store even if you don't have a vinyl player, because there you can find some really good local music, which you can then (though not always) find on the Internet.

Also, this trip was a great opportunity to buy Korean books. Secondhand bookshops are quite prevalent in Seoul, old books can be found either in the markets (I recommend bookstores in the Dongmyo market; there is a couple of good bookstores near Dongdaemun), in Alladin bookshops (a chain of bookstores) or, for example, Seoul Chaekpogo. The prices for old books turned out to be surprisingly low, on average, I paid 5,000 won per book (about 300 rubles).

Of course, you can also order books online, but going to bookstores (even by yourself or even if they are located outside of Seoul) is better. Seoul agglomeration has an integrated subway and railway transport system, so getting to other small cities is not that difficult, although it will take some time. In addition, you will be able to see how places beyond Seoul look like, which can be quite interesting. And try to communicate more with the locals, they will be able to recommend you places that cannot be found by simply using Google search.

I was fortunate to receive HSE Endowment scholarship (many thanks to them), though it still wasn’t easy to financially survive in the Republic of Korea. I quickly realized that it was better to buy food in Korean markets and cook it myself (at least when I lived at the dorms with a kitchen) – it's not only cheaper, but also tastier. In general, I highly urge you to go to Korean markets (including flea markets) – you can not only find a lot of interesting things, but also get a chance to talk with older Koreans. And don’t forget to bargain if you know Korean!

At first I lived at the dorms at Sungshin Women's University station, there everything was at a very high level in terms of facilities and amenities. Then I moved to another dormitory (mostly for Koreans) and because there was no kitchen there or any places around, I decided to make a refund and move to “oneroom” (a small room with a bed, a writing table and a shower). Though the room was small, living there was quite comfortable. Moreover, it is often cheaper to live in such places compared to dormitories – although naturally you will interact much less with other people.

In addition, I also managed to visit the northeast of the Republic of Korea – Sokcho, Gangneung and Donghae – these are quite small cities that are not really famous for anything except sea and nature. However, it was an opportunity to see a more or less authentic Korea without places blatantly designed for foreign tourists. By the way, traveling by bus in the Republic of Korea is not that expensive, you can also find really cheap motels if you book them in advance. In general, I would say that this was a very rewarding experience – such places have their own local flavor that can’t be found in major Korean cities.

I wouldn’t say that I managed to make a lot of acquaintances in Korea – maybe because I am not a sociable person. However, I want to thank people I met there and with whom I spent wonderful time – Chi-woon, Young-ho, Masha and Leonid.

In the end, the most important thing to understand when going on an academic mobility is that you will have to do most of the things yourself. There are some good people in this world, of course, but you shouldn’t count on them. It is really important to understand your responsibility for the time spent there. No one will force you to study, learn languages, talk to people in Korean (sounds trivial, but don’t be shy!), read books in Korean – only you can do this.  In addition to this, keep an eye on your mental health, and if something is wrong, then you’d better go to the local doctor without any delay.

In conclusion, I want to say that in every country or city one needs to try to look for something that will be their cup of tea. Of course, you should definitely visit popular places such as Gyeongbokgung, the National Museum of Korea or Gangnam – but still try to find something unique in the city (and in the country in general) so that later you can return there – and again take a walk around places that are special for you.