My Experience

Before my study abroad program even started, I had the chance to travel to Korea with family, and it was my third time visiting Korea. So my first impressions after landing were more "relaxed" than others. We mostly traveled without a schedule or any pressure. Just exploring. We went to places like Jeju Island, Busan, and Seoul and showed my brothers around places that I had already been.

By the time my study abroad program had started I was already comfortable using my T-Money card, Naver Maps, and the subway system.

Daily life in Korea usually followed this schedule; wake up and go down to breakfast, go to class, visit a cultural site or tourist site in the afternoon, and have the evening for freetime. The T-money card became second nature almost instantly because of how often we used it. Tap on, tap off, no thinking required. The subway system in Seoul was nothing like home, clean, on time, and easy to navigate.

Food was one of the best parts of the day. Since food in Korea was so much more affordable than compared to home, it was easy to try a bunch of foods and find something you like.

At first it took me a while to get used to the digital systems in Korea. Korean websites are packed full of information and content compared to U.S. websites. Navigation apps like Naver Maps contain more detail than Google Maps, for example it contains how much time before the next subway train arrives. However Google Maps has restrictions in South Korea.

The kiosks go step by step when ordering. The first thing on the screen is choosing between "To go" or "Dine in" and it contains way more payment options at the end. The digital systems in Korea took some time to get used to, but were easy to adapt to.

Of everything we did, traveling with my family is the experience that's stayed with me the most. I haven't been to Korea with my family since I was a toddler. It was super fun to explore the city and visit cultural sites with them. A moment from the program that stuck with me would be visiting Namsan Tower at night. The city below is full of light and life and the view is breathtaking.

Jeju Island was full of natural beauty, a slower pace, and a reminder that Korea isn't just Seoul's skyline and subway lines. It was nice to be surrounded by more nature than commercial buildings at times.

If I could go back and tell myself one thing before this trip, it would be, "don't over-plan every minute." Some of the best moments happened spontaneously.

I'd also tell any future student going on this program to download Naver Maps and Papago before you land, get comfortable with the subway in your first day or two, and say yes to new foods. Two weeks felt both like a lot and not nearly enough time, I left wanting to come back and explore even more.