Hanyang International Summer School was an extremely inclusive environment where students from Singapore, Estonia, The Philippines, United Kingdom, and more all gathered. It was common for students just to take two courses as they are 3 hours each {but we were almost always dismissed an half an hour early} though those who took 3 were on campus till 6pm!
I took international business which was super interesting because my professor was from Canada. He had a really engaging way of learning the topic and related it to how it could affect our day to day life in Korea.
My second class was Korean Cinema and Modernization which was basically a history class as we dove into the movies engraved in Korean Culture and those that go over historic events. We also went into discussion with new coming directors in Korea and how it’s changed South Koreas impression in the world; the world of K-dramas and overall movies has gotten the worlds attention more than ever recently which is amazing for South Koreas industry. Parasite and The Host which were both directed by Bong Joon-ho are examples of not so traditional Korean films hut it introduced new creative paths for those interested within the industry and made its way to America as well.
The university was extremely helpful in helping students get their best fit when it came to housing. They had offered dorm styled rooms, apartments for the duration 4 weeks (program length), and hotels! I chose to stay in a Hotel in Eujiro-sam ga, right in the middle of Seoul where many come to work in huge office buildings and with a lot of industrialization. My station was conveniently right by my hotel and only took 15 minutes to get to school.
With that said, public transportation was my main way of getting around besides walking and was super easy to use! You could get to any corner in the city of Seoul in almost 20 minutes. This really helped me venture out as they were pretty simple to map out; so after school I would try to have an activity or two to do before resting for the night. I would either go to a themed cafe (all are beautiful by the way!), somewhere new for lunch, or a museum/a tourist attraction. We had three day weekends so more full day adventures would take place then since 6 hours of schooling can get you beat; but something I did do consistently was take Hip-Hop dance classes at one of the most famous studios in the world, Onemillion. They have over 25 million subscribers on youtube and come in with a film crew after most classes and record the choreography; if chosen, you would get posted! I am honored to say that I am in one of their youtube videos! It was a great way to workout and also meet other students, as there were many, studying in South Korea at neighboring cities.
When it comes to night life, I believe South Korea is the country that never sleeps. It is almost like the country is on 24/7. Everything is so safe and if you are roaming around at 3 am and wanting to stop by a photo booth to remember the moment; photo booth shops are open 24/7 (something big within the culture). Unfortunately clothing stores are not, but you will never be hungry in South Korea as everything is both within reach and always open. Aka, street food!
Things to know before traveling to South Korea; https://www.tiktok.com/@daryaabtahii/video/7122267988161514794?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1
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