My Experince in South Korea at Konkuk University

My overall experience in South Korea was amazing. I made friends from all over the world and got to try so many new experiences I could never do anywhere else. When I arrived in South Korea, I had pre-booked my hotel, which was located at the airport. There are two types of hotels at the airport. The first one is the transit hotel, which is before customs. This hotel is for people with a layover. The second is a capsule hotel located outside of customs, which is the one I booked and was perfect for one night. There are multiple room options, and they are very convenient. It can be small, but for only one night, it's worth it. The cost is very reasonable; I booked a single shower for $55 USD. These sell out a month in advance, so book with plenty of time before heading there. 

To get to Konkuk, I took the airport limousine bus for $12 USD. This was very convenient as the bus stores your luggage under the bus, and when you get off the bus, the driver retrieves it for you. It was a two-hour ride to Konkuk. Once I got there, I met with the interns who provided my dorm key and rented bedding ($23 USD). After that, I settled in and went shopping for dorm necessities at Daiso, which is an amazing store that sells household items for extremely cheap. Made many Daiso runs while I was in Korea. Konkuk is located near many tasty restaurants, so finding food was never too difficult. The first night, we went out to eat with our interns for chicken and went to karaoke after. This was a very fun first experience in Korea. The next day was orientation and buddy missions, the missions were to take pictures across campus and even places in Seoul to win prizes like Lotte World tickets. 

Our first field trip was to Waterbomb, which is a Korean music festival. This was one of my favorite excursions because we got to see so many popular artists and even received some free gifts. We had field trips every Wednesday, which were nice breaks from classes. Some of my favorite excursions were the baseball game and Everland Amusement Park. The baseball game was so energetic, and the entire crowd cheered for every player. The food was very good and fun to eat. Everland had so many thrilling and fun rides that we went during a weekday, so the lines were very short. We also got to see the cutest and clumsiest pandas there. I also enjoyed the sauna, even though it was very hot and humid in Korea; the sauna experience was very fun and relaxing. It was a true bonding experience. Other field trips we did were the DMZ, Lotte World, Gwangwon province, a cooking class, and a Han River Cruise. Everything was really enjoyable, we did have to pay for certain excursions like the baseball game and Sauna, but Konkuk got us really good deals. 

I had two classes, K-Psychology and K-Aesthetics. They were each three hours long, Monday through Friday, except on Wednesday for field trips. K-Psychology was very insightful about the Korean people and culture. We had a different professor every week and I liked each of their the teaching methods. One professor brought in our Korean buddies, and we got to ask them questions about what it is like to live in South Korea. For K-Aesthetics, we learned about skincare companies from their marketing strategies to the history of K-beauty and skincare. We also went on a field trip for K-Aesthetics. We went to famous skincare/makeup brands and a teahouse. We also went to a Botox clinic/plastic surgery office. Overall, I loved my classes and professors.

After classes and during our free time, I would go out with friends and explore Seoul. We went to pop-ups, palaces, and did lots of shopping. I loved Gyeongbokgung Palace. We were supposed to go with our buddies, but it got cancelled due to the heat, so my little group got up early and went while it was still cool. We rented a traditional hanbok and explored the palace. I’m a big BTS fan, so I made sure to hit all the popular spots for the group, like Hybe. We also did a day trip to Busan, which was a great day. We went to the beach, took a skytrain, and visited Gamcheon Village. I recommend visiting Busan! I also recommend visiting Myeong-dong for shopping and street food. The street food is so delicious, just make sure to have cash to try the food. My favorite meal was Korean barbecue, and then going to karaoke after. I tried to take in every moment and not take my time in Korea for granted. It’ll be a time in my life I will always cherish.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me! My email is nguillen1@my.hpu.edu. Thank you for reading my blog post.

Preparation Details for Studying Abroad in South Korea 2025

Hi Sharks, my name is Nevaeh and I studied abroad in Seoul, South Korea this past summer! My International Summer program was one month long at Konkuk University. Here are my experiences and tips for preparing and packing for a month in Korea.

Since I only went to Korea for a month I did not need to apply for a Visa since it was only a month-long program. However, if plan on staying longer than 90 days then a visa will be required. Other extremely important documents to bring are your passport and an additional government-issued identification such as a driver’s license. I did have to take my passport with me on certain excursions because it was required so I used my passport pouch to keep it on me at all times and safe during field trips. You can use your passport at certain stores to get purchases tax-free but some places already include tax-free with a purchase over a certain amount. So if you don't feel comfortable with taking your passport everywhere you don't have to. I also did print copies of my international health insurance and prescription medication just in case but these can be accessed electronically as well. I had these for when I went through customs but I had no issues and the customs agent did not ask for any other documents besides my passport. Honestly, I only used my passport and ID for my entire trip. 

As soon as I went through customs the first thing I did was exchange my cash for Korean won (exchange rates are better in Korea so I would wait to exchange til you’re there) and picked up my pre-paid Wowpass which is a debit card and T-money in one! A T-money card is your transportation card that you can use to ride buses and subway which you will need to get around Seoul. Making the Wowpass convenient and easy to use I had already purchased it using the Wowpass app. To pick it up you have to go to a convenience store in the airport (CU) right downstairs from baggage claim. You have a barcode on the app that the cashier will scan and then they will give you the card. After I received the card I had to load it using a Wowpass machine at the end of my terminal. You can only load the card with Korean won, after loading it you can transfer money to your T-money card using the app. There are multiple Wowpass machines all around Seoul if you need to load more won or you can use a Mastercard or Discover card to load through the app for a fee of 7000 won(USD 5.10). You can also take out physical won from the Wowpass machine if you need more cash. For credit cards, I had a Capital One Quiksilver Mastercard which does not charge international fees in case of emergencies but I relied mainly on my physical won and Wowpass. If you ever need to take more cash out Konkuk does have a global ATM just in case but it will most likely charge you a fee. Korea does accept Visa, Mastercard, and Discover but depending on your bank or card there might be international fees. 

For packing, I would take into consideration that July is extremely hot and humid in Korea so make sure to pack appropriate clothing and especially deodorant because it is very hard to find in Korea. Also, you can pack an adaptor and converter for your plug-in appliances but if you do forget many places sell them. Lastly, packing items you can't find in Korea. American medicine works better so it's best to just bring medicine like Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and allergy medicine that you’re familiar with. 

For phone data and calling there are plenty of options to choose from such as carrier international data plans, phone rentals, eSIM/SIM cards, and pocket wifi. I had to go with my carrier's international data plan because my phone was locked and couldn't support an E-sim. Some carriers lock your phone if it's not paid so you can only use their network and you can ask for a temporary unlock for travel my carrier T-mobile changed their policy and no longer does temporary unlocks but they gave me the option of the international data plan which was a similar price to E-sims. My plan was unlimited text and calls for no extra charges but for data I only had 5G til I ran out then it would go to 3G. The good thing about Korea is it offers wifi everywhere so I was easily able to manage my 5G throughout the entire month. If your phone is not locked or has a physical sim than all of the other options can be purchased at the airport. If you search around, some websites offer discounts and pick-up at the airport for convenience. I would definitely do your research before purchasing because there can be stipulations to your plan like charging for incoming and outgoing calls so just be mindful. They might offer a Korean phone number which can be helpful with certain apps but it is totally up to you and your length of stay. If you want to call home back in the US, I suggest third-party apps such as Kakao Talk, Whatsapp, or even Instagram for contact because those are free.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me! My email is nguillen1@my.hpu.edu. Thank you for reading my blog post and the next one will be coming soon!