Exploring with Confidence #HogsAbroad in South Korea

Hi! My name is Tabitha Novotny, I am an Interdisciplinary Studies Senior with concentrations in Gender Studies, Communications, and Art History. In the beginning of 2021, I participated in the Spring/Summer UofA Exchange Program in Sinchang, South Korea at Soonchunhyang University. This is a short write up about my study abroad experience. 

Since Covid-19 was still a thing the one other student and I who were planning on going to Soonchunhyang had to go through a lot of obstacles in order to make this whole trip happen! We had to write a petition to our school to let us go, apply for visas, purchase our tickets ourselves, fill out papers for the Korean school, buy two international health insurances, and so much more including obtaining PCR tests within 72 hours of our flights. 

After we got to Korea we had to go through a PCR screening and immigration. Once we arrived at the dorms we had to quarantine for two weeks within our room only leaving to go to the restroom and pick up the food placed outside our doors, this was one of the roughest times of the trip, I felt alone, the culture shock was real, and I had felt like I had made a big mistake. Fortunately, after quarantine I was able to make many friends from other countries who also lived in the Global Village! My roommate for example was from Indonesia, while the rest of my suitemates were from China, USA, Columbia, and the Republic of Czech! The downsides; my international advisor wasn’t as helpful as I would have liked, he wasn’t great at communicating important information (we all made it though), the dorms were dirty (literal mold in our showers), we weren’t given the stipend we were initially promised, and we didn’t have any classes with Korean students because their classes were online (ours was in person with the other International students). Class wise, all but one of my classes were easy, I had taken; Calligraphy (taught in Korean), Global Society, Korean Entertainment, Korean Culture & Society, Korean Contemporary Film, Beginner Korean (taught in Korean - this was very difficult). Since we didn’t have classes with any Koreans we were given the option to participate in an online language exchange program with the Korean students of SCH in exchange for free dorm and partial reimbursement of our plane tickets.

Even though it was a rough start I enjoyed the freedom I had living in the dorms away from home, I was closer to classes, I was a 15 minute walk from town, and I had access to my friends constantly! As a bonus we also had access to a room full of fridges and a kitchen with four stove top burners to cook with, so some of my friends and I would get together to fry up some tofu, or make some spaghetti together.

After a few weeks our school informed us that we were allowed to travel to other towns in Korea as long as we filled out a travel form (to track where we are because of Covid.) This was one of the best parts of the trip! Because of the well-formed public transit system my friends and I were able to go to many places in Korea to enjoy the cultural sites, palaces, new foods, and drinks! We went to places such as Seoul (2.5 hours away from Sinchang), Itaewon, Hongdae, Cheonan, the island of Jeju, and more! Even though no festivals were going on we made the most of our trip such as; attending dance classes at OneMillionDanceStudio (a childhood dream of mine), singing at local Norebangs, Feeding bears in Cheonan, petting sheep at a café, wearing tradition Hanbok, and going to amusement parks such as Everland & Lotte World! 

Many Koreans (of a variety of ages) were kind to my friends and I, helping us with our baggage, giving us free gifts, and showing us around the surrounding area, I appreciated this kindness because it helped me explore with confidence! Even though not everyone speaks English you can get along just fine knowing the basic phrases such as hello (annyeonghaseyo), and thank you (gamsahapnida). I would suggest downloading apps such as KakaoTalk (it’s similar to snapchat), KakaoMetro, KakaoTaxi, Papago (language translating), GoogleTranslate.

Some of the best things I ate in Korea were tteokbokki, bimbibap, cold noodle soup, chocolate ice cream rolls, spicy noodles, and mudfish soup! The best drinks were peach soju, strawberry smoothies, and americanos. Personally, I’d love to come back again and explore more of Korea such as Busan, Daegu, and more!

I definitely recommend coming to Korea! Just make sure you learn some basic phrases, get a Tmoney card for the transportation, do your research about cultural dos and don’ts, see if you can stay a little after the semester ends, and have fun! I haven’t added much to my blog since arriving in Korea but I do have information about getting a visa, best plane tickets, and international phone plans already up there, here is a link if interested - https://tabbytravels.blogspot.com/

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Interdisciplinary Studies major Tabitha Novotny spent the Spring 2021 term at Soonchunhyang University in South Korea with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship & the Kitt Rom Memorial Scholarship.

You can start planning your adventure abroad today! Dive in to our Explore page at https://studyabroad.uark.edu/explore/index.php, and start your program search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

Getting to Know the City #HogsAbroad in Denmark #WanderlustWednesday

I have just moved into my cozy one person room in Denmark. I have been to Denmark before to visit my Danish family from my father's side. We have always visited for no more than 3 weeks at a time. I am now so excited to use my Danish citizenship to its full use in Denmark for the next 6 months.

When I first arrived I was welcomed by 14 other people living on my hall. We all have our own rooms, but share a kitchen and a bathroom. This is something very different that we do not experience much of in the states. As 15 total, we share 2 meals a week that one will prepare, and we all will take turns each week to lead in cleaning and various other chores. Something that was shocking to me is that all of the boys and girls share two toilets and two showers. Coming from a school that does girls and boys floors, this is different and unique.

Everyone on my floor is so kind and helpful. There is so much to learn and know about the systems in Denmark. I have found my self asking several times and each time all of my floor mates are so kind and patient with me. We join each other in the evenings for board games and movies.

Since Denmark is on full lockdown there is not many restaurants to go to, but there is still a lot of site seeing to do. I have been running around the city and finding cozy areas that seem to only be native to Denmark’s culture. 

For example, I was running through the city block after block of normal urban buildings and out of nowhere there is a sign that says Gamel By, with my limited Danish, I knew meant “old town”. I walked through two brick pillars and was greeted by cobble stoned streets and colorful cottages that varied between red, yellow, and white. As I walked through the town, I felt as if I had been transferred into a story book setting. There were so many streets and buildings that all had different purposes in the old days.

I am starting to realize that because of COVID, there is a different experience of studying abroad, but it is still an opportunity to really see a city and marvel at the charms of the culture.

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Marketing major Annika Nielsen is spending the Spring 2021 term at Aarhus University in Denmark with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.

You can start planning your adventure abroad today! Dive in to our Explore page at https://studyabroad.uark.edu/explore/index.php, and start your program search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/