The title for this post comes from yet another of my favorite songs. It loosely translates to ‘Will I learn the answers if I go there with my eyes closed?’ I think a lot of the times our first impressions via sight can keep us from experiencing something to its fullest. If you have a preconceived negative notion of a certain area, a certain culture, then you are bound to greet your first cultural interactions with slight apprehension. Luckily for me, everything about Korea excites me, so I am assured that from the moment I set foot on Korean soil till the moment I return to America I will be quite open to any and all cultural nuances.
The choice to study abroad in Korea was an easy one to make, but getting there was not so easy. While the application was simple enough to fill out and submit, once accepted I found myself confronted with a communication breakdown between myself and Sogang University. Now I’m normally a patient person, a skill I developed from training young horses, but patience is not never-ending, and eventually I began to run out of it.
This first breakdown occurred when I misunderstood what fees I would be paying directly to Sogang and what I would be paying through my college. I sent an email to the Asian study abroad advisor, and he informed me of which fees I had to pay directly to Sogang. I then immediately consulted Sogang’s website, where the fees were listed, added up the totals, and sent an email to them requesting confirmation of the total before I would send them my credit card information so that they could charge me. I never received this confirmation. I believe I emailed them at least three times requesting this information. Once I never got a reply, and the other two times I received replies, but they addressed the other accompanying questions I had sent, not the budget question (the most important in my opinion).
Finally, since the due date for the fees was literally the next day, I simply sent them my credit card information and requested (in faith) for them to charge me whatever they decided to charge me (within reason of course). The next day I had a large amount of money charged to my account. It was less than I expected, but I figured that I had miscalculated somehow. However, a week or so later I was charged again. This time the total was much closer to what I had anticipated, but I knew that one of the charges had to be false. Since it was a large sum of money, I get a bit distraught and sent them an email. For once, they responded promptly, and notified me that they had made a mistake and were rectifying it. Days later I received a credit to my account, and everything was peachy.
Now I understand that Sogang is currently dealing with an influx of foreign students, and that it can be difficult dealing with them all at once, so I am willing to forgive and forget the headaches I went through trying to pay my bills and obtain some specific information. I was told that such a communication breakdown had never occurred before, so perhaps I’m just a special case. It doesn’t help that I’m a super nervous person, and that when I don’t meet deadlines, or when I run late on things, I have miniature anxiety attacks.
I found that the best way to communicate with Sogang is to put your emails in all caps, and bold the important sections of your questions. This way they’re more likely to not only respond to your email, but to actually answer your question. Once I started to apply this method, the return emails became a lot more specific and helpful.
About two weeks before my departure date, I was sent an email stating that Sogang needed a headshot photo from me, and that I needed to make sure that I brought a doctors physical to orientation. I was a bit shocked. The photo was no big deal, since I had already submitted one for the Japan program, so I had it left over. However, the physical was another story. I had recently had one done, but it was specifically done for Japan, with the paperwork required for their college. So, I had to schedule another doctor’s appointment to get another physical examination done. As a result I obtained a copy of my vaccinations and a letter stating that I am in perfect health. I hope those two are adequate.
Sogang also sent a nice preparation letter which explained how to get to the University from the airport, some items we should consider bringing, and surrounding stores we can shop at to buy bedding (since the dorm does not supply blankets or pillows). Since it’s going to be monsoon season in Korea while I’m there, they suggested that students bring rain boots. However, I think they’ll take too much room in my suitcase, and plus I think they’re ugly to wear. So, since I like the rain, I decided to just deal with it. The humidity on the other hand is going to be hard to handle, especially since it usually causes my hair to get super frizzy.
In just a few more days I’ll be on my way. I guess I’ll put up a post every day until then. My goal is to blog at least once a day, even if the entry is short. I want to remember every moment, and the best way to do so is immortalize it in writing (and pictures, which will be abundant). Again, I will be posting up other stuff on my other blog, so if you’re interested, shoot me an email.
I’ll leave you with the music video for ‘Run’ by Epik High. Tablo, the rapper without facial hair, actually graduated from Stanford University with a major in English. He writes very profound pieces of music that tend to challenge the government and society as a whole. I hope to pick up his book while I’m in Korea. I almost bought it before, but shipping was too expensive. You can check them out at mapthesoul.com. The site can be read in English or Korean (their attempt to reach a broader audience).
Until next time.
Location: Murrysville, PA