student life – GW Blogs from Abroad

Jimjilbangs in Korea

AdminApril 30, 2015December 14, 2018

안녕하세요 (hello)! Some of you have been wondering: What are my college counterparts like here in Korea? I shall start off by saying that a typical Korean student is all about doing well in school. They regularly study all day long and into the night. They are study machines who are no nonsense about being quiet in the library. I sat in the Science Library for 2 hours one day and the most noise was made by me, coughing. To me, what seems to be the key to their academic success is the amount of small naps they take during the course of the day and their competitive nature in the academic environment. Korea University students wear letterman jackets, except instead of the sports they play on the back of the jacket, it’s what school they belong to within Korea University. One difference that I am not pleased with is how much more advanced the Korean students are in their education because they have been learning at a higher level from the start of middle school. Some of the concepts that I am learning for the first time in my Digital Systems Class, the Koreans have been doing since high school. With that kind of rigor, I could have an easier time now. However, a lot of the Korean students are about work and no play. A Korean professor told Jesse and me that a lot of the students forget that they are meant to do other things then just study (and drink?).

With that said, most Korean students drink alcohol at least once a day on top of their studies. The only day I haven’t seen a group of Korean students drinking Soju in Hana Square or the main campus, was when the pollution level was 350 µg/m³(Air = poison level). Alissa told me that a Korean boy in her class went up for a presentation and apologized to the class because he was still a little drunk, and then carried on with his presentation. Even with drinking, they still manage to rock their classes. On another note, most of the Korean students here have a boyfriend or a girlfriend. The way they get together is by asking each other out and then getting to know each other, which is reversed in the US. The couples here match each other in their clothes and try to be really cute, holding hands and giggle like children. According to John, Korea can sometimes feel like it is a giant cartoon and, honestly, these couples really go to prove that statement.

Anyways, some week 8 highlights include: Mrs. Esposito, Cards Against Humanity, Syndrome, and Jimjilbang! Jacob went home on Monday morning and Mike’s mom is visiting for the week! As an avid blog reader, she was kind enough to bring me cheese because she read how much I missed cheese! Now I finally have real cheese! Additionally, she brought us some much needed goodie bags for Easter that reminded me of my own mom and how much I miss her. So this is a special thank you to Mrs. Esposito! The day after she landed, I went out with Michael, Mrs. Esposito, John, Alissa, Jesse, Sabrina, Jesper, and Elvira to Korean BBQ. This has become the go-to tactic for welcoming our friends and family to Korea. Mrs. Esposito took a couple Soju shots and experienced the glory of making a Korean BBQ lettuce wrap. The fact that we have been in Korea enough to actually welcome others here is mind-boggling to me. Anyways, we laughed over dinner about Mike’s childhood stories and it was great to have her there with us. She also brought Cards Against Humanity, which I enjoyed playing with our GWU crew and the international students we have grown to love.

School is getting slightly more intense because midterms are approaching in about a week and a half. Flights are booked for Thailand, Japan, and China so prepare for some cool blogging in May! Syndrome was the Thursday night club of choice, and this time there were silk rope dancers there. These were interesting experiences, but the best happened on Friday, another only in Korea experience. I went to a jimjilbang with Elvira and Sabrina. A jimjilbang is a Korean bathhouse where the Korean women get naked and bath their bodies in hot, cold, flavor-infused, spa pools and saunas. The one we went to was called Dragon Hill Spa and provided other spa services such as massages, nails, rooms to sleep, karaoke, and all these other great health treatments. Koreans go to these places with their families to relax and get clean. The entrance fee was 11000W and you get bath clothes and two towel upon entrance. Other services cost extra fees but the pools and saunas are free. The floors are divided by men and women. Elvira, Sabrina, and I got butt naked and joined about 30 other Korean women washing themselves in the pools. We took a shower first, then walked into a warm pool, then an extremely hot pool, then a freezing pool, then a sauna, then a hotter Himalayan salt sauna, then a ginseng pool, and then, after two hours, we got the body scrub treatment.

If anything in this entire experience screams “Korea,” it is the body scrub treatment. We went to a special area on the floor where there were 5 empty spa tables. As I laid down, a middle aged Korean woman in Lingerie poured hot water on and vigorously scrubbed my naked body. She scrubbed in such a way that I shed dead skin like a snake. She scrubbed everywhere. It was not a painful processes, and in fact, the amount of dead skin that I shed was quite satisfying. She finally finished with moisturizing my body and washing my hair. I came out of the process with baby fresh skin. Elvira, Sabrina, and I were amazed and definitely bonded over this fantastic, only in Korea experience. 안녕(goodbye)!

Seoul Searching

AdminMarch 24, 2015December 14, 2018

By desansky0826

Annyeonghaseyo (Hello)! So far it is the end of two weeks here in Korea and my love for the country has grown. The first week of school went well. All of my professors speak excellent English and can demonstrate a wide array of knowledge in both English and Korean. The engineering courses here require a chapter reading a class, which is challenging due to the content, but is overall manageable. Being a girl in an engineering class in Korea leaves me in the minority. Most of my classes are 95% boys, but luckily I have my friend Sabrina from GWU here with me to attend them all. I have had no trouble making Korean friends in classes. I have mainly noticed that they won’t talk to you unless you talk to them first, but when you do talk to them they are very enthusiastic and friendly. The grades here work on an A-F system like the US. I have heard from previous students who went on this exchange program that there is no homework given in classes just midterms and finals. This turned out to be incorrect for my classes and I have to do chapter summaries, practice problems, and then midterms and finals.

Monday through Thursday I have school from 10:30am to 5pm. I usually try to go to the international student gym in CJ House at 8:45am because it is only open until 10am and then again at 6pm. It is quiet the struggle forcing myself out of bed to walk uphill to do some basic workouts, but the security guard from CJ House and I have now become friends because of this. Classes are usually an hour and fifteen minutes long, unless they are a lab course. At the end of last week we had a KUBA cheering orientation. At this orientation, the KUBA buddies took their time teaching us the cheers KU students chant at sports games. These cheers are usually aimed at the KU rival Yonsei University. They are hilarious including translations like “Yonsei gets drunk on beer” and “your mascot is a bird.” There were only 20 cheers that we learned out of the possible 100 cheers. Cheering was great but something I was not prepared for was the dancing. At least half of the cheers we were taught included fast-paced head banging and group jumping. The next day I was so sore that turning my head became an issue. At the end of this 2 hour event my new KUBA t-shirt was soaked in sweat, but it was a good time.

Additionally, this past weekend my GWU friends and I won three day club passes to go to Gangam. Yes, that is Gangam from the PSY song and it is considered the super-city part of Seoul. If I were to compare this to New York, Gangam is Manhattan and Anam, the area we live in, is Queens. We went all three days, met some fun people, and danced all night. We went to a club bar on Thursday, Club Syndrome on Friday, and then Club Eluis on Saturday. Korean clubs play typical house music in one section and then American rap music in another, such as Beyoncé or Rihanna. Dancing at these clubs was great and being able to recognize other international students there made everything even better. The clubs were about 5% international students and 95% were Korean; however this made no difference because everyone was really into having a good time. After a club we would typically go get food afterwards, and my friend John had an argument with our new French friend John Paul about America culture. The general perception of Americans from John Paul is that they are crazy, fried chicken-loving, gun owning, idiots. When I asked my KUBA buddy what Korean people thought of Americans she said that they think they are crazy, yet very friendly people. The consensus amongst others was also that Americans are crazy. This perception is not too bad and actually fits in well with the work hard play hard attitude of the Korean people. At least three times now I have seen Korean students sitting in circles in Hana Square, the science and engineering campus, taking shots of Soju after class at 5pm, which seems crazy to me.

This week the US ambassador to South Korea was razored by a political extremist against US-Korean joint military efforts. This seemed to be a big deal to CNN but to the Korean college students I asked, it seemed minor. They agreed that it was just an extremist protesting and not public thought. Currently, it is a Wednesday and I am sitting in a coffee Café called DaVinci and I had a garlic cheese sandwich. I tend to eat American food for lunch and Korean food for dinner here. The whole room is packed with Korean students getting lunch in between classes. They usually order food here family style so that everyone can share. A simple ham, egg, and cheese and coffee here in Korea is 3,500W like 3 US dollars, while in Carvings at GWU it is at least $5.50. The students are loud and happy. Shout out to my sister Yanina, I have not yet met a single Kim, but hopefully these stories satisfy what you call the DailyKim. Anyways, more adventures are still to come next week! Annyeoungkyeseyo (Goodbye)!

How To Google

AdminMarch 11, 2015December 14, 2018

By kennatim

I have been eating a lot more fish here in Dublin. I have also been trying to do more swim workouts than usual. One of my goals in my study abroad experience has been to try new things and forge new habits. Most of the time, that involves immersing myself in some type of Irish culture. Swimming and fish are not exactly tied to Gaelic history, but nevertheless, engaging in different activities is overall what I came here for. That is why, when I received an out-of-the-blue, random email inviting me to teach retirees how to use computers, I was immediately interested.

The “Intergenerational Learning Programme” here at Dublin City University is a program that invites retirees (or “pensioners”) from the area to come to campus and receive free tutoring from students in anything from the basics of using a computer to how to trace your genealogy or write music using one. The program is sponsored by the Irish government and originated as a scheme to get older people to complete government services using the Internet.

I attended a short training session in our cozy classroom of nine PCs, which explained how many learners are on different levels of Internet proficiency. The volunteer coordinator established a schedule and explained the process. I have volunteer experience working with children, but never with adults. I was eager and a little nervous for the opportunity.

On our first day, we were matched with either one or two learners for the next four weeks. I was paired with two very nice ladies named Maura and Marie. They were friendly and eager to learn. Throughout our two hours, I taught them the bare basics: from turning the computer on, all the way to how to Google, use multiple tabs in Google Chrome, and save a Word document. Throughout the session, it was great to frequently hear them exclaim, “Oh, I always wanted to do that but didn’t know how!”

We talked about America and they gave me their recommendations on what to do while in Ireland. It amazed me how much we take for granted when using a computer: for example, when I asked them to go to the start menu, they asked where it was. They were here to learn, and I realized only someone who grew up on computers could know these things like second nature. It was a great practice of patience and understanding.

After leading a quick final review session, I promised we could work on using their personal laptops next week. They had very kind words about me for the volunteer coordinator, and remained very appreciative and eager to learn until the end. I knew it would feel good to help people out, but I had no idea that, as they say in Ireland, it would be such great craic (fun). I am happy that I continue to take the leap into trying new things because I have not had one regrettable experience yet. I am looking forward to my next seven sessions with Maura and Marie and watching them progress into computer wizards!

Suitcase School

AdminMarch 6, 2015December 14, 2018

By kennatim

As an American studying abroad in Ireland, I have experienced a lot of familiar things. I did not care to take the leap into complete going to a completely different cultural like studying in Thailand or Cameroon. I live on a very average college campus here in Dublin, stay a short bus ride from an international city, have spent way too much time at a Burger King in that city, and otherwise enjoy most of the average amenities I have back home. Everywhere you look, you see American culture having its influence. My friends and I even enjoyed burgers at an Old Glory themed restaurant named “Captain America’s.”

The trip has not been without cultural differences, though. My trips to the supermarket sadly recognizing no brand names, cars on the other side of the road, heavy accents, and ever-calculating conversion rates all act as my hourly reminders that I am in a foreign country.

One of the biggest and most obvious cultural differences, especially coming from GW, has been that almost all Irish students travel home each weekend. Dublin City University is a pretty traditional university in a suburban area close to a city, with on-campus accommodation, a gym, convenience store, etc. DCU, unlike GW, looks a lot like that college campus from movies and TV shows I used to think of as a kid. But on Friday afternoons, be careful on your way to the bus stop or else you might get trampled by the mobs of Irish students armed with carry-on luggage evacuating to almost every county in Ireland to spend their weekend.

Although I only live 3 hours from GW, going home for the weekend, especially each weekend, is such a foreign concept to me. Weekends are for relaxing, hanging with friends, and spending Sunday night in the library. At each university in Ireland, students go out to bars during the week, find a little bit of time to study, and spend Friday to Sunday with family at home and often at a part-time job in their home counties.

When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. On a small island of only five million people, your hometown network is prioritized. Your primary school friends can often become your friends for life, as you may move back to your county after school. For example, my roommate lives in County Kilkenny, less than two hours from Dublin. He returns each weekend to tend to his family’s farm, spend time with his family and friends, and work at a local SuperValu supermarket. When I explained how rare it is for an average GW student to go back home so frequently, he was dumbfounded.

I guess in a country approximately the size of Indiana with a decent public transportation system, this should be expected. If I was from Indiana and went to school there, I would probably visit home more frequently, too. But walking around campus on a weekend, with every store closed and an eerie quiet about the whole grounds, it is hard to not remark at how different it is that it seems EVERY student is home EVERY weekend.

This life of the typical Irish student, to me, has its positives and negatives. While I would love to spend more time with my family, I cherish my GW weekends hanging out and doing homework with my friends. You can be sure that I would not want to spend any more time on the Megabus. I am eager, though, to experience more differences in the life of a DCU student for my short time here. And I will definitely continue to enjoy my quiet weekends on campus.

On Finding My Place

AdminNovember 13, 2014December 17, 2018

10649552_10152955043532089_5018770397235174626_n — Me (far left) with some of the LSE Women's Rugby Club Second team!

Before my program started, before I arrived in the UK, and in fact throughout the summer and the latter half of the spring semester, my major concern was most definitely making new friends. Looking back on it, since Kindergarten and up through the end of 12th grade, it wasn't that difficult as I went to public school. Part of a giant school system, I went to one of eight elementary schools, one of three middle schools, and everyone ended up at the same high school, so most people were not completely new. While friend groups shrunk, grew, evolved and changed over time, our friends were relatively built in for us already as we had a limited pool to choose from.
Come freshman year, making friends was a slightly more daunting task. The walls fell down and suddenly my student body was four times as large. I spent much of freshman year spending time with my roommates and neighbors. The group of lovely people who would eventually become my core friend group at GWU would not have been easy to find had I not shared a long-time mutual friend with one of them, but that's a story for another day. In short, in my life, I have never had to make a huge effort to make friends. I have never started off completely on my own, traveling to a new place, where I would be living for a full academic year, knowing that every friend I make this year is someone I did not know before.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I had joined the LSE Women's Rugby Club. This was completely new and strange territory to me. My parents thought I was joking when I told them at first. This is because I have never legitimately played any team sports, contact sports, or just...sports in general. I played soccer at the YMCA when i was four and I did gymnastics for about four years, but since the sixth grade, I was a theatre kid. After graduation, I let that go too, and my last two years at GWU have been characterised by floating from student org to student org; I hadn't yet found anything I really, truly liked doing, aside from French Club and Alternative Breaks, neither of which I can do abroad.
If you're studying abroad for a whole year, it may not seem like that much at first, but it's a lot. It's a whole 25% of your college career, assuming you follow the traditional 4-year path as I intend to do, and when you get back, you're in your last year and real life is staring you right in the face. You've just established a presence on campus, solidified your friend group, gotten deeply involved in whatever you do, fallen in and out of love 20 times, and then you leave it all back in the USA for a whole year. When you arrive, it feels like freshman year all over again. I had orientation week, complete with presentations, outings, events, and the freshers' fair, which is their student orgs fair.
I'm not quite sure when I made the decision to join rugby, but it happened at some point during the freshers' fair when they handed out cookies as bribes. But in all seriousness, they emphasized that no experience was needed (great, I have none!), it's so much fun (I like fun!), and I'll fall in love with the sport and the girls (something new and exciting!).
Study Abroad a time for self-exploration as well as self-establishment and personal growth. That is why it exists; not simply for growth in the classroom but outside. LSE has a myriad of fun societies to join, many of which do not exist at GWU, and I was originally hoping to join one of those, just to make the experience even more 'out there.' I certainly was not expecting to join a sports team. However, as I felt I was welcomed with open arms into the women's rugby club before I even joined, how could I possibly say no?
The WRFC has provided me with several important things, the first being a somewhat regular exercise regimen. The second is a regular social fixture; every Wednesday, all the sports teams have some sort of event at the student center, followed by a mass exodus to a club in Leicester Square. The third is my new ambition to push myself physically, which comes hand-in-hand with the team mentality that a team is only as strong as its weakest member; experience or not, I don't want to be that weakest member. Perhaps the most important thing rugby has given me, and will continue to give me throughout my time here, is the sense that I am firmly a part of something. During freshman and sophomore years, as I explored my interests but didn't dive wholeheartedly into much of anything, whenever people asked what I did outside class or what organisations I was a part of, I hemmed and hawed until my answer was sort of "oh, you know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that." Now, when someone asks me what I do outside class, I can confidently say I play rugby, whether or not I play well. An even better part of this is that rugby is something I can potentially bring back with me. Attention, GW Women's Rugby, if you want a new player next year: I'm in.

Week 7: Student Life in Stellie

AdminSeptember 8, 2014December 14, 2018

By rbhargava

As usual, Week 7 in South Africa was another fun-filled week of fun activities and adventures. Some of the highlights were a braii (barbecue) with classmates from the LSCE course I am in on Friday, a trip to Simonstown on Saturday with some residents of Metanoia, and paragliding in Cape Town on Sunday. This week I'll talk more about life in Stellenbosch and focus on some of the everyday aspects of being a student here.

I may have mentioned it earlier, but in the center of campus is a student mall called the Neelsie - complete with dining options, a small grocery store, pharmacy, barbershop, bookstore, and more. On the top floor is a computer lab and space for student society offices. During the day, the mall is completely packed with students, and is a great place to grab lunch and appreciate how many students are at Stellenbosch, and how diverse the student population is. Although Afrikaans is the language of choice for most students, you'll hear English, Xhosa, German (so many German exchange students), and many other languages while sitting in the dining area of the Neelsie. By far my favorite part of the Neelsie though is the movie theater inside - run by the Pulp Film Society. The movie theater has 2 theaters, each showing 4 movies everyday of the week. Each theater has a selection of 4 movies that it shows everyday, and those movies rotate throughout the week. Members can come in and watch any of the movies playing for free at any time, and can grab popcorn or some snacks from the snack bar. The society also has a large range of dvds that members can rent for 10 rand (about $1). The selection of movies playing both in the theaters and available for rent are superb, and thus I have gone several times to watch movies in my free time. Most recently, this past week was German cinema week in one of the theaters, so I was able to watch two fantastic German films - The Lives of Others and The Edukators. As one can assume, the Pulp Society is quite a dangerous one, as any free time can easily be devoted to going to see a movie for free. Pulp is one of the reasons Stellenbosch is such a great place to study, and I can only hope that GW can follow suit and create a similar society with proper facilities in DC to enrich student life in Foggy Bottom.

Having been in Stellenbosch (or Stellie as many students like to call it) for over a month and a half, there are also many funny details about life here. Although Stellenbosch is a relatively small town and one can walk almost anywhere in the town within 30 minutes, many international students end up renting/buying bikes. The university rents bikes out to international students called MatieBikes and quickly ran out within the second day of international student orientation. The bikes are relatively cheap bikes that a Dutch student astutely pointed out were actually part of a bikeshare program in the Netherlands that the university must have bought are painted over with "MatieBike" written on it. Many more international students who wanted bikes did not get a MatieBike in time, and therefore were forced to buy the cheapest bike - a "Spider" from a local bike store. By far the cheapest bike in town, the Spider has taken over all the bike racks in town along with the MatieBikes, and local students enjoy laughing at these ridiculously ugly and poor functioning bikes all over town. The fact that the majority of bike riders in the town are international students anyways makes the town an interesting home to the most uniform (and horrible) bike selection in the world - MatieBikes and Spiders.

Although there is much to do in Stellie, many international students (including myself) have all found many different things to do in their free time. For many, this means wine tasting as there are over 200 different wineries in the region. So if you want to become a wine connoisseurs in your free time as a student, this is the place to be. Stellenbosch also happens to be surrounded by beautiful mountains, so many others like to hike the mountains. There are a few nature reserves nearby, and the hikes are absolutely beautiful. From my previous posts, you probably noticed I fall under this category and have hiked several times since getting to Stellie. The last big thing to do around here is of course surfing. Stellenbosch is about 20-25 minutes from some of the best beaches in the world for surfing, and some exchange students here have come primarily or partly because they wanted to surf here. The surfing society here takes students out to the beaches twice a week, where they can escape the stress of university life on the waves. With all that said, between wine tastings, hiking, surfing, and all the other great outdoor options in the area, it is easy for everyone to find something to do around here. Where else can you wake up on a free day and have a million different choices of what to do and where to go. In any given day, students can hike a mountain, surf a wave, go on a safari, whale watch, visit Cape Town...No doubt, it would be hard to find a better place to be a student and appreciate life than here in Stellenbosch!

The American Competitive Edge

AdminFebruary 27, 2014December 14, 2018

By billienkatz

American students are fed through an educational system, which stresses that taking classes and earning a degree are no longer enough to succeed in the workplace, much less, be able to provide for oneself and one’s family. The two semesters of classes we take each year are important, but there’s always a race to see who has the more impressive resume and who holds the internship with the most work hours during the academic semester. How then, do we define students? The standard dictionary definition of a student is: a personal who is studying at a school or college. Based on this, how would the dictionary define a GW student? Surely they would have to include interning on Capitol Hill, working at the next big start-up or non-profit headquarters in the heart of DC, or even just taking classes and attending seminars led by some of the biggest names in our country.

Using this above context as what I consider most college students to be, I was stunned to learn more about the educational system here in Barcelona. The entire conversation began in my Human Development in the Spanish Socio-Cultural Context class when we were discussing the stages of school children go through and how this may be similar and different to what we experience in the United States. Using our own personal student frameworks the conversation easily drifted to the rigor of internships and previous work experience, and my Spanish born and raised professor, had no idea why we thought students should be working.

As it turns out, a Spanish college student (say someone studying at the University of Barcelona) wakes up in the morning, sits through a few hours of class, goes home and does some homework, and then repeats the entire cycle again the next day, and the day after, until they have a degree in their hands a few years later. There is no consideration of working within the field you eventually want to forge a career in, and there is certainly no fear of competition when it comes to applying for jobs.

For all the flack Americans get for being lazy and not wanting to work hard, I find it interesting that our students are putting increasingly more pressure on themselves to be prepared for a future of jobs and success, as compared to other countries such as Spain that really has no “need” for resume building. If the United States adopted this, maybe high-powered professionals would be filling their own mugs of coffee! And, for all GW students scrambling around looking for summer plans, can I suggest a quick relocation to España?

Slow Down

AdminFebruary 25, 2014December 14, 2018

By anishag22

"What most excites you about going abroad?"

That was one of the most frequent questions I received from friends and family back home before I began this adventure. Every time, my response was the same: "I'm really looking forward to having a slower pace of life in Bristol. A less stressful semester is exactly what I need right now."

I was pretty sure then that Bristol would afford me a slower pace, but now I know for certain that it's true.

One example of this that I've recently noticed is the difference between my peers at GW and Bristol when lecture concludes. At GW, we don't wait for the professor to finish speaking before we start packing up our things. At the exact minute on the dot that lecture is supposed to end (and often one to two minutes prior), we will loudly zip and close our belongings, giving the professor the not-so-subtle hint that they need to wrap it up. Don't they know that we have places to be and things to do? We can't afford that extra two minutes of lecture.

In Bristol, that never happens. No one packs away their laptops and notebooks before getting the classic green light: "Thanks for today everyone, see you next week." In fact, even once we do start to pack up, we are courteous enough to wait for the people in front of us in our lecture row to finish packing before leaving the room. It's an orderly queue that is rooted in respect and patience, and it's something that I was initially thrown off by.

But it makes sense. GW students are constantly on the go, as is D.C. in general. We have countless commitments and responsibilities because we are always pushing ourselves to be more productive. GW students wear many caps: the student, the club member, the athlete, the intern, the future Congressman or Congresswoman or President of the United States.

Bristol is a lively city, but the energy here is much different. It's okay to take a few days off, and it's okay to relax. Administrative tasks for university staff that would be completed in less than an hour at GW have proven to take multiple days if not weeks at the University of Bristol. But I'm okay with that, because for the first time in a long time I have been able to take it easy and enjoy more of a balance between my personal and professional/educational career. Don't get me wrong - I'm still focused on my schoolwork, but I'm learning to value the little things and the relationships I forge here, and for that I know I will be forever grateful.

Until next time-

Xx, Anisha