Romania

There is something beautiful about old world charm. I got this picture in Romania, the first of my four abroad experiences. We walked through an open air market that was just very striking to me. The entire two weeks in Romania was an absolutely amazing experience. I had a host family, and made many new friends. After that I knew that I would study abroad in college. In the past year I have made it to Malaysia, South Africa, and South Korea. The idea of a global citizen is hard for many of my peers to grasp. I hear a lot of people saying that it is not possible to become a global citizen. But I know it is. There is this feeling of pride you get when you are away from home and see or hear something that reminds you of home. I get this whenever I see the flag from any of my “homes”. While travelling I have made new friends, seen things I never could have imagined, learned bits of new languages, and learned the history of the world from a global perspective. More than anything, however, I have become a global citizen.

How to Study Abroad: Part 4-Getting Ready to Go

The biggest thing you need when preparing to go abroad is preparation.

BE PROACTIVE! Really, it helps. As soon as you submit your application go online and look up the visa requirements. Do what you can for that before you get your official or unofficial acceptance. Sometimes the process can take a couple of months to complete. If your application is due in mid March and you leave Mid July (as I did for South Africa), you only have 4 months for preparation to begin with. It's possible you will need medical clearance, signed documents, immunizations, bank statements, criminal records...you don't want to miss your trip because you couldn't get a doctors appointment on time. Get lists of pre-approved courses at your school, if possible, so you don't get back only to find that you are a semester behind.

BE ORGANIZED! Make a list of all of the important dates for your study abroad process. Know when you register for classes, sign up for housing if you'll be on campus, when you need to arrive/leave (visas have expiration dates; make sure your flight is before that date!). If you're living off campus, figure out what neighborhoods are best (safest, most cafes, easy access to public transportation, etc.). If you'll be with a host family, what is customary to give as a thank you gift (and do you give it as you arrive or leave)?

DO YOUR RESEARCH! Know what you need to pack and don't leave all of your errands for the last minute. Remember: the southern hemisphere has opposite seasons; many places have monsoon seasons; Asia and Africa can get VERY hot. So do your research, know what you will need to pack to be comfortable and fit in culturally where you are going. Learn a few key phrases if you don't already speak the language ("I don't speak ____" can be very useful. As can "food" "please" "thank you" "bathroom" "hello" and "goodbye"). Try to learn a little bit about the country you are going to. You must know something at this point since you worked so hard deciding where to go, but try to dig a little deeper. Listen to their music, watch their tv shows, watch their sports games, try some of their cuisine; go with whatever part of culture interests you most.

PLAN! What do you want to do while you are abroad? If you're going to South Africa, you might want to go on safari, shark cage diving, or bungee jumping. If you are going to Rome, you might want to try real gelatto. When in China you might want to see the Great Wall, or the Terracotta Soldiers. In Australia you might want to see the Great Barrier Reef. These are just a few ideas, but if you know what you definitely want to do it makes it easier.

Coming soon: What to pack!! (Including things you might not think of until you arrive but will then really wish you had)
KM

Korea: Sunday Adventures

Sundays seem to have become my adventure day each week. I haven't been big on 'going out' here, which isn't such a bad thing. I tried it a little bit, and maybe given another try it could be good, but for now my adventures are tame. So here is how I have been spending my weekends.

~~~

Sunday March 4th, Seoul Tower

A few weeks ago I met up with a cousin who happens to also be here in Seoul. She has been teaching English here for a year and a half. I went with her, her fiance, and one of the new teachers at her school to Seoul Tower. The weather was decent enough so we walked up the mountain (which is more of a hill in size, but it's called South Mountain Park). Even by the time we were halfway up the view was stunning. So we continued.

At the base of the tower there are fences covered with locks. Couples make the climb together, dressed alike, and then put a lock on the fence with a note. It's a cute gesture, something I'm finding a lot of here. Koreans are a very proud people, but that pride is well deserved considering where they are now, and what they have overcome to get to here, especially in the past 100 years.

But I digress. We had a lovely lunch of salad with blown up mozzarella and pizza while overlooking Seoul. Now I realize that worded like this it doesn't sound lovely other than the overlooking Seoul part, but I promise it was as lovely as the view. First, the salad was beautiful, which has a lot to do with the mozzarella ball. New good food discovery of the evening: honey goes well on pizza.

We timed lunch so that it was while the sun was starting to set so we could watch the lights come on across the city. And then afterwards we went up into the tower. As darkness set in it became clear just how expansive Seoul is. This was definitely the best view. The windows on the tower listed different major cities from around the world, and how far we were from each one of them. It served as a kind of reminder that this world is so interconnected. My favorite part of the view from the tower was a set of bridges over the Han river. I'm not sure exactly what it was about that view, but I loved it.

To conclude our excursion we took the cable cars back down, walked through Myeong Dong, and parted ways at the subway. All in all it was a Sunday afternoon well spent. It left me wanting to explore Myeong Dong more, and wanting to go back to the tower in the spring when the flowers are in bloom.

~~~

Sunday March 11th, Myeong Dong

And so, wanting to explore more of the city, the next Sunday I was back in Myeong Dong unintentionally with Parth. We spent the afternoon wondering through the streets and allies, taking pictures of the various food stands, and even trying some of it. The streets of Myeong Dong are packed with people and vendors. There is a mix of restaurants, both American and Korean,and shops, both American and Korean. The vendors sell everything from food to American apparel (Red Sox hats are common place here), to cutesy Korean things.

Fried shrimp, teokbokki, or cheese 

Dried octopus tentacles and squid

Hot dog in swirly potato

~~~

Sunday March 18th, Coex Mall

To continue my habit, I went out once again last Sunday. My roommate, Crystal, and I decided it was time to take a trip to Coex, the largest underground mall in Asia. After about a forty five minute subway ride, and my first time crossing the Han River, we arrived. As we first emerged out of the subway there was a display of a few high end cars. Naturally we gravitated towards them and I even got to sit in one :)

Then it was time to enter the mall. It truly was expansive. There were restaurants throughout, as well as a food court, a very large bookstore, American mall staples and their Korean counterparts, souvenir stores, a kimchi museum, and an aquarium. Now I've seen my share of malls and the interesting things they have in them, from fountains to roller coasters, but the kimchi museum definitely took me by surprise.

After wandering for a while and buying a few things, we decided it was time to get some food. We stopped for Japanese food by the entrance to the mall, and for dessert: Baskin' Robbins. What trip to the mall would be complete without ice cream, afterall? (or gelato or frozen yogurt). After dessert we made our way back to campus because I had a Seoul Mate group meeting (see the pun there? I didn't come up with it, but chuckle at it every time)

On our way back from Sinchon we happened across a very special man in blue overalls. Naturally we had to inconspicuously get a picture. So we caught up to him. Casually, yet quickly walked past. And then I snapped a picture over my shoulder. The convenience of an ipod #TechnologyRocks 

~~~

Sunday March 25th, Misadventure

So as today is Sunday I decided I was yet again going on an adventure. I planned out my adventure (2 palaces, a bookstore, and a market), got ready to go, went down stairs, and saw one of my classmates from Korean Language. I stopped by to say hello, which turned into a half hour conversation through which we discovered New Zealand (where he's from) is technically it's own continent. Now, he had been waiting on friends to go grocery shopping. But when two of his other friends came over to say hi and invited him along to lunch, he disregarded groceries, invited me to join lunch as well, and so off the four of us went.

We went to a little Korean restaurant right around the corner from our dorm that is very popular among Yonsei students, especially international students. I got teok mandu guk (dumpling and rice cake soup). It was perfectly what I wanted. And the conversation we had at lunch was quite amusing.

But as far as adventures go, this one=fail. But that's okay, because my wonderful roommate brought me a surprise!

So until next time, I'll try to have some more exciting adventures.
KM

How to Study Abroad: Part 3-Finding Scholarships and Internships for When You Return

Now, while I am abroad I still need to stay on top of my finances. It is expensive to study abroad; most of the time you cannot get paid to work, not that you would want to because that would take away from the amount of time you have for adventures and exploring. I have been steadily on the search for a PAYING summer internship and scholarships. So far I haven't had much luck, but I'm determined that if I keep at it something will come through eventually. So this post has two points 1) scholarships, and 2) internships.

1) They say a picture says a thousand words, so an info graphic must say 1000 plus however many words it has on it in writing, right? Check this out:

http://bit.ly/zur2bn

That graphic pretty much covers it, so I guess there's nothing else for me to say on the matter? Not quite. Each week I make myself a to-do list, and each week I set a goal to apply to at least 5 scholarships or internships. So far I am definitely doing better with the scholarships. But here's what you need to know if you will be doing this from abroad. You NEED to have materials together early! Many scholarships require official transcripts, recommendations, etc. all sent in the same package. This will often mean that it simply cannot be done from abroad unless you have someone back home willing to do a lot of the work for you (which, let's be honest, is kind of cheating). So you need to be proactive and have packages together so if you come across a scholarship to apply to while you are away the work that your faithful assistant (by name of mom, dad, brother, sister, or best friend) is minimal (pretty much just print off a form you send them and put the package in the mail). Really, your best bet is to apply to as many as possible before you go, though. Better yet, try to find scholarships to pay for your study abroad experience. There are a lot out there (I am particularly a fan of fastweb: http://www.fastweb.com/referral/KateM265 ) so start looking!

2) First, a little bit of a rant. When you are asked to give a company your resume and cover letter to be considered for the position, and you clearly spell out in your cover letter that you are in a foreign country, said company should not email you asking when you are available to come in for an interview. They should respond acknowledging that you are abroad, which they love, so they want to find an alternative way to conduct the interview. Now, I understand that often recruiters spend maybe 15 seconds on resumes, or some short amount of time like that. Fine. Then at least respond when I email you back saying I'm abroad, whether you would like to pursue the opportunity or not. You like me enough to want to interview me, don't disappear because I am gaining a global experience.

Rant done.

That being said, this week has been better. I have not only received a response, but I have also had continued interest (and from the internship I want the most, too!) So I am particularly excited and was considering skipping the rant.

So as I allude to in my rant, the internship search is difficult from abroad. Many companies are able to find a large enough applicant pool that is readily available for in person interviews so they don't need to seriously consider applicants who present any need for accommodation. Which means when searching from abroad you need to really prove yourself. Highlight the how being abroad is not a complication, but a benefit because you gain (insert whatever you have gained from the experience). It is also a good idea to be proactive here. If you see an interviewer will be on campus while you are abroad, email them beforehand to see if there are alternatives. Try to apply to internships before you go abroad if possible. This can be difficult if you are in my position, however, as I am doing a year abroad split between two continents, two time zones, and particularly inconvenient timing. See, I left for the first semester in July 2011 and won't be fully over jet lag until July 2012. But most people do just one semester, and most people will be home in time for the normal start to an internship.

So how has my time abroad made me a better candidate?

1) It has given me a global perspective and experience. In the past year or so I have been to 2 new continents, spent time in 4 new countries, outside of the airport, and been to 8 new airports. Beyond the numbers, I bring a diverse experience as I have been to non-standard countries. I went to Malaysia last March, South Africa last fall, and now I am in South Korea.

2) It has made me more passionate. Through my many adventures this past year I have learned a lot about what it means to be socially responsible. This has stirred my passions for education, community service, and, of course, travel. The smile on a child's face when you speak to her in her own language, and then she manages to do the math problem on her own, that smile is priceless.

3) I have grown an immense amount in many ways. I'm more independent now that I've been out in the world on my own. I had to learn how to do things on my own, without being able to call home and ask the simple questions that as young adults we so often have. I'm more mature, as I've seen unimaginable things. There's a lot more to this world than we hear about through the media, and I have witnessed much of it first hand.

4) I am better at communicating. When you are limited to the occasional direct correspondence you learn what you need most out of a conversation. It was especially difficult in South Africa since the internet access was not to first world standards. That's why I'm better at blogging this semester. Though I must say, I'm still slow with getting pictures to facebook :/

I could keep going, but I'm sure you get the point by now. School is expensive, but I would not trade this year for all of the money in the world. The things I have seen and done, new foods, new friends, new families, it is all worth every minute of the experience.

That's all for now, so to everyone currently on spring break or about to go, safe travels, and enjoy the experience!

Korea: Classes

As I am STUDYING abroad here in Korea, I suppose I can put up a few words on the actual education part of what I am doing here. This semester, as with last semester at Stellenbosch, the majority of my classes are designed for international students. This means that the professors come into the class typically understanding that the students in front of them are in the country for a cultural learning experience.

With that said here's what I'm taking for classes:

• Korean Language for Beginners (안녕 하 십니 까? 게이트 입냐다.) 2 hours a day; 5 days a week.
• Korean Cinema; Watch a Korean movie every Friday, discuss it the next Wednesday.
• International Trade (I volunteered to be the TA, the teacher can already remember my name)
• Biology (How does that work? Well, I hadn't yet taken Science A at Babson, and instead of saving it for senior year I figured I would finally take care of it. It's going well though; the teacher knows my name in that class, too. Helps to be the only non-Asian in the room)
• Seminar on Living and Learning in Korea
• Honors Seminar II: since I'm abroad all year I'm taking this class virtually even though technically it meets on campus at Babson. It keeps me connected as a legitimate Babson student. I even attended the first class meeting, so no one can really say I was gone for a full year...technically...

It should be a good semester. There's not an extreme amount of work in any of my classes and they are all interesting enough so far. The down sides?

• Classes on Fridays and Mondays...as in, no 3 day weekend :P
• No morning classes. I never start before 10:30am, usually not until after lunch (and I'm morning person)
• I don't get done with classes for the day until 6pm

But hey, I'm in Korea for a semester, so that's a large enough plus side to negate all three down sides. Anyways, it's just about time for Korean Language now, so I'll post more about my recent weekend adventures soon :)

Korea: Jeonju, Namwon, Hwaomsa, Hadong

To finish off orientation here in Korea I went with my group on a three day excursion to the Southern part of S. Korea. We made stops in Jeonju, Namwon, Hwaeomsa, and a village in Hadong. It was a great way to see more of the country, experience more of the culture, and try more food. Here is what we did during the trip:


Day 1: Travel to Jeonju

Jeonju bibimbap

Up early in the morning we all boarded the bus with our tour guides to head south to Jeonju, which is about half way between the center of S. Korea and the western coast. Our first break from travelling was at a Korean rest stop. Apparently they are particularly famous for their food, so my roommate (Crystal), one of the other group members (Parth) and I tried the 만두 (mandu, Korean dumpling which Crystal and I have absolutely fallen in love with!). It was good, worth it. We then continued to Jeonju, a city famous for its 비빔밥 (bibimbap). Now by this point we had pretty much all tried bibimbap, but since we were in the bibimbap city, we had to have some more. Honestly, pretty much all of the food here in Korea is good, although a bit spicier than I am used to, so saying that any particular dish is good would just be redundant after saying I got it in Korea (from here forward I will only comment on the extremely odd foods, or particularly good/bad foods).

The lion mask (meant for 2 people)

After lunch we learned about the traditional Korean mask dance. This was a participatory lesson, so we all took off our shoes (custom here when entering a room) and made our best attempts at dancing. Some of us (and by us I really mean some of the others) were good, others, including myself, ranged from okay to not good. It was still fun, though. The mask dance lesson was in an old Korean school, which we also got to look around. What is left of traditional Korean architecture is beautiful. The school was right along a river so we went for a stroll, and climbed up the hill (at the top of which there was a pavilion so we once again took our shoes off) to get a better view of the region.
It was then time to check in to where we would be staying for the night, the 한옥 말 (Hanok Maeul, Hanok Village). We spent the night in traditional Korean houses.

Jeonju at night

Once again this meant shoes off within the rooms, which were maybe half the size of a typical American bedroom (although, what is typical?) and slept four of us. How did we manage? We all slept on the floor, of course! But hey, when in Korea, do as the Koreans do. The floors here are virtually all heated which makes it more comfortable, if not too warm. From there we continued touring the city as a group a little more before we were set off to do as we pleased with the evening. As night set in we made our way to the shopping district for dinner and to explore a bit. The whole area was lit up and very American. The shops ranged from Guess to Dunkin' Donuts to an NBA store. There was even an amusement park ride on the roof top of one of the buildings (I opted to watch as some of the others went on it). We then had to head back to make it in by curfew (midnight).


Day 2: Travel to Hwaeomsa

After breakfast we set off to a paper museum where we learned the art of traditional Korean paper making. We even each got to make our own sheet of paper. Then we loaded the bus again and continued our journey to Namwon, the city of love. We toured around Gwanghallu Garden, learned the history of the city and the love story of Chunhyang. A local governor tried to force her to marry him although the man she was in love with was away for political affairs.

Chunhyang refused to give in to the advances of the governor, and is now honored for her devotion to the man she loved. While in the park we also got to try our best at the old swings which each year there are traditionally contests to see which girl could swing the highest. None of us would have won, although our coordinator did pretty well. Once again we stopped for food (lunch complete with mandu and really good sweat potato something...I know, I know, I said I would only comment on food that was particularly good. Well, this definitely qualified!), and then continued on to Hwaemosa.
Hwaemosa is an old Korean Buddhist temple that is still active. It's about 1500 years old, although it was burnt down during the Japanese invasion around 1600 AD. It has since been rebuilt, but it does not have quite the same grandeur as before.

That being said, it is still quite amazing. We even got the honor of witnessing the evening prayer ceremony. I was impressed by the monks' discipline. While I was only observing, I found it hard to sit still for the duration of the ceremony. I suppose it helps, though, that they 1) have practiced and 2) are moving throughout it.
We were then off to dinner, during which Parth, Britney, and I delighted our coordinator and tour guides with hospital/injury stories. It was a nice way to conclude yet another eventful day in Korea. Even though we were staying in a hotel we were still set up in the traditional Korean manner on the heated floors. It was kind of like a slumber party, staying up, eating ice cream, watching movies...


Day 3: Return to Seoul

By this point my camera was pretty much dead, but I managed to squeeze out a few last photos. To start the day we saw a traditional Korean tea ceremony. Now, I don't really understand much of what happened during the ceremony, but I was still very interested to watch. To sum it up, the tea master pours hot water between pots, bowls, and cups, along with tea leaves, and after doing so for a while is satisfied that he/she has made good tea and ends the ceremony. Personally, I am a fan of both tea and the snacks that were served with the tea, and this tea was good tea. It was grown by the tea master we watched in the ceremony, which is special. And I'm pretty sure we pleased him by how much tea we drank!
We then started our long bus ride back to Seoul. Along the way we first stopped at Hadong Village. It is the location of some famous Korean movie that I had never heard of (and have quickly forgotten the name of). While there I stopped at one of the street vendors to try what was being offered, for free. Lesson: if it's free, it might not be desirable. I proceeded to eat bundigie (Silk worm larvae). Now if you are grossed out hearing that I ate that, imagine my displeasure when I found out what it was. See, I was hesitant when I thought it was just a bug. It wasn't until after I ate it that I learned exactly what it was. Would I do it again? maybe, but not likely. Was it good? It was edible...ish. I chased it with Hotteok (Korean style pancake). We soon continued on our way, stopping for lunch (I was displeased by it; perhaps because I was over tired from two nights of sleeping on the floor, perhaps it was the residual idea that I had just eaten larvae), at a Korean market, and finally at another rest stop, before arriving back in Seoul.


The excursion was packed with cultural experiences. It was also a good way to bond with the other students on the program right before we all started classes. At this point I have survived one week of classes, but I'll save the details of that for next time. As for now, it's time to get some sleep so I can have more adventures tomorrow :)

Barriers: Part 5

My entire stay in Bo Kaap made me think a lot about barriers. I was directly faced with a cultural barrier: I was living with a Muslim Cape Malay family while I am a Catholic American. This I did not find to be all that challenging of a barrier; I found myself up against a more difficult barrier during my home-stay in Romania where the parents didn’t speak English and I could not understand much Romanian. So there are two barriers: culture and language. But there are many other types, especially physical barriers. So here are just a few of my thoughts on barriers:

Cage diving off the coast of South Africa: I was particularly
happy to have the cage between me and the shark! Although,
I must say, when the are swimming naturally in the water they
are actually quite peaceful and gentle looking creatures.

Barriers come in all forms; they can be doors, windows, walls, sunglasses, tables, language, culture, etc. They put up a physical or metaphorical wall or separation between the people on either side of the barrier. Some can be controlled, such as doors, windows, or sunglasses. But others cannot. This control gives certain barriers more power than others in serving the purpose of a barrier, which is to protect whomever or whatever is on one side of the barrier form who/what is on the other side.

The jail cell Nelson Mandela stayed in on Robben
Island. While jail cells are guarded by doors, those
inside them actually don't have the freedom to come
and go as they please. That is the power of a lock,
yet another barrier.

A door represents a choice. It is not permanent, and it can be opened and closed with ease. Some have peep holes through which a person can look to determine if they would like to allow whomever or whatever is on the other side in. In this way it serves as a protection mechanism. The greater the protection a person needs from a door, the heavier the locking system they will develop on it. The door might also serve the purpose of protecting someone from the weather. In the cold, rain, or snow the door would be closed, but in nice weather the door would be opened. It is truly a barrier of choice.

A wall is more permanent. It is also meant for protection, but does not come with the element of choice. The Great Wall of China, for example, kept the Huns, and other enemies of China, out. But it also kept the people in. It is a distinct way of saying this is mine, and that is not mine. Also unlike a door, it cannot simply be passed through at will. There must be an opening to provide access to the other side. A roof acts as an upper wall, enclosing a house/building completely. Without a roof a person on one side of a wall can climb over to the other side of the wall, in essence using the top as the doorway. Regardless of whether there is a roof or not, it is a lot more difficult to get past a wall than a door.

The bridge at De Mond nature reserve. Bridges
allow passage from one side of an otherwise
impassable place to the other. They are kind of
the anti-barrier.

Like a wall, a window is a barrier of non passage. The purpose of a window is to provide light (and potentially heat/wind for cooling) into a space, and sight of what is on the other side. But a window is not meant for passing through. It is like a teaser wall, a kind of “look at what is on the other side, but you cannot go there” teasing. It is very much like a museum “look but don’t touch” in this sense. If someone really wanted to, however, and the window was large enough (as most are) a person could pass through a window. And in fact, this was commonly used in the southern United States when a door tax was passed. People the put long windows instead of doors leading out to balconies and decks. It is actually interesting to think of a window as a medium for passage. If you think about the saying “window of opportunity” like this, then the saying really doesn’t make sense. A true window is not meant to let you fully pass through, so how are we supposed to take advantage of a window of opportunity? Especially a small window of opportunity! Perhaps it is because a window is a safe way to see that which you are longing to see. And while many things pass by your window, you only pass through the doors that you choose to, and often which you saw past through

Vanessa and me at Spier for our farewell lunch. Notice the
cheetah in the background. Another majestic creature I was
happy to have behind a fence.

a window first. The other thing a window allows is with the curtain. While it is not distinctly part of the window, it is part of the window barrier. It gives the person on the inside of the window to close off the rest of the world from what is inside the window. It, like the door, is an optional protection. The window is thus a combination of the door and the wall, which perhaps makes it more powerful than either if used appropriately.