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[tjinsk]

Thank you so much for everything! All the business courses have a Korean syllabus so I hope they will be in English when I come as it's written that they are going to be in English! Thank you so much again for your help :)

Yeah yeah, it’s no problem!! I’m glad I could help.

The main part of the syllabus you want in English are the schedule and the course objectives. If those are in English then it’s pretty likely it’ll be in English. But if the schedule is in Korean, the class will probably be in Korean. But that may be just this semester! The courses for next semester may have different teachers and different sections so hopefully they will be in English then!

[tjinsk]

Stuff for anon:

Here are the files that I was able to find:

DBA2007-01

DBA2011-01

DBA2011-02

DBA2011-03

DBA2011-04

ECO4004-01

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any syllabus’ for INT4007 or SOC4007. You may need to ask your school to contact someone here at Dongguk for those. And it looks like DBA2011 is, at least this semester, mostly in Korean, judging from the syllabus’. If you do stick with these classes, email the teacher asap to know if they teach in English (do this once you get here, since the teachers and sections may be different next semester).

Let me know if they don’t open!

[tjinsk]

Thank you so much again! You are my life saver :D okay so the courses that I would like to take are the following (if you can get the syllabus of some of them I would really grateful): DBA2007-01 or DBA2007-04 (financial accounting), DBA2011-01 or 02/03/04 (business mathematics), ECO4004-01 (econometrics), INT4007-01 or 02/03 (business English) and SOC4007-01 (social policy)! I think I'm gonna apply to the dorm! To be honest I commute one hour and half to go to university right now and -->

I don't want to commute even in Korea! Hopefully I'll get into the dorm! Is it very difficult to get into? When do I have to apply to be sure to get a room there?  And thank you for your Korean language program information! What are you doing at level 2? Like what is the program? Because I've already studied Korean and right now I'm studying from the "continuing Korean" book by Ross King so I don't really want to start from the beginning again! What do they ask on the test to get into the level 2? I feel so much better right now after finding your blog! I thought nobody attended Dongguk university >__

It’s not difficult for foreigners to get into, but they have a specific number of slots for us since the rest of the dorm is for Korean students. It’s random, as far as I know, who gets into the dorms and who doesn’t, though if you’re a guy you have better chances since there are less guy exchange students in general. They’ll contact you if they need you to arrange other housing instead of the dorm.

Level 2 follows the same format of grammar, speaking, listening, writing, and vocab as level 1. There’s vocab quizzes about everyday with minimum 20 words. Once the lesson grammar is taught, it’s mostly working in pairs on the exercises from the book (speaking, listening, writing). There’s a several day long midterm and final, and this is most of your grade, even with the homework and quizzes.

The entrance tests I haven’t personally taken, since I just did level 1 and I go to level 2 automatically since I passed level 1. My roommate last semester said it was half written and half speaking, but she didn’t know there were other sections for the writing than what she did, so she didn’t do as well as she had hoped. It’s honestly pretty uncertain what level you will get into, even having learned some Korean. I had a classmate in level 1 who could speak some Korean since one of her parents was Korean, but her writing and spelling wasn’t as good so she was with the beginners. My roommate had studied Korean for 3 years, had a Korean boyfriend, and had mostly Korean friends, but she was still put into level 2. She spent most of her time bored since she knew most of the stuff, but she couldn’t ask to be put in level 3. I can’t help more with this though, since I don’t know anyone this semester who has taken the test.

I have a separate post for the syllabus’!

[tjinsk]

why yes, that is the same oreo waffle

we had it twice

[tjinsk]

Here’s info on the Intensive Korean Language Program at Dongguk if you need more details! Cause I know it was almost impossible for me to find anything...hah. All I heard was that it was difficult and awful, but it wasn’t that bad, honestly. You can read and decide for yourself:

The levels:

There are 6 levels total. If you have almost no knowledge of Korean, you’re going to be level 1. If you have some knowledge of Korean, then you’ll have to take a test and if you’re really good you’ll be in level 2. I don’t know of any foreigners who tested into level 3 in the beginning but I dunno, you can try. The later levels are already pretty fluent, and at either level 4 or 5 it’s mostly just reading and writing and some vocab cause all of the grammar has been taught. Levels 3 to 6 also require you to take at least one Korean class (as in a class for Korean students taught in Korean. Yeah.) At level 3 you have to take one, at level 4 you need to take two, etc. This is not negotiable I think.

The fee for the class is 150,000 won, not including textbooks. Every semester/every level you need to pay again.

The times for the classes are always the same:

Level 1: 5 pm - 8 pm M-F

Level 2: 1 pm - 5 pm M-F

Level 3-6: 9 am - 1 pm M-F

(But I think there are some special cases where level 2 can be taken in the morning. Only based off of what I saw, but idk how to get into those classes specifically. I think it’s if you fail the first time you get another chance and you can pick?)

Level 1:

This is the foreigner Korean class basically. All classes after this will have mostly Chinese students (since they’re taking Korean language full time to go to school in Korea). It is pretty intensive, starting about a week after school starts and lasting until the end of the semester. It was 180 hours: 3 hours a day, Monday through Friday, from 5:10-7:45 pm (10 minute breaks after every hour). For a couple weeks near the end we had Wednesdays off, but don’t count on it because they ended up filling in those Wednesdays to end the class sooner. You can miss a total of 40 hours, after which you fail automatically. If you’re late and your teacher sucks, you essentially are absent for that whole hour so you may as well come back for the next hour. School related absences like trips will be excused as long as you go to the trip leader to get an official letter of absence.

There’s a huge gap between level 1 and level 2, so there will probably be people in your class who already know some Korean but no worries. The first class is mostly about learning classroom phrases, which can be difficult if you can’t read, but you aren’t quizzed on it. Immediately after that you learn how to pronounce, read, and write Korean. The first week is basically focusing on teaching you the alphabet and how to listen and speak with pronunciation being a huge focus. After that you have the textbook and workbook and you can proceed through the chapters. For our book (Dongguk just changed it so I have no idea what it’s like now), it was 28 chapters and we spent about a day and a half/two days per chapter.

You have to pay for all workbooks and textbooks. The thin ones about the alphabet and such are 2-3,000 won. The textbook and workbook is around 20-30,000 won.

The class will go over everything: grammar, vocabulary, listening, speaking, writing, and reading. Some areas get more focus than others (we had vocabulary quizzes in the later half of the semester). Homework is only writing and reading from the workbook. There is a midterm and final for about three days each. The sections are: speaking, writing (check your spelling!), listening, reading, and pronunciation. For speaking, there’s a section with a random partner dialogue, one where you look at pictures and talk about it, and one where you answer questions from the teacher. Just ramble on as much as you can and try not to take too long to think of your sentences. The writing is all based on the grammar, either choosing the correct grammar/vocab or making a sentence using the grammar correctly. They are very strict with this being correct. Don’t try to make the sentences too fancy, cause it’s better for it to be simpler and 100% correct than elaborate and 80% correct. There’s also a little paragraph you write at the end probably about yourself. It’s very short. Listening and reading are both multiple choice only. The audio is a little slower than natural speaking but way faster than the TOPIK exam audio. The pronunciation you’ll get some sentences (I think it’s the exact same as what was in the textbook) and read them out loud to the teacher. There may have also been a section on listening pronunciation, where you chose the ㅂ, ㅃ, ㅍ difference type of thing.

At the end you get a certificate if you passed (70% and only based off of the midterm and final), with the hours listed and saying that you completed the level. You can also see your grades on all of the sections and instructor comments.

Honestly, even if you aren’t very good at Korean, it’s still worthwhile. You get to know other foreigners and other cultures pretty well too since you see the same people every day. You get really close with those people.

Level 2:

Level 2 is from 1-5 pm every weekday.

Note: You can take this class all semesters, including the winter one. So if you pass level 1, you have about a weekend to yourself before level 2 starts because this semester is shorter. The gap between level 2 ending from the winter semester and taking level 3 in the spring is longer though, as level 2 ended around the end of February, before school started and level 2-6 doesn’t start until around a month after the semester starts (this applies to fall semester as well).

After a couple classes of review you basically just go through the level 2 textbook and workbook. Each chapter in the textbook had a vocab/grammar section, a speaking section, a writing section, a reading section, a listening section, and then a last speaking section again. Since each class is 4 hours, each hour is devoted to each topic (first is vocab/grammar, second is speaking, etc.) with a 10 minute break in between hours. The teachers rotate btw. After the review days every day there will be a quick 10 minute vocab quiz with that day’s vocab, ranging from 20-30 words. The quiz format has vocab that you fill into sentences to make sense. This differs from the level 1 quizzes in that you need to conjugate the vocab correctly and the grammar from previous lessons will be the grammar that you need to use to make the sentence (eg using 은/는/인데 instead of 아/어서. Sometimes the grammar may not be obvious or it’s grammar that you should’ve learned in level 1, but if you tested into level 2 you may not know it. You’ll learn from the quizzes.

The midterm and final exam is the exact same format as level 1: 3 days of pronunciation, speaking, writing, reading, and listening tests. The pronunciation test is the day before the other tests and it’s the little worksheets they give out as part of the pronunciation chapters. Just practice those. The speaking test is partially partner dialogue, you answering questions the teacher asks, and listening to a dialogue and talking about it/answering questions. The writing test is choosing the right grammar/vocab and writing sentences using the correct grammar. They are very strict with this being correct. Don’t try to make the sentences too fancy, cause it’s better for it to be simpler and 100% correct than elaborate and 80% correct. There’s also a paragraph at the end you write. It’s about one of the topics you had to write about on the other review days. The writing and listening tests are both multiple choice. The audio is a little slower than natural speaking but way faster than the TOPIK exam audio.

At the end you get a certificate if you passed (70% and only based off of the midterm and final), with the hours listed and saying that you completed the level. You can also see your grades on all of the sections and instructor comments (in Korean). You have to go to a long ceremony to get your certificate and then depending on the semester you have about a week before level 3.

And that’s where all my knowledge ends! No matter your level there’s also a field trip day where you go someplace with all of the other levels and experience Korea and Korean culture and stuff. For fall in level 1 we went to the Icheon Rice Festival and then in the spring in level 2 we went to Namiseom. If you have classes the field trip day make sure to talk to the teachers and get a form so that you can give it to the classes you missed, since you are pretty much going on that field trip (if you don’t go you are counted as absent for however many hours the field trip is, usually 8. So keep that in mind if you don’t wanna go/are late.)

[tjinsk]

Thank you so so so much! If it doesn't bother you, I have some other questions! I'm sorry ㅠㅠ what about the courses registration? I heard that in Korea there is a kinda war to get into the courses you want...what about exchange students at Dongguk? And do you perhaps know where I can find the syllabus of the courses? My university just gave a list of the English courses! About the dormitory...I still want to apply for the dorm because it's cheaper and closer to the university! So If I -->

have understood correctly, even if I get into 5 am, I will get penalty points, right? And what if I apply to the dorm and I cannot get into? Will I be able to apply to the other accommodation? And in the paper my university gave me, there are only two options for accommodation, the dorm and another one called city days INN! Do you know anything about the last one?  I hope I can make loads of friends! :D so it is possible to join the students clubs? Which clubs are there? And do you know anything about the Korean language program? Because there should be a language program for exchange students (3 hours a day 4 days a week)! And how are the lectures taught by the haram’s students? One of the main reasons I’m going to Korea is to improve my Korean! Thank you so much again and sorry for all these questions! ㅠㅠ

Yeah it’s no problem! I understand how little information is out there so it’s difficult to plan ahead!

Exchange students tend to be fine with their classes since they only want the English classes and usually the English classes are the last resort for the Korean students. It’s only during the re-registration period during the first week of school that things get more competitive. The classes you register for before you get here should be fine.

Syllabus’ aren’t anywhere online. Only through Dongguk’s UDRIMS system can you get a syllabus, and that’s only accessible at school. You can ask your advisor at your school to contact someone at Dongguk to get a copy of this semester’s syllabus, but if you want I can get a few syllabus’ from the system soon. I just need the course number and the class name. There may be different teachers, so they will have different syllabus’.

If you come in after 5 am there will be no penalty points, you just need to find somewhere to be from 12-5! If you do not get into the dorm, you will probably have to stay at city days INN. If it’s the one at Dongdaemun, then I know some people last semester who stayed there. It is a hotel at Dongdaemun station, they have a cleaning service every week, and you’ll have a roommate. They also do not have curfew but, like with Twin City, you would need to take the subway to school. (Both stations are very close, though, like 10 mins or less rides.)

It is definitely possible to join student clubs and there are all sorts of clubs; arts, music, volunteering, languages, so it’s really up to what you’re interested in! They may be hesitant if you are a foreigner, but most clubs are open and accept foreigners. It’s just up to you to ask! During the first week of school for both fall and spring semesters, there will be booths set up in the middle of campus (near the Buddha statue) for you to look around. 

The Haram lectures are good, but since you are only meeting once a week you cannot really learn a lot. It is good supplementary material and good practice, since you are paired up with a Korean student. They have different levels of beginner to advanced, though, so you have options. I have a post about the Korean language program queued, so I will post it :)

[tjinsk]

Hi! I'm going to attend Dongguk university during the fall 2016 semester and I have some for you if you don't mind! I read on your blog that even if some courses are supposed to be taught in English, they are not. What about the economics and business courses? I really need to take some English courses in order to graduate like econometrics! And I read that the dorm has a curfew but how strict is it? And would it be a problem if I missed the curfew and just came back at 5 am during the -->

-> weekends? And lastly, are there lots of international students? Is it easy to meet new people? Because I heard that lots of Koreans are kinda afraid to talk to foreigners! Thank you so much :D

Hi! So, for English courses you are very lucky. Pretty much every business and economics course me or any of my friends have signed up for have been in English. Sometimes the teacher will use partial Korean and partial English to explain things in lectures, but the powerpoints, tests, and textbooks are all in English. It’s other courses like history or architecture that you need to watch out for. The English business school courses are in English!

The curfew for the dorm is pretty strict; even a few minutes after you are penalized. You can walk in any time but you have to scan your room card to come in, so you will get ‘negative points.’ If you get too many of these you get kicked out, but I haven’t actually known someone to be kicked out unless they had someone of the opposite gender over in their room (the dorms are split very strictly between the genders and that’s one of the other rules they have for the dorms). Even if you get too many negative points, there are ways to earn a few positive points back. And if you do have a lot of negative points, they still won’t really kick you out if that’s the only semester you are staying. If you’re staying another semester you’ll need to be more careful though, and you can just miss the curfew and come back at 5. If you really don’t want to have to deal with the curfew at all, there is another housing place the school owns called Twin City you could ask about. It’s more expensive and not at the school (it’s near Seoul Station) but they have no curfew and a kitchen. There are many foreigners living there this semester because the dorm cannot hold everyone.

There are tons of international students and it is definitely easy to meet new people! You’ll probably meet other foreigners through the airport pickup service, the dorms, the orientation, and your classes almost immediately. People are super open the first few weeks cause they also want to make friends! For Korean students it is a little more difficult, as they may not feel comfortable speaking English if you don’t know Korean. But you can still make friends with Korean students in your classes and through student clubs. There is a student club called Haram that teaches foreigners Korean and you can make Korean friends this way too. Facebook groups and Kakao chats will also be super helpful in getting to know people. And since I assume you’ll be drinking, you’re going to meet people really easily and really fast, both foreign and Korean. Like drinking is all you need honestly.

Hope this helps!

[tjinsk]

Interested in anime? Every month/two months there is Comic World in Seoul and Busan!

The convention (in Seoul, at least) is mostly fanart and cosplay. Almost all of the booths are fanartists who sell their own merchandise and it tends to be very cheap! There are a couple booths that sell more Western-based art, but it is mostly from recently popular movies, a bit of Disney, and a bit of DC and Marvel. There are also some booths that just have cute or pretty items like pillows, notebooks, and bags. These tend to have flowers or animals and aren’t related to comics at all.

Entrance prices are pretty cheap. When I went last October, it was 3,000 won. This March it was 5,000 won. The entrance lines are long though, so expect to wait, though they go by pretty quickly considering how many people there are.

Event times:

Saturday is from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm

Sunday is from 10 am to 5:30 pm

They tend to use the same venues. The venue in Seoul (at least where I’ve been) is the Yangjae AT Center (양재 AT 센터). Get off at 양재시민의 숲 (매헌) Yangjae Citizen’s Forest and just follow the stream of people. The center is right by a subway exit and there should be plenty of people around to help guide you.

For more specific info about the location and dates, here is their website.

[tjinsk]

desserts in korea~

[tjinsk]

i went to the icheon (not incheon!) rice festival with my korean class

free makgeolli (rice wine) tasting and we bought some rice cream! (rice ice cream)

learned a lot about rice and soy products and i guess korean culture? didn’t know they made totem poles.

also there was a huge pot of rice and a bunch of older people were waiting in line for some dish made with that rice? it was interesting. and by huge pot i mean probably five feet tall.

[tjinsk]

Here’s a map for how to get to Lemon Mart (labelled By The Way), which is the closest thing to a grocery store near school.

The red dot is you if you are facing the street right by the dorms. The left path takes you past (currently) the churro place and the burrito place, more of the main street. The right path goes through a neighborhood and it is shorter.

[tjinsk]

here it is!!! the soon to be 120 something floor building in seoul!!!! which will not be completed and open until december 2016!!! and i was dumb enough to think some floors would be open already and i could just go up the 80th floor!! :DDD

[tjinsk]

If you’re going to live in the residence hall at Dongguk (Namsan Residence Hall), you’ll need to get a chest x-ray/TB test, after which you need to hand in the results to the residence office.

You can go to the Junggu Community Health Center at Sindang (line 2) exit 4. You’d need your passport, alien registration card, ID photo, and 1,500 won.

OR

You can also just wait about three weeks to a month after you move in. A truck that does the test will be on campus for foreign students. There will be a notice by the elevators well in advance. (This applies to both fall and spring semesters.)

Also when you move in double check that you get a move-in checklist. They did not give me one to fill out and I was penalized for it.

[tjinsk]

the day i finally got to experience proper snow here

[tjinsk]

One of the first things you’ll need to do when you arrive in Seoul is get your Alien Registration Card, which is required for all foreigners who are staying for over 3 months (90 days). This card is a form of identification and is also necessary if you want to buy a phone here or open a bank account. I have also needed it when leaving the country while still coming back. Since everyone else will be needing this too, expect to wait a few hours. You probably won’t be able to pick up your card for another few weeks, so if you were intending to buy a phone here (like me), keep that in mind.

In order to get one of these, you need to go to the immigration office, which there are two of. You go to the one for your province. Above is a map of the office for students at Dongguk/people in Jung-gu.

You’ll need at least your passport, some cash, and a small id photo (you can take these photos at the office, just bring 7,000 won in cash or go to one of the photo booths in the subway station). There may be some other documents necessary but I can’t remember. At orientation you’ll get information.

Directions: From Chungmuro, take the orange line (number 3) to Jongno 3-ga and transfer to the dark blue line (number 1) heading towards City Hall/Seoul Station. Jonggak is the next stop. Exit Jonggak station from exit 6 and just walk straight. The building will be on the left and take the elevator/stairs to the office. This is also the same building as the Seoul Global Center, so you can check that out too.

[tjinsk]

If you’re looking for a cheap place to stay I recommend Seoulmom (which I only recommend because I have stayed there so I know it is legitimate).

Pros: Wifi is so good. Works all the time and it’s fast. (Even though it’s Seoul you can’t expect this. I stayed at a hotel that had almost non-working wifi). The floor heating warms the room really well. Floor space enough for a couple suitcases and you can still walk. Located close to a subway exit. Price per person per night: 15,000 won. Honestly you can’t beat that.

Cons: Not the cleanest and it’s super small, especially the bathroom, but kinda to be expected.

If you need a hotel of some kind, check out Agora as well as the other sites that pop up on google because Agora is more Asia-centered. I have stayed at the Staz Myeongdong 2 before (with the shitty wifi) and they’re a decent hotel. Hot water, instant coffee and tea, great bathroom, cleaning service, also close to a subway exit. Just be sure to look up the right hotel on google maps. I first looked up the Staz Myeongdong 1 hotel by accident.

[tjinsk]

Seoul Tower (N Tower)

If you’re going from Dongguk: You can walk up the mountain, using the entrance near the dorms or the one near the 상록원. Warning: there’s a fuckton of stairs. Going down is pretty ok though. It’s really well paved and there are clear boundaries so it’s not like you can get lost in the woods.

There’s also a bus that goes from the bus stop right by Chungmuro station exit 2 (by the Popeye’s). Take the number 2 or 5 line all the way up to the mountain and you can take it back down. I’ve heard the cable car is overrated so I’ve never tried it.

Having been to Seoul Tower during the day and now during the evening/night, I think going a little before sunset is perfect, cause then you get the city without lights, and then get to watch them all come on. During the day there are martial arts performances beneath the tower, though. But those were way less interesting to me cause. Damn I like cities.

The tower is very couple-y with an area around the base with the locks on the fences and you throw away the key so your love will last forever and shit. There’s also some kinda bench from some drama. I took a picture with it just so that I can say that I have? Inside the tower there’s a whole wall of couple-y (though it’s also a family and friend kinda thing too) tiles you can buy and personalize and leave for everyone else to see.

The view for me is A++ amazing great good shit meme. I love cities. And this one just goes on and on as far as you can see (which may not be that far if it’s a hazy day lol) and just? seeing the traffic and buildings light up around dusk is incredible. Being able to see the huge TV screens on buildings from across the river was great. Kinda felt a little dystopian with them flashing but honestly I think it’s great. And I was able to pick out all kinds of places I’ve been and it was great for perspective. Seeing the distance I walk from say, the dorms to Myeongdong I felt so proud of myself, hah. I walk so far now. It was also so easy to see the area around school, especially at night. The Uniqlo store at Myeongdong was especially easy to spot, oddly enough.