Name: Jessie Chen
Age: 20
Nationality: United States of America
Major(s): Global Studies & Geography/Environmental Studies
Home Institution: University of California, Los Angeles
Astrological sign: Scorpio
Hobbies: Running, traveling, hanging out with friends, pole vaulting
Q: What is your favorite thing about South Korea and/or KU ISC?
A: Seoul was a great place to explore and live in, but I’d have to say my favorite part about being there was the people I got to meet. It is a cheesy answer, but I adored being able to hang out with people from really different backgrounds than mine. A large part of my personal growth and development from this experience abroad was from the diverse people I interacted with.
Q: How is the difficulty of classes at Korea University compared to your home institution?
A: I think the classes at UCLA are more difficult. However, it’s hard to compare because KUISC is a summer program, so the administration probably understands that it would be difficult to assign essays and have them graded on time. Hence, the workload for classes was less than that of the normal classes that I take at UCLA.
Q: What classes did you take?
A: Introduction to Psychology (Jen Youngstrom from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Comparative Law (Marcus Cole from Stanford University)
Beginning Korean
Q: What will you miss the most about Seoul?
A: The convenience of the metro system. I’m from Los Angeles County and you can’t really get to places without a car. In Seoul, you can just hop on the metro after class and go somewhere new. In California, if my friends and I want to go somewhere we haven’t been to, we need to organize ourselves and find rides. I will really miss being able to go places with my friends via metro.
Q: What is your least favorite thing about South Korea?
A: As much as I loved Seoul, one issue I had with it is the fact that they do not have trash cans anywhere. Because of the lack of trash bins, there are often a bunch of cigarette butts and trash lying around. Sometimes, you go to a nice part of the city and there is a big pile of trash just sitting in the middle of the street. My biggest hope for the Korean government is that they figure out their trash pickup system haha.
Q: What do you miss most about home?
A: I miss having data! Although, not having data in Seoul had its perks. For instance, my friends and I actually had conversations over the dinner table instead of everyone being on their phones. However, getting lost and not having Internet to access maps or Google Translate to ask for directions was a little scary sometimes, especially when I left Seoul and went to Gyeongju. Overall, I am still happy with my decision of not purchasing a SIM card in Korea.
Q: Do you have any regrets about this trip?
A: My biggest regret is not trying live octopus. My friends and I had actually gone all the way out to a marketplace to try it, but at the last minute my friends decided against it and I didn’t want to eat an entire octopus alone. Hopefully, I get to return to South Korea someday to try it.
Q: Do you have any tips for people joining this program next summer?
A: I really regret not being more adventurous earlier on in the program. As my time in Seoul is coming to an end, I am beginning to realize how many things I still haven’t tried and places I haven’t visited. I wish that I had done more in my first 2 weeks of the program. In the beginning, I had a false sense of security because I thought “I have 6 weeks to do all these things, I’ll just do it next time.” But now I know how quickly the 6 weeks pass by, so I wish I had done more.