(merkit hukassa)

Adventures in Korea

Tag Archives: re-thinking

2011 03/12
Kello 9:47 | By Leena Heikkinen | Posted in Engineering & design, In Korea, Suwon | Tagged , , , , |

One more update – Studies

I was asked to summarize the courses I participated in Korea, here goes!

I chose my courses first time in spring 2010 when I applied for exchange.  I had to apply again in fall 2010 and reselect the courses. The usual problem of not having updated course listing made it pointless – had I known they only offer logistics courses in English during fall semester, I would have gone in fall, but then again it didn’t really matter to me what kind of studies I was to take – I wouldn’t have been able to credit any courses as my obligatory courses in Finland anyways.

So, the final selection of courses happened during Christmas holidays in Finland – in this web service that really, really needs some serious developing. Not that this really is a problem specifically to Ajou – the quality of all solutions related to course administration was poor in Canada, is ridiculous in Finland and makes no sense in Korea.

I decided to choose six courses:

  1. Korean language 1
  2. Ecodesign 1
  3. Ecodesign 2
  4. Introduction to Information Security
  5. Contemporary Issues in Korean Culture and Society and
  6. Biological Wastewater Management

During the course drop period I decided to drop the culture course (it was way too much work and not too much in my scope of interest either), Korean language 1 (Too slow, I learned more drinking with my choir mates) and Biological Wastewater Management (my math level was way below Koreans, I had no means to keep up. This course was basically calculations after calculations).

I ended up with three courses and one club. I think four courses is well enough for exchange students. At least for Finnish students – we are not used to so much homework. The courses are really time consuming in Korea. And your club also takes quite a deal of your time – they are your Korean contact and you need to socialize.

Ecodesign 1 and 2 – first one being theory course and the second a lab course. Professor Lee is a leading researcher in the field, speaks excellent English and demands that from his students (have an English- English dictionary with you in class if you want to impress him), and very demanding. He really appreciates thinking outside the box, so don’t stick to your old ideas. The topic of the course was green design – mostly re-designing and calculating the CO2 imprint. I found the course inspiring – although my Korean classmates were afraid of the professor, he is very demanding.

Introduction to Information Security  by professor Tufail was also an excellent choice. Professor Tufail is a young guy who really can emphasize with students and is understanding, if you have some exchange student stuff going on. Let him know your absences beforehand though, just to make it easier for you both. The course outline is very clear, the coursebook excellent and the exercises reasonable and easy. It’s very easy to get good marks on this course and it’s useful basic knowledge on IT security.

Glee choir – my freetime activity, was my savior. I signed up on during the week they were advertising and they really took me in well. They practice once a week, 3 hours a row plus the separate themes practice a couple of hours a week. There are a lot of guys and a little less girls. People hang out in the club room all the time – they spend their nights there too, if they miss their bus or are too drunk to go home. I really, really recommend them. I just met a couple of glee members a couple of weeks ago – they came to Finland ^^.

One more thing about courses – you need to keep an eye on the course dropping dates – they are really strict.

2011 11/07
Kello 7:42 | By Leena Heikkinen | Posted in After, Other places | Tagged , , , , , |

Culture shock

Hey, someone has been bullshitting me about this culture shock crap. I didn’t get any symptoms during or after my exchange. No wait! I got a bit irritated once. No wait again! I didn’t remember how to use my credit card here in Finland, and I still hand everything with both hands.

No need to describe me the phenomenon – I’ve been through it over and over again. Surprisingly enough, I got the biggest shock when I moved to my university town Jyväskylä, in my own country! Had I been a bit weaker specimen of my species, I would have needed medication. Have a Prozac and smile! I quite a shock with Canada too, after most of the exchange students I knew left after the first semester and the rest of us got tired with each other. I only stayed three weeks in Japan but got a shock worth mentioning – didn’t speak with my travel mate for a month. But no shock with Korea. Nothing.

This time I was pretty sure I would only stay there for 5 months, nothing was for forever, I had nothing to get excessively irritated over. And on the other hand, the life I came back to in Finland was good to begin with: friends, family, well paying job, summer. I know I can go back to Korea whenever I want to.

I must confess I took precautions to bypass the culture shock. The Japan experience was a great help. I knew my weaknesses and how to get over them.

Precaution number 1: Make sure you get enough food.  - As I have been living with myself for good 27 years I know for sure the monster inside me wakes up when I’m hungry and tired. I knew Korea (like Japan) is and was a nightmare for a vegetarian, and I was a vegan. VEGAN! Nothing, nothing from animals I ate. I asked tips from other vegetarians in Korea (didn’t help that much) and for the first weeks I just tried to slowly accept the local cuisine. No heavy drinking, no heavy sightseeing, no “let’s experience everything new right now” attitude. Just chillin’. It paid off! I had to make compromises: trying to stay vegan without understanding Korean would have been too hard, and I also started eating food with meat broth or chunks of meat in  - luckily I had carnivorous friends, who bravely suffered my share of meat.

Precaution number 2: make friends. Lotta was a great help – I’m slow and lazy to make friends so I just let Lotta do the filtering and collected the prize.

Precaution number 3: don’t stay too long. Two semesters in Canada was a bit too much. Three weeks backpacking in Japan was too much. One semester in Korea was just enough to leave me hungry for more. I didn’t have enough money to stay longer.

Precaution number 4: don’t expect. Don’t expect anything from the country or the people (yourself included). The experience is offered “as is”. Most of the ridiculous stuff can be explained logically when put in the cultural context. People in most cases are not better or worse than you, even if they act differently. You yourself are responsible for your mistakes or successes. If you expect too much, it’s your fault you get disappointed.

Precaution number 5: accept all the weird invitations. And here I don’t live as I preach. I didn’t go to the host bar, even though my friend kept asking me to go. Nor did I go to the Wedding Cafe. Maybe next time?

???
Profit

Maybe it hits later, the shock. But honestly, I’d like to think, patting myself to the back, that I’ve achieved the cosmopolitan attitude I’ve been striving for… or is it because I’m happy with (or full of) myself that I don’t need to stress over irrelevant stuff? I’m pretty sure the wanderlust hits me sooner than the culture shock.

PS. Yesterday I sent the final documents to my coordinator. Soon it’s officially over.

2011 17/04
Kello 23:59 | By Leena Heikkinen | Posted in In Korea, Seoul, Suwon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Feelin exhausted, creative, and very, very Finnish

Hi dudes!

Next week is the mid-term week and that means a lot here. Even though 벚꽃, cherry blossom, is awesome and everywhere, people are studying like crazy. It even affected my lazy ass and I’ve been studying too. It feels good, to use my little gray cells for something. I don’t take it as far as Koreans – they spend nights at the uni library and even have study group meetings all weekend – but I do use my spare time in the club room, studying, and often stay there until late night. Or… we might do this:

I was a bit concerned when I decided to study in Korea. I knew they are hard ass math freaks (which I surely am not). I thought I would have hard time trying to catch up. I was partly right – they have way better math skills than I do (which on the other hand is not that hard to achieve, I suck), but I also have skills they don’t. Creative thinking, that is.

My teacher (yeah, Mikko) once told me Finns are appreciated because of their ability to think creatively and outside the box. I didn’t really pay much thoughts on that, until now. I find myself being sometimes the only one in my class who can visualize past and future stages or possible variants. Or even draw flowcharts. Or suggest new things or improvements. And this is all thanks to Finnish education system – we do encourage students to think, not just swallow something that the teachers decide to pour in. But I wish teachers demanded more from us. Me – I only do what I have to do, I would never do more.

So sometimes in class I feel utterly stupid, but the next moment I might be the only one who has something to say. It’s partly because I’m years senior to my classmates and partly because I have been through more than they will in next ten years, but also because of the Finnish background. I do realize how little I know. I should study more. A lot. I’ve been lazing around too long. I’m kinda in the verge of finding my thing. Let’s hope I’ll figure it out soon.

Don’t worry, it’s not like I study all the time. I’ve gone to places. To do stuff. Here’s proof:

Picnic at Teletubby Hill. We made Finnish (universal) pancakes with Lotta. And ordered food – the delivery guys know where to take it if you ask them to bring it to Teletubby Hill.

Had some beers with the girls. These are the “side dishes” to go with the drinks (we already ate the mozzarella sticks). These and 3 l of beer cost us 27000w – 19 e.

Went to see cherry blossoms in Seoul, with a friend. This is from Yeouido Park and the general area around.


Of course my camera battery ran out right before we found the cherry trees. But I got a snap from the campus instead, right in front of the Dpt of Engineering

The weekend before our Current Issues course (from which I dropped out) made a field trip to Seoul. So I managed to see the palace I missed on my first week.

In Chinese horoscope I was born on the year of Pig, so I took a picture with this fellow:

In front of the Tourism Bureau Something we saw these dudes, replicating a traditional Korean wedding. Their hats are very fancy and mesmerizing

And we had a party and went clubbing with the professor… but that part of culture we knew fairly well already. The club, btw, was very crowded and full of guys. Dancing guys. Guys don’t dance in Finland.

YEP. Heippa!

PS. I got a package from a dear friend. Salmiakki <3 But now I miss her and Finland even more.

2011 31/01
Kello 12:37 | By Leena Heikkinen | Posted in Before | Tagged , , , , |

(S)he’s a Lady!

First topic – The thing is: I used to have long hair. Week ago I went to a hairdresser to cut it moderately shorter, in which she horribly failed. I fixed her mistakes at home and ended up with a short, short, short hair. I was planning to pack a couple of skirts with me but I tried them on and with the short hair I looked like a trans-gendered person… only the real mtfs have better legs than I do. So I guess I have to skip the skirts and stick with jeans – and look like a cute guy with boobs.

As much as I might whine, I rather like the short hair and I am more comfortable with jeans anyways so I’m actually quite happy with the result. This means I can drop the high heels, skirts, hair conditioner and all the other useless girly stuff from my backpack and replace them with something useful.

Second topic – I managed to leave my dorm application on time. Me and Lotta are gonna be roommates. We decided this as we both know how tiring the language barrier can get sometimes and how you need somebody to whine to, about the stupidities you encounter – in your own language. They already assigned the rooms, so now I can finally change my address and make the travel announcement to the Foreign Ministry.

My address from 24th February till 23th June will be:

# 5225, Hwahong Hall, Ajou University,
San 5, Woncheon-dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon 443-749, Korea

I’ll also put a link on the right hand banner, so you can find my contact information when ever you feel like sending me stuff. Unfortunately I have to refuse letting you crash in our room – the dorm rules were strict: no letting people stay over, no behaving badly when drunk, no dropping by at the guys’ floor (with this part they were very particular), no more tuberculosis and so on. I hope this also means that the dorms are well maintained and at least bit more peaceful than the infamous M-building in Jyväskylä student ghetto.

Third topic – I’m planning my second farewell party. The date is most likely 11th of February. Location… very probably Toppila, Oulu. So heads up and leave your schedule open!

Also, limited amount of rendezvouses with magnifique moi available in Jyväskylä this Friday. Book your appointment with my secretary (comment box).