Korea Semester Abroad 12: Uni finale
26.08.2022 - 09.01.2023
The mountain of the rabbit
03.12.2022 – Saturday
Today, in addition to the university routine, we are climbing Apsan Mountain at 700 meters. But now it's starting to get cold, winter has arrived in Korea! While there was already snow in Germany in November, temperatures in Korea are now plummeting from the usual 10° down to 0°. The trend is downwards.
Last Wednesday was probably the last baseball training for the semester in November.
In addition, we actually did a bit of studying again for the upcoming finals.
Finals & closing ceremonies
05.12.2022 – 16.12.2022
- Monday, 12.12 was the writing exam of "Korean Language".
- On December 13th the last exams will be handed in: A "written exam" in "Wireless Networks" and immediately afterwards a presentation in "Korean language", purely in Korean!
- I had already given the presentation in "Korea in Motion" and had written and handed in an essay during the following weeks.
- On 13.12 there was also snow for the first time in Korea, just in time for the finals.
- On 14.12 and 15.12, Wednesday & Thursday, there were two organizational events at the KNU for the end of the semester and I (already) wrote my final report on the semester abroad for the h_da, so that everything is directly feddisch.
- Then on 16.12 there was a birthday party for a German-Swabian friend Max...
If you want to watch the korean presentation you can find it here:
Ice-skating and chin-breaking
17.12.2022 – Saturday:
Today it got... interesting. First bouldering again and getting a few blisters. You know the drill. But then we went ice skating at Daegu E-World with a few internationals (Tobi, Anja, me, Alice and Danilo). It was there that I discovered through careful and thorough scientific work: Ice is hard and capable of splitting your chin with a fall from a standing height of 1.90m. I got a proper laceration. We then skated on until the hall closed, as I had paid for 2 hours. We then drove to 2 hospitals, one of which was overcrowded after 2 hours of waiting and the other disinfected me and put me off until Sunday.
18.12.2022 – Sunday:
In the morning, I had a CT scan at Daegu Fatima Hospital to check for brain injuries, my chin was x-rayed and stitched up and I was pumped full of antibiotics. Everything was treated quite intensively. In the evening we watch soccer, as the World Cup is currently taking place in Qatar and we watched a few games of Japan, Korea and Germany, as well as the final in public viewing in B1 of the Dorms. Incidentally, I don't have a single "penalty point" in the dorm yet. We even had a beer in front of the "No beer" sign.
Semester closing party
19.12.2022 – Monday
The last lectures and exam reviews take place. In the evening, we meet up in a large group for the semester-is-over party. We also do a lot of packing because we have to leave the dorm tomorrow.
Now it's time to say goodbye (for the time being) and we leave the university campus for a hotel in Daegu for one night.
You can take a closer look at the campus in the following accordion element if you like.
The campus
an overview of the KNU
If you're interested, you'll find a few (labeled) pictures and impressions of the university campus we're leaving here in the accordion.
If not, feel free to close this part.
Office of International Affairs
On the 2nd floor is the contact point for internationals with questions about the university and rooms
Tennis courts
To the right are basketball courts, soccer pitches including a running track and the baseball stadium
Central Library
Here you could drink good coffee / chocolate and study in the relaxation rooms
College of IT Engineering Bldg.1
We walked towards this building as an orientation point in the direction of the Department of Computer Science (IT).
IT convergence Engineering
Our lectures in "Wireless Networks" took place here.
Central Park
The beautiful KNU Central Park was the place to meet after lectures or study sessions / homework.
Either a mixed drink was consumed here, basketball was played, etc.
Soccer and football pitch
incl. running track, which I have used several times.
Baseball field
Here we trained with the KNU-Strike Team!
Student Club Bldg. ("Baekho-gwan")
Here are club rooms for storing equipment and hanging out
Basketball courts
The only true dormitory (Cheomsung-gwan)
This was our dormitory including the GS25 convenience store. I had room 1-314 in here.
Common Lecture Bldg.4
Korean Language" was taught here.
Student Union Bldg.
Korea In Motion: Korean Movies and the New Korean Wave" was taught here.
College of Humanities
The various language courses and club rooms were set up here.
We spent a lot of time in the club room of the "Department of German Language"
ATM
This is where you got your cash.
North Gate exit
The KNU's most popular exit. Out of here we left the campus and
into the North Gate food court Daegus.
Food mile
Here you can eat everything the Korean heart desires.
We meet up with our Korean friend "Min Seok", who kindly stores our suitcases in his apartment while we travel around with Fuchs, who is visiting me in Korea, for the next two weeks. At least we won't have to lug them around with us.
We go to Min Seok's apartment to cook military-style duck with ingredients bought from a night market, where we finally have a kitchen. Ouch!
Afterwards we went back to Daegu Downtown to the well-known candidates "Hello Foreigners" and "Thursday Party". However, everything here is empty - a lot of people seem to have left Daegu right at the end of university to visit family, etc.
Farewell and Meetup in Seoul
21.12.2022 – Wednesday
I leave the hotel at 9 a.m. for the stitches check-up at "Daegu Fatima Hospital" and meet Lim there again as interpreter, because even in the hospital my English skills are unfortunately poor.
It's fine so far. On the 23rd I'm supposed to look for a plastic surgeon in Seoul and have the stitches removed there.
Then it was time for Samuel, me and Lim to leave for Seoul. He got off a few stops earlier to visit his family and said goodbye to us there. When we arrive at Seoul Station, I quickly buy an extra suitcase because mine is now with Min Seok. That's why I'm currently walking around with laundry and a rucksack, like Santa Claus. After the first train journey, I'm already fed up with this, but of course it wasn't well thought out.
I meet up with Jonathan at Seoul Station and head off to the Airbnb until the 26th. I stay here with Jonathan, Samuel and two other German friends from the KNU (Tobi and Lukas from the Mannheim region). In the evening, we meet up with Stefan, Cedric and the French Thomá again and say goodbye to them as they leave for Vietnam. Over the next few days, we will meet up again with friends from KNU times and say goodbye in various scenarios now that university time is over.
But next up is the 2 week speedrun with Jonathan through Korea - we want to catch up with him on things we didn't get to do during university and show him Korea from an experiential perspective.