{"id":5791,"date":"2023-03-20T11:25:53","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T13:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/?p=5791"},"modified":"2023-03-20T11:25:53","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T13:25:53","slug":"a-lithuanian-studying-in-south-korea-its-a-remarkable-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/a-lithuanian-studying-in-south-korea-its-a-remarkable-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lithuanian studying in South Korea: it’s a remarkable experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most common destinations for students participating in international exchange programmes are European countries. Similar cultures, short-haul flights, a wider choice of higher education institutions and feedback from more students who have already participated in exchange programmes, all of which can become crucial aspects for a student choosing which foreign higher education institution he will spend one or two semesters of his studies in.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Lithuanians’ interest in Asian countries is increasing. A relatively little-known culture attracts those who want to get to know it not only from movies, TV series, books, or the stories of those who visited it, but to see everything with their own eyes. The desire to get to know Asia up close led a student of Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution Arminas Kvietkus to take advantage of the opportunity and go to Seoul, the capital of South Korea, to study for one semester.<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision to leave was made within one day<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The student, who left for South Korea at the end of February, had only one day to decide whether to go or not. For A. Kvietkus, who is interested in the culture of Asian countries, it was not difficult to make a choice \u2013 the desire to get to know a distant country and the understanding that such opportunities do not come so often, encouraged him not to hesitate and take advantage of the opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve always been interested in the culture of Asian countries and wanted to visit them, especially Japan. When I got the offer to participate in an international exchange programme and go to study for one semester in South Korea, I agreed without hesitation \u2013 I had only one day to decide,\u201d says A. Kvietkus, the International Business study programme student at Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBefore I left, I did not doubt that the Erasmus+ scholarship might not be enough, so I was prepared to spend my money as well. For example, 800 euros had to be allocated for plane tickets alone, as well as additional expenses for visas, insurance, document processing, translations of documents from Lithuanian to Korean, approval certificate (Apostille), health insurance, etc. It’s also important to note that rent in Seoul is very expensive \u2013 I live in a university dormitory, for which I pay about 200 euros a month. This is a very small amount \u2013 in comparison, students from abroad have to pay 800 euros each for a small private room with a kitchen, which they share with other people living in the building,\u201d says A. Kvietkus, who is currently studying at Myongji University.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Curious looks from Koreans, a language barrier, and surprising respect<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A. Kvietkus admits that before he left, he was not worried about cultural differences, the great distance from Lithuania, or his relatives and friends who remained there. The student was most worried about how he would manage to communicate in English.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was most worried about how to communicate. Although I understand English very well, it was difficult to speak freely and express my thoughts due to a lack of practice. Nevertheless, a week was enough for me to break through, and now there are no more problems communicating. It is more difficult because a lot of Koreans do not speak English, but with the help of translation programmes, there are no major problems,\u201d says A. Kvietkus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Student reveals that he did not experience culture shock upon arrival, but he received curious looks from older Koreans and requests to take a picture together.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no culture shock upon arrival. Perhaps the most difficult thing is the language barrier. However, when walking outside the city centre, and passing by elderly people, you can notice that they are looking at you. The braver ones might even ask you to take a picture with them. I have had to face such situations several times,\u201d says A. Kvietkus, who adds that despite the curious glances, Koreans are exceptionally polite.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll Koreans are very polite, respect is shown for customers. When greeting, Koreans do not shake hands but bow or at least nod their heads. Hierarchy is very important in companies, and people who are older or have a higher social status are shown a lot of respect,\u201d the student shares about cultural differences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eating live octopus and an abundance of technology<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As another experience that attracts Europeans, Asian cuisine could be distinguished. A. Kvietkus says that he was surprised not only by the large selection of food but also by the prices of fruits.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSelection of food here is very wide, although it is a bit of a trouble to cook at home, because of the language barrier and cultural differences it is difficult to understand exactly what I am buying. Interestingly, the fruit here is incredibly expensive. For example, a simple medium-sized watermelon costs about 25 euros. I also had to taste a live octopus; my friend almost fainted, but it was a fun experience,\u201d the guy shares his impressions.<\/span><\/p>\n

When talking about the study process in Lithuania and South Korea, A. Kvietkus says that he does not notice a big difference, except that in South Korea, more technologies are installed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo far, I have not noticed that the learning process is different from Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution. But here at Myongji University, there is more variety of technology. For example, when you come to the classroom, you need to check in the special app that you are in the lecture; the app determines your location and receives a message from the device in the classroom, which confirms that you are indeed in the classroom. You can enter the premises only with special cards, at some entrances there are facial recognition devices,\u201d A. Kvietkus mentions the differences between higher education institutions. Student reveals that after finishing his studies, he plans to spend some time travelling around other Asian countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the same amount as to fly to London from Lithuania, it is possible to fly to Thailand, Japan and Indonesia from here. I plan to do so \u2013 after studying to travel around Asia before returning to Lithuania,\u201d A. Kvietkus shares his plans.<\/span><\/p>\n

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One of the most common destinations for students participating in international exchange programmes are European countries. Similar cultures, short-haul flights, a wider choice of higher education institutions and feedback from more students who have already participated in exchange programmes, all of which can become crucial aspects for a student choosing which foreign higher education institution […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":5792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5791"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5804,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5791\/revisions\/5804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaunokolegija.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}