My experience at Hanyang

Fanny

2018 spring edition

This semester was full of adventures and new memories made with people I met and will remember probably forever. This was my first exchange and first time out of my home country for so long. I will say I was glad with my university choice and overall decision to come to South Korea.

 I was first impressed by the grand city of Seoul and its liveliness. There is always something to do, an event, activity, festival or a café to visit. The mix of the old culture with the modern lifestyle was also really interesting to me and I immersed in it. For example, I went a couple of times to eat kimchi jeon with maggeoli when it rained and visited the hanok village and palace.

Then Hanyang University has a beautiful campus, even if the stairs and hills killed me every time at the beginning. I mostly really liked all the cafeterias and cafés available to students for cheap prices. My city Montreal is a small island despite its busy activities and my campus only has one cafeteria. I really appreciated all the services given to students too.

During the course of the semester, I was able to travel in South Korea and outside and it was really fun to be able to experience more of Asia. I went to Busan, with the beautiful Beach and the fish market, to Jeju, the exotic island of South Korea, to Gyeongju, more traditional and historical city, and Sokcho, where the national park of Seoraksan is. They all had something different of the Korean culture to offer and I loved every bit of it.

I am planning on going to a few more cities before leaving and I am excited at that prospect.

I went to Hong Kong, which I totally declare a must for all young travelers. You will love the beaches, shopping and food / bars. After the semester, I will also travel to Japan, Vietnam and Cambodia before going back home. It is an experience I am grateful for.

I also met many people during this exchange. New friends, new contacts, even if from different countries, that I will keep in touch with as we have grown closer so much by seeing each other almost everyday, spending so much time and living the same experience.  This exchange has opened even more my mind and made me less afraid of doing things out of my comfort zone. Coming to a country where you have to learn the language, living on your own and being completely responsible of your own-self made me independent (or I hope so) and able to deal with situations more calmly.

I am really glad for this opportunity that I had. It was a long process to come to South Korea but every moment was worth it. It definitely is an experience that has made me grown and I will cherish those memories.  Thank you Hanyang for this wonderful time!