Global Exchanges Interview: Abbigail Sproul @ Seoul National University

I came to Florida State University as an anthropology major. Once I realized how complementary history was to it, I decided to add it as my second major. In my first semester, I had to do a comparative ethnography assignment between current and pre-World War II rural Buddhist Korean burial practices. That got me really interested in Korean society and whenever I could, I elected to work on Korea. My special interest is Korean Shamanism.

After this first semester, I began to look into ways to study abroad in South Korea. Through K-Pop and K-Dramas, I knew I liked its popular culture. Through my anthropology research, I was drawn to a more academic side. The day after I submitted my application, Global Exchanges announced a new partnership with Seoul National University, and they reached out to me and suggested I apply to SNU. Seoul National is the top ranked university in South Korea.

The application process was very involved! Once I got accepted into the Global Exchanges program, I had to fill out forms applying to SNU. They also wanted to know the courses I proposed to take, and which department I wanted to be affiliated with. The Global Exchanges application deadline was February 1; SNU’s deadline was in early March. But I had to wait until the end of May before I learned that SNU had accepted me. Because I was staying longer than 90 days, I needed to have a student visa for South Korea. That was another layer of paperwork. But in late August I got to go!

Once in South Korea, I needed to get an Alien Registration card. And while my visa went through faster than I had been told, the Alien Registration card took very long. I did not get it for two months.

I took four courses at SNU, all of which were taught in English. One was a Korean history course, one an anthropology course on Korean globalization, and one a course called Worlds of the Renaissance that looked at history, literature, culture, science. The last course was an introduction to Asian philosophies. On top of those four, I took a Korean language course to help me get more fluent in the language. I already knew the alphabet, but I could not understand what people were saying.

I found my own housing close to SNU’s campus. Dorm rooms were allocated based on a lottery system, and my number was not high enough for any of the dorms I had wanted to get into. I booked a ‘goshiwon,’ a small studio apartment with a bed and a desk, a private bathroom, and a shared kitchen. It was a 15 minute walk to campus. Eating out was very cheap, so that’s what I did. I realized quickly that I did not have the energy or the time to cook at the end of the day.

In the beginning, I was a bit worried about making friends. I was the only FSU student at SNU, and I was the first one, so there were no veterans I could for advice. I joined the SNU Buddy program which paired a few international students with a Korean one. We did things with our buddy, and then the whole program did excursions as well. I got on really well with my Korean buddy which made things easier. I also made friends with students from other U.S. universities, and I hung out with them. With hindsight, it was a lot easier to make friends than I had expected, but it was stressful until I had made the first connections.

SNU students were required to take a certain number of classes in English, and I had some Korean students in my classes. But most of the student body that I interacted with was more international. Additionally, most of the classes I took were lecture-based, which did not really encourage students to interact with each other. The majority of my course grades came from exams supplemented by a few smaller assignments. Only my anthropology class was discussion based.

My biggest challenge was communication. While I knew the alphabet, I was concerned that in an emergency I would not be understood – or understand. But then I realized that everybody was using ‘Papago,’ a translation app, which helped with interacting with Koreans who did not speak English, for example, taxi drivers. Additionally, I am an introvert and not given to striking up conversations with strangers. Korean society is very similar; people don’t really make small talk. So, it was fine for me to be by myself in public.

The one thing I did have to change was how I dressed. I like wearing colorful clothes, but most Koreans wore muted tones. I hated standing out, so I bought myself a few darker items. People also dressed very well, and I was used to going to school in sweatpants. No one else did. I called my mom and told her that I needed to put outfits together to go to class … so, I had to buy a few pieces to smarten up my wardrobe. And then, I wasn’t ready for winter either. It gets very cold in South Korea. It snowed a couple of times, and I did not quite know how to handle that either.

Overall, I was surprised how easily I adapted to new situations. The way the university worked was very similar to what I had experienced in Florida. I had to remember to always carry ID with me and to stay on top of bureaucratic things like health insurance etc.

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I had Korean language classes in the morning from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. After a two-hour break, I had my Korean history class, followed by the Renaissance class at 3.30 p.m. On Thursday, I had my anthropology class in the afternoon, and on Fridays I also had my Asian philosophy class. Tuesday was my day off!

Typically, I went to eat out with my friends after class. We ate in different Korean and also Chinese restaurants. It was fun to try out new foods. Sometimes, we followed that up with visiting shopping centers to look at clothing and cosmetics. At other times, SNU Buddy had organized an event. That meant though, I did my homework later in the evening – as well as work on the online class that I took with FSU that semester. When we went clubbing, that was an all-night affair. Mainly because public transport shuts down over night, and we would have to wait for it to start back up at 5 a.m.

I did not travel around Korea but explored Seoul – which is a huge metro area. I had to budget my money as I was on a student visa and could not work in South Korea. I was only in the country for four months and wanted to spend that time more like a student rather than a tourist. I visited a couple of sites, former royal palaces, one with the SNU Buddy program and one with my history class. I saw the contemporary art museum too. One day, a friend and I went to a K-Pop pop up for Seventeen who were releasing a new album. That was an all-day event, and, in the evening, we also went to the Seoul International Fireworks Festival. That was a full day.

My advice to other students thinking of going to Korea is, be open to everything and try out new situations and things. It might seem daunting and stressful, and it is on the other side of the globe, but after the first few weeks you will not want to leave. I remember calling my mom in week three and telling her that I might want to stay longer. I was very happy in Korea and living there felt like a really good fit for me.

I am graduating at the end of the spring semester, and I will be taking a gap year. I am planning to apply for the Global Korea Scholarship to allow me to do my master’s degree at SNU in their graduate school of international studies with a focus on Korean Studies. The timeline for that program is applications are due in January, the results are released in April, and you leave in August for the start of the graduate school year.

I would like to work in a research institute in Korea. There are quite a few Korean Studies institutes, libraries and archives, and I would like to work at one of them. I like the Korean culture, history, and language and would very much like to work and live there.