This post is kinda a major throwback, because I kinda miss South Korea; the food, the people, the culture, the scenery, the architecture, and so on. Still waiting for a chance to visit it again.
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It was 2014, at a small cafe around my campus in Jatinangor, West Java, when my friends told me about studying in South Korea for a short period of time.
I got curious, of course, because at that time I started to like Running Man, a variety show from South Korea that accompany me through my college life. " It will be nice if I got to see them (the members of that show) alive," the thought that hit me when my friends talked about that short course.
Are you curious enough about what course that I took in 2014? Well, hold your breath, and just keep reading, cause I'll tell you the details of it😁
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Left to Right: Haul, Me, and Dyar. We were wearing Hanbok in Korean Culture Competition at Inha University
That friend of mine told me that Inha University was opening a summer school program for foreigners. Actually, other universities in South Korea, such as Ajou University, also opening that kind of program for foreigners. But, they have some requirements if you want to join the program for free.
Well, I'm not clever enough to apply for that free program, so I chose Inha, which the fare of the program was quite reasonable (read: cheaper) than other universities' program. Inha University is also Choi Siwon's Campus! If you're a fan of him, maybe you want to have an experience studying in Inha 😉.
You must be curious of the fare, right? So, here it is.
Summer school at Inha costs almost 12 million rupiahs at that time. The period of the course was 3 weeks. With that amount, I got a boarding room, 2 short course classes (that I had to attend every Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM), books of the short courses, breakfasts and dinners everyday (lunch wasn't included), field trip to Lotte World, a tour to Songdo International City, and a farewell lunch (graduation party).
The good news is you'll get a discount if you paid off the fee before the deadline! So, yeaaayyy, I got 2 million rupiahs discount🤣
After read all of the information at Inha's web, I talked to my mom that I wanted to go to South Korea. Surprisingly, she gave the permission easily. Lucky meee😁
The next step was register myself via web. You have to write your name with the exact name on your passport! Because the university will send a recommendation letter to your email. AAANNNDDD that recommendation letter is one of the documents that you need to make a visa to South Korea! It will be easier to get your visa if you hand over the recommendation letter at South Korea Embassy (my visa only took a week to be released).
Since I'm just a spoiled kid, I couldn't book my own flight to South Korea (well, I don't know how to do it until now...), so my sister took a charge on it. She booked me a full round flight from Jakarta to Incheon with Air Asia, The costs was around 5 million rupiahs (including 1 meal in each flight).
How much money did you take to South Korea, Dys?
Well, since my friend, Haul, asking me to extend our visit to South Korea, 5 days before the class starts and 3 days after the class end, I had to prepare a lot of money. Luckily, my mom gave me around 10 million rupiahs. And in the end of our extend days, I spent 2 million rupiahs more from my own saving account.
So, for living in South Korea a full month, I spent 27 million rupiahs! It's not cheap, I know. That's why I promise myself to pay off my mom's money by bringing her to South Korea. Someday, I will grant this promise!
If you ask me is that money worth or not?, my answer will always be; YES! South Korea is as warm as Indonesia, I mean the people are nice, the food is good (read: spicy without a lot of salt, kinda healthy), the pedestrian is comfy, the public transportation isn't confusing. And if you're lucky enough, you could meet your idol or bias alive!
The next question you probably want to ask; is it necessary or not to go to South Korea by joining a summer school program? Well my answer is: it depends on you! I'm glad that I could learn in short time in Korea, the class is clean, wide, and cold, the teachers are nice but some can't speak english properly, I also know about Korean's culture and the impact of Hallyu Wave in other countries (because the participants are from various countries, not only Asia), and the last but not the least, by joining a summer school program, it will be easier to get a permission from your parents 😜.
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What do you think about this post? Please tell me what's on your mind while you're reading this post. If you have a suggestion about what should I write in the next post, let me know😃
This picture was taken in Incheon International Airport
(2014)
(2014)
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