Discovering Korean Culture

Are you an K-pop fan? Are you an Asian food lover? Aren't you any of these but you like new experiences and discovering new cultures?

If your answer to any of the previous questions is "Yes I am", don't hesitate in doing any kind of student exchange, elective or short term, stay at Korea University.

I am Alejandro, a Spanish medical student who really enjoy meeting new people and new experiences. I would't consider myself as the most adventurous person though. In the following article I will share my Korean experience. At the beginning I will describe some of the things I did and at the end, I will make a list of the things I found more surprising and shocking (for lazy people, go straightly there! ).

First I will do a brief summary about my University stay. I spent over one month doing clinical electives at Anam Hospital in Seoul, which is a teaching hospital. I shadowed a neurosurgeon and his team. I was warmly welcomed by everyone in the department and hospital. I went to theatre (and yes I did, I scrubbed), clinics, teachings and meetings. Everyone was pleased to spare some time with me.

Korea University provided me two contact persons. Both of them were medical students there which made my life much easier. They became more than just two reference people in Seoul. We went for dinner together, we went partying and visited places. In fact, I currently keep in touch with them through Kakao Talk, a Korean chatting app.

South Korea can be considered a young country in terms of politics, however, it has got a great history and culture. They work for long hours, but also like enjoying their free time. To do so they hang out to have chimaek (chicken and beer), pubbing and meeting friends. During my stay in Korea I visited Busan (the 2nd largest city), located in the Southern coast of the peninsula and Yeosu, a smaller city but nice and attractive.

Would you like to know which things did shock me most? So here I list some!

• Kindness of people. Korean are the most kind people I have ever met. If you go clubbing and you forget your phone at the bar, nobody will take it! That's amazing, isn't it?
• If you go to restaurants, be prepared to use chopsticks (for beginners there are some forks available).
• Don't be afraid if you are the first one to sit and the last one to leave a restaurant. Korean people eat very fast and they don't table talk in restaurants.
• Do not look for deserts in a restaurant menu because you won't find them, ask for the bill, pay and look for any bingsu (koran typical ice-cream) or cake shop (there are lots anywhere you go).



• If you are hot food lovers, everything will be fine as Korean cuisine is, in general, spicy. If not, don't be afraid, you can eat lots of things such as gimbap (Korean sushi), chicken, noodles soups and Korean BBQ.
• Whenever you go for eating, you'll be served a white thing with some red on it. You must try it to know whether you like it! Its name is kimchi.
• Korean people have dinner around 5pm, but then, at 10pm, they love going to bars and having Korean pancakes with rice wine or chicken and beer (chimaek).
• Seoul in particular is a city that never sleeps, you can find anything open at any time.

I hope after reading this you feel more like going to Korea. If you do so, you won't regret it!