Sharon Phillips

Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Exchange to Yonsei University, South Korea

My name is Sharon and I spent my final semester of my undergraduate degree last year on exchange at Yonsei University in South Korea. Since I came back to Perth, I miss Korea a lot. I still break into speaking Korean at home sometimes and tend to prefer eating Korean style, with side dishes and metal chopsticks. Although the majority of the students on my course, Asian Studies, participate in exchanges, I myself had not expected to go to Korea.

I originally chose Korean as part of my Asian Studies degree because I was curious about the language and wanted a change from Indonesian, but I enjoyed the challenge of learning Korean and spurred on by the very committed Korean staff on my course, I ended up majoring in Korean. Nevertheless, when my Korean lecturer offered me a scholarship on the first day of university last year, I was unsure that exchange was for me. Although friends of mine seemed to like exchange, I didn’t really have the extra money, couldn’t speak Korean well, wasn’t sure I was going to like being immersed in Korean culture, and didn’t want to leave my friends and my home university for a whole semester. However, not sure I should throw away such a good opportunity, I cautiously decided to accept and go to Korea.

As a Christian, I had heaps of fun and encouragement with the other Christians I met at my church in Korea and the club for Christian international students on campus. It was so awesome to meet with people from all over the world and get to understand different perspectives on our religion. As well as lots of weekly dinners, breakfasts, lunches, prayer meetings and camps (food played a large part!), I got to have lots of interesting experiences of giving something back to the Korean Christian community, such as singing at a church for homeless men, visiting an orphanage and leading a small group at my church there. I met some really amazing, kind friends who encouraged me a lot and helped me to feel at home in Korea, and the experiences I had impacted greatly on me. I was really challenged by the passion that Christians (around a third of the population) in Korea show and their love for the people in North Korea, which is quite different to what people back in Perth tend to believe.

Living in the international dormitory, which was largely populated by American students, was another eye-opening experience. I found myself experiencing a different kind of “college life” with my roommate and other dorm buddies who were all Americans, and ended up understanding the differences between our cultures, versions of English and idea of university after the initial confusion over my “weird” Australian English.

The international section of the university was a great environment to make friends from all over the world that I still keep in contact with. I enjoyed going to my classes for the interesting class material and quirky lecturers (like the one who accused anyone wearing a red shirt of being a communist), but especially my daily two hours of Korean class where my classmates and I got to know each other very well and shared a lot of laughs. Although we covered a lot in my Korean class, I probably improved my Korean most when I went out shopping or spent time with Korean families, forcing me to use Korean as best I could. I really enjoyed the challenge of finding enough words to communicate my point and nearly all Koreans were surprised and complimentary on seeing a Westerner trying to speak Korean.

Some of my most memorable and heartwarming times were my experiences of family life in Korea, particularly of my Korean sister-in-law’s family. They were incredibly helpful and generous during my time there, treating me like another daughter. I got to enjoy really good home-cooked food and lots of funny moments, and my speaking improved a lot since I had no choice but to use Korean with my sister-in-law’s mum. Having some Korean relatives gave me more of a sense of responsibility and a chance to understand Korean culture on a personal level in a way some of the other international students didn’t seem to get. All the Koreans that I personally knew were similarly generous and kind, constantly paying for my meals, opening their homes to me, taking me out and helping me with language problems.

My more disconcerting experiences included going to the public baths where everyone bathes naked (split into male and female, at least), being pushed onto the subway during rush hour and walking on slippery snow and ice for the first time in my life. I learnt to push people out of my way after a few weeks of feeling offended when people did the same to me, and how to bargain in the small shops after many failed attempts. Although Korea has both good and bad aspects, I learned to really enjoy it for what it is. I remember Seoul’s busy, dirty streets full of shops, stalls and cafes with great fondness. Student exchange challenged and taught me way beyond what I thought it would, was fun in ways I didn’t expect, and increased not only my language skills but my job opportunities. Thanks to having had this in-country experience, I am now working with Korean primary school children helping them learn English while I study a graduate diploma in education. I am immensely grateful that this scholarship gave me the opportunity to study abroad and thoroughly recommend exchange to anyone considering it.

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