Jack Allwood

Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Exchange to Hongik University, South Korea

Exchange is a thing that many people vaguely think about on passing, but not many people actually do it and it’s a shame. My experience altered my perspective on life dramatically. I got to live by myself for the first time and study in a culture that is completely different to my own. Industrial Design is one of the most respected majors in South Korea, and Hongik is one of, if not the best university for Industrial Design (“Sun up design” in Korean or “SunD” in slang). Telling Koreans that you’re studying at Hongik and that you’re doing Industrial Design is similar to telling someone at Melbourne that you’re doing Law at Melbourne. It takes most Koreans between 1-2 additional years of study after high school to gain entry into Hongik, and most don’t ever get in. You’re surrounded by the top 10% of all Korean students; the skill level is breathtaking. Hongik inspires you to work harder and to be the best. I was an average sketcher when I left Australia and I was easily the worst sketcher in all my classes at Hongik. This scared me too, but the support and friendship that Koreans culturally give enables you to attain more than you ever thought possible.

I arrived on 20 August, 2008 and was met at the airport by a friendly face by the name of Sam, a fellow lover of traveling who had lived in Sydney for a year to better improve his English. Sam later became my best friend in Korea and near the end of my experience we traveled around Korea experiencing his homeland together for the first time. It's easy to make friends in Korea, especially at university – Koreans are friendly but many are shy. One just has to be confident and willing to learn and you will be gracefully accepted into their closest of groups. Most Koreans speak at least a small amount of English, but you have to remember that many are shy so even if they can speak English, they might not. On the flip side, a dramatic number of confident Koreans, no matter how good their English is, will happily try and speak to you with many common sayings. For example "hello, what’s name?, You’re handsome!!!!, I'm good thankyou how are you?, Its nice to meet you!!!”. These are very common sayings in Korea! It’s a good idea to find a friendly face that speaks reasonable English in your classes in case your professor can’t (on that note most do, 5 of my 7 did).

Koreans really are the Spartans of study. Their study hours are painfully higher than Australia, but my body and mind adjusted and became 10 times more efficient than I ever was in Australia. The culture is based on age and position. Professors really are Gods in Korea. I mean what the professor says goes. If he wants 10 additional sketch pages and a presentation in 2 days, you just do it! It sounds harsh but it trains you for the real world as a designer. They not only do more subjects than us but they work and enter multiple contests on the side. To do well in Korea you will have to work harder than you ever had, but there is a positive. Koreans work harder than I ever thought possible and they also play just as hard. Hongdae is the central district for partying, clubbing and bars. My daily routine consisted of classes from 9 till mid afternoon then a nap for an hour, working till 10 or 12 at night, dinner and maybe a beer or 2 for a hour with a friend, then returning to my dorm and working for a further hour or so, then sleeping for about 4 hours, and thus repeating the same routine the following day. You will work harder than you ever have before and you will have more fun than you could have ever imagined doing the work.

My goals in Korea were to improve my sketching skills and to generally improve myself as a designer. The Korean work ethic and culture was astonishing. Just being surrounded by such talent really pushes you to not only improve yourself but to outdo your classmates as well. Your drawing skills will naturally improve because you will be sketching for endless hours every night, if you take similar subjects as me. You will notice the improvements quickly and the feeling that your hard work conjures is indescribable!

Koreans have a set of questions when you first meet them that they always ask:

1. Name
2. What do you do? (teaching English is what they will expect)
3. Where do you study and what?
4. How old are you? (this is a cultural thing – there is no offence in it)
5. Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend? (again, different culture)

Things like this caught me off guard a few times but they mean no offence by it, it’s part of their culture. There are certain things that I had to get used to as well, many Koreans will ask you a lot of questions, mainly because they want to be your friend and they want to speak English. A lot of these questions will sound kind of rude or very blunt, but again they mean no offence. It’s mainly their lack of English and partly their culture. If you go to Korea, you will understand what I mean. So many Koreans will painstakingly try to talk to you and vow to learn English to better communicate with you. Koreans are proud of their culture and are very willing to show you around Seoul. You will get countless offers to be shown round specific places in Seoul, especially Insadong! Every Korean wants to show foreigners Insadong, and it’s a nice place to see once but I accidentally got shown round 3 times and had to act like I was seeing it for the first time.

Korea has one of the friendliest cultures I have ever visited. I could easily see myself returning or even working in Korea later in life. I have made so many close friends in Korea that it was very hard for me to leave. I adored my experience and the people I met along the way. One little thing I will miss in Korea is the minor star status. Westerners, especially non-army westerners for lack of a better word, are exotic in Korea. People just generally look at you like you’re a minor celebrity. It’s a weird circumstance but it’s true! I can do nothing more than give my highest recommendation to Hongik and the Korean people. I recommend highly that you consider Hongik University as one of your exchange choices.

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