Bill Aiken graduated from Penn State Altoona in 2015 with a degree in security and risk analysis. He is continuing his education abroad in South Korea through the Korean Government Scholarship Program. Bill is documenting his time in South Korea through a blog with Penn State Altoona faculty and friends and family. In this issue of IvyLink, we feature Bill’s blog entry from September 2016.
Greetings from South Korea!
I moved here as a Korean Government Scholarship Program (KGSP) student on August 22, 2016, so I’ve been here for almost a month now. I have to say that almost everything about studying here is a completely new experience.
I guess I should first say, hi! I’m a (relatively) recent graduate from Penn State. I majored in security and risk analysis at Penn State Altoona. I’m a lover of languages (computer and human). And this is what I look like wearing a Suwon KT Wizards baseball hat:
I’m currently a student at Sun Moon University’s Korean Language Institute. It’s located about a ten-minute bus ride from downtown Cheonan. Here’s where Cheonan is on a map of South Korea:
As part of the KGSP, everyone must attain a level three or higher on TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) before pursuing their master’s or doctorate degrees. I have to say that it’s a very fair trade. We have fairly intensive Korean language classes for 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, and in exchange, the Korean government pays our tuition as well as a stipend, which is definitely enough to live on and enjoy most of what South Korea has to offer!
There are students here from all around the world, and some days I end up speaking more Spanish than Korean! My closest friends here at Sun Moon come from Lebanon, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Jordan, Israel, Montenegro, and Romania (and the U.S., too). Cheonan is well-connected to many major cities, but our campus is somewhat removed from a lot of the action. This means we end up spending a lot of time either studying or taking (spontaneous) trips to Gangnam, Hongdae, Suwon, etc. Needless to say, we have become very close very quickly.
I can’t really describe how I fit into this situation. It feels like everyone brings their own unique personality and culture here, and we make it work. On one day during Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving, many of us dressed up in traditional Korean attire to make traditional Korean food. Of course, we weren’t aware that we were chosen to be a part of this until the morning of the event, and by the time we went to choose our clothes, there weren’t many options left! My partner in all of this is a student from Mexico. This is how we ended up looking:
I feel like my Korean has improved a lot even during the short amount of time I’ve been here. While we have to practice at least 4 hours every day, it doesn’t feel like a chore at all—it’s fun even. And the more we study, the better we’re able to make friends with other students around the university. For many of us, the only language we have in common is Korean. It’s even better motivation to improve because the football team that communicates the best in Korean usually wins!
In addition to students from the countries I mentioned before, our team includes a student from Turkmenistan and one from Vietnam.
The food here is absolutely amazing, and sometimes weird!
I am finally getting used to the eclectic food, the daily—every meal really—rice, and insane amounts of spice!
I plan on continuing to blog about my experiences, so in the spirit of brevity, I’ll leave you with three things:
1) If you’ve considered studying abroad, put the KGSP on your list. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
2) A picture of me celebrating the Mexican Independence Day as a luchador wrestler:
3) And a wish for a very happy Chuseok!