Let me introduce myself. I’m Novi Aprillia, majoring in Business Management at my university in Universitas Internasional Batam (UIB). I’m one of the student who take the Student Exchange Program Departure to go to South Korea. I took this program with my best friend, Kelly. We both went to Hanbat National University in South Korea.
It was my dream to study abroad overseas. My university, UIB helped me to achieve my dream to study overseas. At first I was aiming for Japan, but at that time, there was a COVID-19 pandemic which led to lockdown. A lot of countries were lockdown at that time. Luckily in 2022, South Korea was opening their gate to accept the students from other countries. South Korea was the first to open the student exchange program after the COVID-19 pandemic.
When I read the Student Exchange Program in @iro_uib instagram, I asked my best friend, Kelly if she would like to join me to go to the South Korea with this program. We wanted to go to Japan but when we read the regulation, it was for 2nd and 4th semester of 2022 students. We were at the 4th semester that time and we can’t take this program when we are at 6th semester so we decided to choose the Student Exchange Program to Hanbat National University, South Korea for 1 semester.
It was such a hard time when we were applying for the documents because this was our first time to study overseas so we don’t really know much how to applying for the documents to go study overseas. We also went through difficult things at that time because this was the first time we went study overseas to a very far country from my own country which led to our parents worrying a lot and doesn’t want us to go. After a lot of briefing then our parents finally agreed for us to study overseas. We are really thankful for Ms. Theodesia and Kak Jane for helping us when we are struggling applying the documents and for helping us to go to South Korea.
We went to South Korea on September 16th, 2022. After 6 hours and 15 minutes in the plane from Singapore, finally we arrived at Incheon International Airport, South Korea at 13:40 P.M. We took an airport bus to go to Daejeon City. It was 3 hours long trip in the bus from the airport to Daejeon Metropolitan City. After we arrived in Daejeon City, we took a taxi to go to Hanbat National University. We were struggling a lot that time because we don’t know how to speak Korean and there were only a few Koreans that know how to speak English.
Taking a Student Exchange Program to South Korea really changed my life. It was my first time living alone apart from my family. I got a lot of experiences in South Korea. It was hard at the first because my parents are usually being beside me, but this time I’m doing it without them. I also got homesick the second week I’m staying in Korea. But from this experience, I also learned to be more independent and taking my own choice in my life.
I’m very glad that I choose Hanbat National University as my Student Exchange Program in UIB. People in Korea are so nice and they also helped me when I’m struggling at their language. I also met a lot of friends that are also a student exchange in another countries. They were very kind and very fun to hang out. My university dormitory also has a lot of facilities. Such as laundry, library, cafeteria, student hangout area, etc. The cafeteria’s foods are very great. It enables us students to enjoy the culinary delicacy of South Korea. Such as kimchi, bibimbap, bulgogi, kimbap, jajangmyeon, tteokbokki, and many more. Personally, I like bibimbap, because it tasted delicious and it has a lot of vegetables and meat which is good for our body’s health.
I really like my foreigner friends in Hanbat. They were from various countries, such as Vietnam, United Kingdom, Mongolia, Japan, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, and many more. I also get to know and met my korean buddy named Kang Jae Eun. She was my buddy in Hanbat National University. She is very fun and such a funny person. She is very nice to me. I really had a lot of fun hanging out with her. She taught me about Korean language which is Hangul and I taught her English. I’m very glad to have such a nice foreigner friends.
Studying in Hanbat National University is very fun and exciting. You also get to know a lot of Korean cultures and the study system of South Korea. I learned a lot of Korean cultures such as their festivals, their big days, and I also learned the way of their greetings which is different from our country, Indonesia. Hanbat National University also has a lot of their own festivals. Me and Kelly went to one of their festival. It was so fun because we were watching concert and there a lot of Kpop artists. Such as, Choi Yena, Fromis 9, PSY, Momoland, and many more.
It was very easy to go to different cities in South Korea. South Korea cities are connected one to another. From Daejeon, if we want to go to Seoul, we can take a train called KTX train to Seoul for 1 hour only. If we want to choose a cheaper alternative, we can take Mugunghwa train which is more longer than the KTX train but is more cheaper. Me and Kelly went to Seoul so many times. We also get to visit the National Palace Museum of Korea and Gyeongbokgung palace in Seoul. We learned a lot of South Korea histories at that time.
It was such an amazing experience that I will never forget it! I’m very grateful and thankful for my university, Universitas Internasional Batam (UIB) and the people that helped me and support me in my Student Exchange Program to South Korea. I met a lot of amazing friends and people. This experience will always be in my heart and in my university life. Thank you so much UIB all of this! I’m so happy and grateful ^^
If there’s any other question you wanted to ask me, kindly contact me at my email @[email protected] or at my instagram @novii.aprillia . I would gladly answer all of your questions! If you wanted to know more, I would gladly telling you more stories of my South Korea journey. See ya!!
Sincerely,
Novi Aprillia.
