Korean College

Nerdilydone

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So I'm doing a short story set in Seoul, and I was hoping someone might know something about how Korean universities work, particularly in how they differ from American/Western colleges. I don't need a lot of detail, but if anyone knows some about it, that would be great.
 

travelgal

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More specifics are needed. Is your story about entry requirements and the the national entrance exam, the festival, the sports week, the Sewol ferry disaster (that killed high school students, but that meant no uni festivals for that semester, it instead took place in the fall semester), the complaining period, registration, army service, the major (most students don't have a choice), whether is private of public, which tier, dormitory life?

Seoul is a massive city bursting with universities. Top tier include Seoul National Uni and Yonsei Uni. There are a bunch of women's universities, such as Ewha (surrounded by wedding shops galore), and plenty more on the outskirts or satillite cities, such as in Incheon (Incheon Uni has the ugliest campus I have ever seen). Hongik Uni area is known for its nightlife.

American unis are very different from English or Australian unis.
 
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Nerdilydone

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Well, all I really need to know is about life in general as a Korean college student. Do they have dorms? Where do they practice music if they are music students? Are their classes arranged more or less like Western ones, with classes in various buildings throughout?
 

travelgal

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Yes, they have dorms, which have a curfew. At my uni, it's 11pm. A roll call attendant calls out your name at that time; if you are absent, you lose points. If it's three times, you're not allowed to nick off to see your family over the weekend. Yeah, controlling much? Some unis it's 10pm.

Dorms are divided by gender. Speaking of gender and gay issues, forgettaboutit.

The music department would have studios for that sort of thing.

In my uni, major classes are in their building (eg, the engineering buildings). For majors such as international trade, the major classes is held in the same building if not the same floor. They are twice a week, for three hours. Depending on the major, exchange students (mainly Chinese) are graded differently, which screws up the grade for the Koreans. This is what happens when unis are scraping the bottom of the barrel for $. In the last few years, the quality of Chinese students have gone down. Koreans complain about how noisy the Chinese are, and vice versa.

Non-mandatory classes are in other buildings, depending on spaces available.

Most classes are now elective, some bright idea implemented last year, so now it's a popularity contest for the teachers.

Each major has a culture, but generally bullying of freshmen by seniors is rampant. Respect for your elders is paramount. You have to bow and use the formal greeting if your major is sports science, for example. The flight attendant freshmen had to keep bowing until the sophomors had left the vicinity. Locals have to attend MTs (membership training) which is a bonding camp over the weekend in the spring semester, where drinking and sex takes place; the pressure to go is intense. Girls are bullied if they don't wear make-up. You don't go with the flow, bow and scrape, you are ostracised as if you don't exist. These students are easy to pick out; they are usually nerds. This is a group culture, so it's worse for them than it would be for us. Sexual harassment is rampant. My female students on their ideal partner: 'He doesn't hit me.'

Male students have to enter the army when they are called, often in the middle of semester. That means they would fail classes, but tough. They also have army training days, particularly in April, at the time of Kim Sung Il's birthday, but according to students, it's a day to do some push-ups, some running and muck around. On rainy days, they watch movies.

Many unis have an 'English cafe' set-up. Mine doesn't, but a friend's uni requires each teacher to sit in a room and speak with students who want to talk in English about whatever. This is for Korean students. If your characters are Western, I can't help you there, except classes will be conducted in Korean, not English.

If your characters are Western, these are the questions they will get: Do you know Korea has four seasons? Do you like kimchii? What's your favourite Korean dish? Can you use chopsticks? Where you from, America? How old are you? Do you have a boyfriend? Do you know about the Korean War?

Koreans detested the Bush administration. I imagine they detest the Trump one even more. They resent American interference in their country.

If your character is a Russian female, locals will assume she's a prostitute. The two countries have been trading girls since the 19th century if I remember rightly.

Nighclubs are full of half-naked 'dancing girls'. Sometimes they are required to 'entertain' a client. Hence I detest Korean nightclubs, and the DJ interrupts the music every five minutes to scream over the mic. Nightclubbing is considered risque.

Western nightclubs in Itaewon are dives full of slimeballs and yep, more dancing girls.

If people want to have sex, they go to a love hotel, and hire rooms by the hour.
 
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Nerdilydone

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Haha, no, my character is a Korean girl. And it's not going to be sexual/relationship story, but a sci-fi/psychological/death story. Though, you're kinda creeping me out with some of that stuff. You're kinda making it sound like college is basically a perverted conformity factory. That can't be the case with all Korean colleges, right?

Tell me more about the college rules. That curfew check, that happens at the dorm itself, right? How many people per room?
 

travelgal

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I'd edited the previous post. Yeah, there's a dorm manager. I can't recall the proper term for now. It's a student. It's indeed a conformity factory, but's uni is the only time in their lives where they enjoy relative freedom and so most party and drink til they vomit their lungs out. Hell, it's boot camp for the flight attendants. The female's primary purpose is to find a husband. She's expected to quit work once she had kids, unless they are poor or its a traditional female role (teacher, storekeeper, nurse, office worker, etc). Many girls' primary aim if to find a rich husband, particularly in this current poor market. Many of the brighter/nerdier kids want to live and work in the West.

I'm sure it's not the case with all the universities or departments, but Korean culture is a group culture. That means your obligations come first. Chuseok (thanksgiving) is a primary example. Females do the preparations, cooking and the cleaning. Men eat and drink, and maybe weed the ancestral graves. Women are beholden to their mother-in-laws, especially if they had married the elder/only son. Hence, many don't want to marry the elder son.

College? You mean a two-year college? Unis are four-year institutions.

People per room at mine: two, and it's usually freezing in the winter (like the classrooms), unless it's a newer, more expensive dorm. Fork out more dough if you want a single.

No bikes or motorbikes are permitted on any of the campuses I've been to. You pay your fee, you attend your classes, do the many assignments professors assign you, attend the obligatory whatever dinners or camps your department requires you to, such as MT, sports week (where you perform synchronised dancing to some pop song if you ain't playing a sport, even if it's dodgeball) and festival week.

Midterms and final exams are required every semester.
 
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