The semester abroad of UCG students is drawing to an end… for some, like me, the academic part has already ended. As I am writing this, I am in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, as I wanted to see a bit more of Asia before I come back to Groningen. Whenever a phase in my life ends, it leaves me with the need to reflect upon that time, and how it made me grow as a person. We all go through phases and experiences in life, so maybe my thoughts will make you think about your own.

You never know what to expect from a new experience beforehand. Usually you don’t even realise how it’s changing you during that time. But when you look back on it, you realise just how much you’ve learned.

For me, I knew I just really wanted to go abroad for exchange. But frankly, my initial goal was to go to Japan, instead of South-Korea. I’ve been there before, speak the language, and just felt like it was 100% my fate to go there. Kind of as a “back-up” I put South-Korea as my other choice. I never expected to receive the place of South-Korea instead of Japan. It came to me as a shock. 

But, I realised, everything happens for a reason. This is just a new chapter. And I can confidently say, the unexpected will make you grow the most. My experience studying in South-Korea was truly wonderful. The university I attended forced me to step out of my comfort-zone, to study subjects I initially thought I would not necessarily be interested in, but actually turned out to completely broaden my interests. 

For example, when signing up for courses at the university beforehand, I was worried I would be studying too many “Korea-specific” things. As Korea is a country that attracts many so-called k-pop fans, (you can look up BTS if you don’t know it so you get the picture) and I was not, I was worried that the classes would just be catering the Korea obsessed fans. I know, that’s so judgemental of me right? But hey, whether you realise it or not, everyone tends to have some bias and judgements towards new things. That’s the fun though of experiencing it; most of the time you realise it’s not at all what you expected, for better or for worse -- (for the better usually!). These classes taught me about Korea in a way that made me understand how important it is in education to analyse social mechanisms not only from a western perspective. If I had only finished my education in Groningen, I would have not understood and learned so directly the perspectives of another country, the phenomena that happened there, politically and socially, which in turn gives me a much bigger understanding of the world as a whole. 

For example, I had no idea South-Korean citizens had fought so hard for their freedom and democracy! They’d been occupied by the Japanese for 30 years, had the Korean war and then right after suffered from a military regime for 30 years. They only gained real democracy in 1987, after many, many protests and human sacrifices (a student of my university was killed in front of the gate, his statue is still there), which really illustrates why Koreans nowadays still protest every single weekend, still gathering thousands of protests. They established a culture of protesting for their opinion. A country which grew so fast economically, it went from one of the poorest countries to the 12th biggest world economy within 25 years… that’s a miracle. When you get to know Koreans, you understand how they made that possible. They are the most hard-working, diligent and competitive people I know. Experiencing a society from within while also studying these topics, really makes you understand a country on a different level. It’s fun, and academically very interesting at the same time. I feel like this understanding I’ve gained of the country is such a valuable perspective for the rest of my academic career, as I am studying a major related to international politics, relations and law. There’s just a whole new blend of social phenomena you experience first-hand, which you need when understanding the world and its diversity of cultures as a whole. 

Being in Korea, made me motivated to work harder. I challenged myself to keep myself busy all the time. I ended up becoming a private English tutor for 3 adorable children, which I taught twice a week. I also became a volunteer to privately tutor two North-Korean refugees, whom became my hard-working students. It was incredibly rewarding to spend my time this way.  These opportunities presented themselves along the way, but ended up being one of my most memorable experiences. 

Another interesting note, is the conflict between Japan and Korea, as I really experienced the pain a society still faces that’s been so inflicted by war. As I’ve mentioned before, imperial Japan occupied Korea, and in the second world war, committed many atrocious war crimes in Korea. Now interestingly, I experienced first-hand the sentiment of each average Korean citizen. Even though the war is over, their dispute has never really been settled. Unlike Germany after the war, Japan has not truly recognized its’ war crimes, omitting it from their education and never formally apologising to the victims. Again, it was so… humbling to talk with Koreans and the way some of them still felt consequences from the war. They had many protests against Japan for a very long time, where actually over hundred thousand people gathered to protest. It also made me realise, how good it was to experience another perspective up-close. As I’ve mentioned before, I know Japan very well, lived there before and speak the language, so experiencing the conflict from the Korean side is very eye-opening. I guess it was fate for me to experience my studying abroad time in Korea, I learned so much of it. 

And that’s obviously all without the mention of the amazing friends I’ve made, the amazing foods I’ve eaten, the amazing landscapes I’ve seen, the mountains I’ve hiked, the kindness I’ve experienced of Korean strangers (they’re seriously so nice like random old people will just offer you food), the nicest campus I’ve ever attended and just overall the incredible time I’ve had there. 

So I thank UCG to facilitate this wonderful experience for us. It is not any faculty that provides exchange within your third-year so easily. The unexpected will be most memorable, and teach you the most valuable things. Make those decisions for yourself, and take some time to reflect upon them. 

Yep, guess it’s time to move on to the next stage! (spoiler alert: it involves a thesis… oops)

Hope everyone has a wonderful day….

And, late happy new year! 

Love from Victoria