Greetings from Seoul!

Zhibek Azamat 27′ is Business Analytics and Marketing double major currently studying at Seoul National University for Fall 2024!

Hello Everyone and welcome to weekly chronicles of Business school exchange student at Seoul National University!

My name is Zhibek, I am an international student from Kazakhstan double majoring in business analytics and marketing at Lebow College of Business! As I am going into my third year, I decided to pack my life in two suitcases and move continents once again, this time it is Seoul, South Korea. Traveling around has become a staple in my life as I have been visiting new countries since I was 9. Our ancestors were nomads of the Great Steppe moving across the entire globe which is a definitive part of my being.

I have never been to South Korea before and only knew the tip of the cultural iceberg which are the K-dramas, K-pop, K-food and many more. However, my main goal is to get into depths of the society and culture of Korea starting from how people dress here to historical traditions that fascinate and attract so many foreigners coming to Seoul. Within the first week here, I already learned how different it is from America and how similar it can get to Kazakh norms.

After 14 hour long flight from Detroit, I finally made it to Incheon Airport. The weather was pretty humid and one thing I got straight away is how Sun sets here so much earlier than in America. By 8 pm, the city was covered by dark sky and yellow lights from the buildings started peeking through. The way from airport was around 45 minutes long as my place was pretty far from the center. I checked in to my Goshiwon (고시원) – one room stay for students and was greeted by the owner of the building. She toured the building which had the rooftop, shared kitchen with all the supplies, laundry machines and dryers. Each rooms have their own bathrooms, a bed and drawers. Though the space of my room seemed extremely tiny after spacious bedrooms of my apartment back in America, the location is only two bus stops away from SNU’s main gate. It is also close to the subway station and local shops and restaurants.

My friend and I decided to look around and ran into local store called Daiso (다이소) known and loved both by local and foreigners for its convenience, huge selection, and mainly – the prices. All the room essentials costed me little less than $30 which just left me speechless. Later, we went to the convenience store known for their viral ice cups, coffees and fruit flavored milk. It definitely can get overwhelming with such wide selection of food they offer starting from entire fridge with different juices and shelves stacked with variety of triangle kimbaps. Tired yet so excited we went back to finally takes a rest from flights and luggage movings.

Next couple of days were dedicated to looking around campus, figuring out the local transportations and bank scoutings – a typical first timer’s agenda. Two terms I learned as soon as I landed – T money card and Naver Map. One is the reloadable card that Koreans use for any type of transportation: buses, subway, even taxis, and another is substitute to all the traditional maps we use in daily life. Neither Apple Maps nor Google maps are accurate in Korea thus everyone uses Naver Map. Both come in handy for site seeings and making sure that one is not lost. For a person who gets overwhelmed relatively easy, I still found Seoul to have such brilliant and infrastructure.

Being international student requires smooth transition and ability to adapt relatively quickly. When I came to America, it felt I almost had no barrier immersing myself into American routines. When coming to South Korea, I was a bit less stressed as Kazakh culture still shares some similarities in a way society functions here. However, there is some culture shock moments that impressed me. For example sorting the trash and how strict the rules are for it or the fact that it is quite impossible to find a trash can anywhere.

Stay tuned for the upcoming post where I will tell my first week of classes, differences in teaching methods of local professors compared to professors at Drexel, and campus itself!

I’ll see you on the other one, cheers!