Having recently returned to the UK after spending a mind-blowing summer in Seoul, South Korea, I’m thrilled to be able to share my adventures. After my first year studying Management BSc at the University of Bath, I was really interested in travelling and gaining work experience over the summer. I couldn’t have hoped for a better experience than working and studying at one of the top private institutions in Asia, Yonsei University, which would not have been possible without the help of the Gold Scholarship programme. In this article, I will explore my adventures and experiences in Seoul, focusing on my internship, studying abroad, cultural activities, and how much it all cost. By the end, perhaps you will be inspired to embark on a similar program yourself!

Why Korea? 

Why did I choose to go to Korea? Well, the decision to travel internationally was a no-brainer for me. England can be great, don’t get me wrong, but I needed a change of scenery and some fresh experiences. Travelling is simply my passion, however, I wanted to simultaneously boost my future career. As well as this, the previous year I participated in an exchange in Singapore, which turned out to be a life-changing trip. Therefore, I headed into my summer internship research searching for similar opportunities. 

Firstly, I browsed the Worldwide QS University ranking list to search for the top universities, then, I researched their offerings for international courses, research programmes, and internships. I was thrilled to find Yonsei University which offered a marketing internship alongside its business course, it also happened to be one of the highest ranked unis in Asia. More than that, I was excited by the fact that I could go to South Korea, a place so different from England allowing me to explore the culture and the environment. Especially Seoul, a contemporary city renowned for its great food, vibrant gaming scene, quirky shops and unique fashion. It was perfect for me. 

Truthfully, I was lucky that they were still taking applications. I hadn’t realised that a lot of deadlines for most universities and exchange programmes worldwide were for around February time, and I was applying in early April. Luckily, too, the entrance fee was affordable, unlike those in the United States (more on the Finances later). 

Studying at Yonsei University 

I applied to the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital course, as it aligned with my career ambitions, sounded interesting, and its professor had an impressive background lecturing at Harvard. The classroom was laid out rather different to your average lecture hall at Bath. It was sort of how you would imagine an American class in the movies, with two people at each desk. On the first day I had to pick a partner, I was paired with someone doing Dentistry at the University of Michigan. The partner you made would essentially become your buddy for all of the assignments and presentations. I enjoyed this system as there was always someone to hold you accountable, and vice versa, ensuring that pieces of work were handed in on-time, and to a great standard. 

As the for course itself, it was essentially MBA level knowledge condensed into a couple of months. I found it fascinating to learn how venture capital firms are currently investing heavily in start-ups and to understand what makes a company valuable to them. My partner and I had to pitch a business idea in front of the class. The presentation spanned two days and had multiple rounds of questioning. The lecturer mentioned that many people actually go on to turn their ideas into real businesses, but we didn't get that far. 

Undoubtedly, the education at Yonsei University was some of the best teaching I’ve ever received. The classes were very interactive and just under two hours long for four days a week. There was also frequent homework and the feedback for which definitely helped me to absorb a lot of information in a short period of time. It was a great opportunity to learn more in the field that I am studying in. 

Interning at a Tech-Startup

As for the Internship, I chose to work for a Marketing role in a tech startup called Dreamfora - a goal setting app for keeping track of your habits. I thought that it would be exciting to work in a tech company, especially a start-up. I felt like there would be more opportunity to learn and to be given more responsibility to really make the most out of the internship. It was also one of the only roles offered that didn't require you to speak proficiently in Korean. This was perfect for me as after many failed attempts at Duolingo, I only learned how to say "kamsahamnida" which is "thank you". 

My role was being one of the two managers in the marketing team, and I was tasked with growing the app's user base. We started by analysing the market strategies of companies that were trying to reach similar demographics. I decided to focus on Duolingo, and found that they use their famous Owl mascot to give their brand personality and character. I was lucky that in our small team, a member was pretty good at art, so naturally I asked her if she wanted to deisgn our mascot. Soon, I was on the phone using my limited Mandarin skills (mostly google translate) with various Alibaba factories to get the costume made and delivered. Once it arrived a few days later, we took on the streets of Seoul to create content. Not only did one of our TikTok videos go viral with 150,000 views, we were also stopped every 20 seconds on the street by passerby's inquiring about what we were promoting. Turns out Duolingo knows what they're doing, indeed, it was a successful strategy; we increased awareness online but also directly with the people. It was really rewarding to see our hard work pay off, and it was rewarding for me to know that in the limited time I spent in this company, I was able to add great value - developing projects, in turn growing the company. This is characteristic of working at start-ups, which is why I would highly reccommend it. 

Student Life in Seoul

I arrived a couple of days before my course started, so I had a bit of time to explore by myself before meeting anyone. On my first night, I scavanged Google for the best bar for internationals and found one near my house in Hongdae called 'Thursday Party'. I downed a few Sojus and a Cass (Korean equivalent of Corona) and went inside, the place was completely packed. I went to the bar to order a drink and met a group of French exchange students. We ended up going to a club afterwards and it was here I realised that Koreans might actually drink more than us Brits. It wasn’t your typical Tuesday Labs, these clubs were open until 8am with people still packed inside. The tunes were not limited to Gangnam Style and BTS, to my surprise the first thing I heard was Central Cee. In all, arguably the best part about the student life in Seoul is its energetic nightlife. There is no shortage of high quality yet cheap pubs, bars, and clubs to go to. 

I made some great friends once I settled into work and my course. During our first week at the internship, we decided to go to Waterbomb, which is a huge festival in Korea. I didn't recognise any of the performers in the line-up, but it ended up being one of my favourite festivals. You go with a water gun and spray it everywhere - I think the purpose was to cool people down but everyone quickly got into heated water fights. The music ended up being great too, and the crowd did not disappoint.

Throughout the summer we had loads of outings like that. We especially liked to explore Seoul's restaurants as the prices were good, at the same time it created even more opportunity for bonding. One of my highlights was at the Han River. We rented out a picnic blanket and bought some takeaway food, then created a borg. A borg is a massive jug filled with alcohol and mixers (a term I learned from the Americans). It was nice watching the sunset over the river, whilst yapping away to each other.

Seoul is renowned for its quirky cafés, and I love café culture. Working remotely and exploring loads of unique cafés around the city was very fun. I had some of the best matcha lattes I've ever tasted. Each café was beautiful and had such a cool vibe. It's probably the main thing I miss about being there.

Culture Shocks 

I want to include some of the biggest culture shocks I faced to paint the full picture. I suppose the main one is that Seoul is not as much of an international city as I had thought it would be. I rarely saw any foreigners around, even in the most touristy area where my accommodation was. So, naturally, there was a noticeable language barrier. My typical Brit mindset expected to cruise through the communication with the locals in English, but that was not the case. I’d often have to translate everything I wanted to say through an app called Papago. I even had to use it in supermarkets, to translate what I was buying.. or hoping to be buying. The image-translator feature on the app definitely came in pretty clutch.

Secondly, everything was sweet – even the garlic bread. I went to a bakery and bought some warm garlic bread and afterwards found out that it was coated in sugar. On the other hand, I did eat some of the best food of my life at random local restaurants.  If you're vegetarian it can be difficult to find dishes not involving animal byproducts. Most soup bases and even the vegetable dishes and kimchi would have beef stock or anchovies. The food that I did try was all pretty good, and I have been craving a lot of it ever since returning to the UK. I would highly recommend cold noodle soup, as grim as it sounds, it is surprisingly tasty. 

Managing Finances, Scholarship, and Budgeting

I was able to fund my two and a half month stay in Seoul through applying to the Opportunities Fund as part of the Gold Scholarship Programme. My eagerness to get accepted for this opportunity and get funding motivated me to spend a lot of time writing a great application. I had the fortune, and am extremely thankful, to have received the maximum amount of funding of £2,000. I would recommend dedicating a few days on the application, and really think about how your desired opportunity (whether it's more about the country, the work, or institution) will help your career. For example, I mentioned various specific details about the global ranking of Yonsei University, along with its high academic integrity for the course I chose, and the long list of benefits that come with working for a start-up abroad, especially for a Management student. 

Overall, the total cost for two and a half months, including the course, spending money, rent, and plane tickets, was around £6,000. The course itself was £2,000 (or £1,000 if you choose to do one course instead of two), and the internship was unpaid. The rent was around £660 per month (I chose to live centrally), and general expenses were around £600 for living comfortably. My flight was around £800. This might come as a surprise, and trust me, it did to me as well. I had not anticipated that Seoul as a city is nearly as expensive as the likes of London (besides rent). It is definitely possible to live on less than I did, but I must have gotten too excited and carried away by the exciting, animated, and flashy city of Seoul. 

Biggest Takeaways and Conclusion

If it wasn’t clear already, I would absolutely recommend this experience to everybody. Whether it is to go to Seoul and follow the same path I did, or generally travel/study abroad. It's much easier to study at top Universities for an exchange program than it is to get into them as a regular student, and this world-class education can contribute a lot to your personal growth. Especially if you want to apply for jobs within the same country that you are studying, it helps to have one of their best universities on your CV. However, even when applying back home or elsewhere, companies love international experience. It broadens your worldview, makes you culturally adaptable and gives you an excellent answer in those interview questions when they ask "tell me about a time where you showed initiative".

A benefit which I never thought about before going is that I now have very good friends in every corner of the world. I have been able to travel to multiple countries without paying for hotels or Airbnbs. I have a holiday booked for Toronto and Chicago soon where I'll be staying with my closest friends from this exchange, saving about half of the costs. From my previous exchange to Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, I made lifelong friends that also study at the University of Bath as well as me, who I have remained pretty close to, so you never know who you might meet. 

Most importantly, I believe that these experiences give you a global perspective. I don't believe that the UK is always miserable, but it makes a difference to visit somewhere where the people are more outgoing, the weather is sunny, and things are affordable. It opens up your mind to what life would be like if you lived elsewhere, and perhaps you might end up like me, changing your career plans to work internationally.