Study Abroad in Korea : A day in the life of an International Student in Korea

This post is way past its due date, but hey better late than never right?!

So far, the past 1year and a half has been a whirlwind! I still cannot believe I am about to begin the 2nd semester of my 2nd year! As an international student, I have exceeded my own expectations in regards to my comprehension of classes, quality of assignments and even final grades! And truly all the glory goes to God because Lord knows I am still very far from fluency!!

I thought it would be fun to give you all a little peek into my daily life, during the semester, as an international student in Korea.

Morning Routine

Usually, I wake up at 8am and commence the usual morning routine; brush teeth, bathe etc. During the semester, I seem to either loose my appetite or simply forget to eat, so more often than not, I skip both breakfast and lunch. << I know this is a bad habit! 😅

I then pray and have my moment with God. Unfortunately the stresses of school work has caused a reduction in this time😓. I know the smart thing to do when stressed is actually to spend more time with God and therefore I have been working on this.

Then around 9am, I sit my bum on the seat which will hold me for the rest of the day lool. My timetable differs from semester to semester, but I try to avoid 9am classes because they really are a strain, but there are times when this is unavoidable.

My 2020-2 Timetable

I often have back to back classes with very little breaks in between << these are killer! We have some lovely and really considerate professors who give us 10mins break for every hour of lecturing. But there are also those who either don't care or simply don't want to, and will have us sitting in 2-3 hours of lectures without a single break 😰. By this point my brain is fried.

Afternoon Routine

An essay assignment

After classes, I always start on any assignments given straight away 😅.  This is for two reasons :

1. It is an innate personality trait of mine - I am a goody-two-shoes and a teacher's pet and I can't help it....😇

2. I am at a significant disadvantage in comparison to my Korean peers in each class. I am still learning the language which puts me back quite a few steps. What would probably take the Korean students 2 hours to complete, will take me 4-8 hours, therefore I NEED to get cracking as soon as!

I work on these assignments until 9pm-ish, then call it a night! The Corona virus pandemic has caused many unpleasant changes but has also been somewhat of a blessing in disguise. My cousin, a current medical student, who lives all the way in America has been able to study with me everyday through Zoom or FaceTime. This has been such an incredible help and motivation throughout these past two semesters.

Break Routine

Don't think I am only a 'book-head' and study all the way through from 9am-9pm!! Definitely NOT! Lool. I take as many breaks as needed. Sometimes more than an hour! I normally watch a favourite program or movie. These tend to be in English, because, let's face it....I need a break from Korean! Hahaha!😆 Myself and my cousin make an effort to exercise everyday during these breaks for at least 15mins, following home exercise videos.

Evening Routine

Captured during one of my walks

I usually make dinner during one of my breaks and try to eat before 9pm, I don't always succeed though. Sometimes I get so engrossed in an assignment, that I want to complete it before doing anything else.

After 9pm, I do something I enjoy! I make myself some nice hot chocolate, or English breakfast tea, pull up a comedy (this time mostly in Korean, but at times in English), sit back and relax.

Sometimes, I will also go for a walk at night. The stars in the clear sky are so beautiful! The school also has a lake and it is one of my favourite spots to de-stress, un-wind, converse with God and simply re-group.

What does YOUR daily routine look like as a student? 📚

I have let you in on my daily routine as an international student in Korea and now I am curious to know how yours looks like! Whether a domestic student or an international student, I would love to hear from you!

Speak Soon. X