Testimonial Essay _ Kwa Yu Heng from Nanyang Technological University

I have never been to Korea, so I was both very excited and grateful when I found out I was accepted into the Campus Asia program. I always had a good impression of Korea due to it’s reputation. I had heard many things before, about Korea’s nice scenery, culture and K-pop. Also, I was excited to make international friends, which the summer school was able to provide. Lastly, KAIST is also a well known institution and I was excited to study at such an establishment. Hence, when the program was confirmed, I couldn’t wait to finally visit Korea. 

The track I took was the study track,  where I took learning modules in KAIST. I studied Anthropology of Food and Basic Korean. Through the food module, I had a better understanding of what I was consuming and the resources and implications behind such consumption. Because of the Korean module, I learnt how to read Korean and some basic phrases and words, which helped me a lot when touring Korea. With my new skills, I got to see a lot more places than I normally would as reading Korean is very important when travelling Korea.

I really enjoyed the fields trips KAIST brought us on. We went to Jeonjj and Muju, where we did various activities like exploring a cultural village, wore Hanboks, made bimbimbap and watched and practiced Taekwondo. Through those trips, I got to know a lot of the other international students and forge lifelong connections. They were also very meaningful as a lot of information on Korean culture was shared, which helped me understand the country I was in much better. Everland was also very fun, and I went on many scary rides. My favourite was the wooden roller coaster, the T express, as the design was very intriguing and the vertical drop was a exhilarating experience.

After a very eventful and life changing 1 month living in Korea and studying at KAIST, I now have a very good impression of Korea and will definitely go back to Korea if there is a good opportunity, be it back to KAIST or somewhere else. Korea is a very beautiful country with a very rich culture. The people are also very friendly and hospitable. The memories forged will stay with me forever and I hope to be able to create new ones!