Hi!
I am new here and so glad I found this! My son graduated last May and is leaving in a few weeks to study in Seoul. Their school year apparently begins in March.
Anyone have any experience with sending their child off to another country, especially South Korea? He will have to quarantine for two weeks when he gets there. It is slightly daunting that I have to just put him on the plane and let him figure everything out when he gets there!
Assuming not a citizen of the Republic of Korea… otherwise, he may have complete required military service when he gets there.
Does he speak some Korean?
Is he enrolling in an English language program or a Korean language program for native Korean students? Has he lived in Korea before?
Hi
I don’t have any experience to share, but our DC applied to 2 Universities in Japan (science programs in english). So I am curious too about others experiences.
DC is wide eyed about the fact that there will be not much help from use, once there, IF selected.
However with those science programs also comes a close knit group (all internationals) and some mentors to help getting them settled. Did your kid take Korean language classes? DC is finishing AP Japanese and has been deeply interested in the culture & history in general beyond the popular anime stuff.
Hankuk is a very international university, so your son should have relatively good support. We live in Japan, which is not permitting any new international students to even enter the country at the moment, so from that perspective, ten days’ quarantine probably isn’t too bad. My S19, who is in school in the US, just came back to Tokyo for the holidays and is doing 14 day’s home quarantine, but he got back just before the big Omicron surge in the US, and many friends whom left the US a bit later have ended up in hotel quarantine. Oddly, they don’t seem to have minded, and at least here, the government pays. It looks as though your son will have to pay a fee for the quarantine facility in Korea. I looked around online a bit but couldn’t see whether Korea is using hotels for quarantine like Japan and Taiwan.
In Japan, I have found the Citizen Services arm of the US Embassy to be very helpful in terms of providing up-to-date information. You’ve probably already found this, but just in case: https://kr.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/security-and-travel-information//
Right now, Korea is experiencing an Omicron surge, but in general, they have done a pretty good job with Covid. Lots of testing, which is not the case in Japan. And very good masks - I really love my KF94s!
My D is currently studying abroad at Yonsei Univ. in Seoul. She says the thing to know is that Korea takes Covid very seriously. Your son will need proof of vaccination to enter any business, cafe, use the library etc. The US CDC vaccination card is not considered proof. Therefore, the first thing to do upon exiting quarantine is to go to the health center for his area, show a passport and CDC card, and they will give him temporary paper proof of vaccination. She also said that there is only one food delivery service (like Ubereats) that will take US credit cards. Honestly, she learned most tips by being in the Yonsei international students group chat.
For my part, my tip is to download the KakaoTalk app so you can speak to each other and message each other. I also was concerned about the two weeks in the quarantine hotel, so I went to the dollar store and bought 14 trinkets. She was to open one each day and it gave her something to look forward to.
Despite all the Covid restrictions (100% on line classes etc.) she loves it there and I’m sure your son will too!
Sorry for the delay in responding! We all had Covid and have been out of it for a couple weeks.
He does speak Korean, so he is entering the Korean speaking classes. He has never lived in Korea before.
Thank you so much for this!
Our understanding is he can stay in an AirBnB (we are getting confirmation on that), which will be a little nicer than a hotel. Plus I will be able to be in contact with the host.
Thank you for the info on the Korean vaccine card. He had mentioned that he didn’t think Korea recognized the US vaccination. I hate that he has to double up his vaccinations (has to have one to travel), but hopefully there won’t be any conflict for him.
I’m glad to hear that things went well for her there! It is definitely an adventure (I’m sure putting him on the plane will be the toughest part. Can’t wait until he is actually in the dorm).
Thank you for all of this!
He is not, he is a US citizen.
My D is applying for the fall 2022 semester at Yonsei. She’s currently a junior at Colgate. We pulled her out of the Spring 2022 plan to attend the semester at Yonsei because she was told that the past couple of years, students from her university weren’t able to get on campus housing and that’s a deal breaker for us. With the pandemic, her allergies and the uncertainty of getting into the school housing we decided for her not to go. We promised her a trip to SK as a graduation gift because she was crying about no able to go. She understood our reasons.
We thought that was the end of it. Guess not. She wants to either do a summer program or do the fall semester at Yonsei. I thought the fall is better. That being said, we are still facing the same issue with housing. How did your D able to get into housing? My D was told to maybe look into a host family for housing if she isn’t able to get into the dorm. This is a big no for my hubby. I’m more 50/50. I want to explore other options as long as it really close to the university and the place is vetted.
D is currently taking an independent study on Korean provided by her school. She also speaks Chinese or at least knows how as she is in her 3rd semester of Chinese language. She speaks a little bit of our Filipino language but understands it easily if spoken too. She also took 6 years of French in high school. She is a very sociable person. Do you have any tips and advice?
Housing in the dorms is awarded on a first come, first serve basis. Yonsei will say when the housing option opens so my D was on the internet at that time and put in her pick of dorm. Everyone else was doing the same, so there is a certain amount of luck involved. My D says that the SK Global House dorm is more desirable, so applying for International House might yield better results. And Yonsei conducts a 2nd round of offering housing to fill the rooms after students cancel, don’t put down a deposit etc.
If not in on campus housing, students commonly live in goshiwons, airbnbs and apartments. For spring semester, my D moved into a goshiwon, which is a tiny single room in a building with a shared kitchen and laundry. There are many of these filled with students and close to campus. She found students didn’t socialize in the dorms, library etc. at all due to covid restrictions; instead students met up and went to cafes and restaurants, so living outside the dorm doesn’t impede social life at all. She looked into staying with a host family, but concluded they were often far from campus and other students.
She has described an extremely large and active international student group chat, which can lead a rich social life! The international students use English as the common language and most have no Korean language knowledge prior to arriving. In all, she loves her experience there, and really has been able to figure it all out pretty much on her own with no real issues.
Thank you! This is very helpful. I will pass along this information to my D.
Hi there!!! Did your son traveled to SK by himself? Our D20 is spending the fall 2022 semester at Yonsei. I have a few questions about the preparation leading to flying to Seoul.
Yes, my D traveled by herself and managed it just fine. I just returned to the US after visiting her and Korea is a lovely country! Pay close attention to the Covid testing requirements though - under the current rules, I had to take four tests in two weeks - thankfully all negative.
Thanks! Been trying to keep up with updates with Covid19 testing requirements. Did you quarantine? Or did they recognized the full vaccination plus booster received in the US?
We were fully vaccinated and boosted in the US within 180 days of travel so didn’t have to quarantine. The website for the “Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the USA” has all the up to date requirements and instructions. Click on “consular/visa service” and then “notice” to see the latest. The requirements do change, and in fact did this week.
Assuming not a citizen of the Republic of Korea… otherwise, he may have complete required military service when he gets there.