In front of “The Castle,” the main building of Korea University

Author: Samuel Cobbs | Majors: Applied Mathematics and Philosophy

My name is Samuel Cobbs, and I am a senior Applied Mathematics and Philosophy double major at the University of Arkansas. This summer I studied abroad at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea for six weeks, then spent a week and a half travelling the country. I chose to study in Korea because I wanted the opportunity to experience the eastern way of life, and Korea seemed like a place in which I would get to experience the eastern history and culture, experience Seoul which some call ‘The City of the Future,’ and experience Korean university life. I took two classes at Korea University, Statistics and Introduction to Management Information Systems. I took the Statistics class because it filled a requirement for my math major, and I took Intro to MIS because it is a field of interest to me that I might start a career in. The instructors for both classes were phenomenal teachers and great people, one of which would personally give me places to eat around Seoul and introduced me to the area around Korea University.

The different culture compared to the United States was one of the main reasons I wanted to study in Korea, with some of the best experiences being the food. Korea is known for its Korean BBQ, fried chicken, Kimchee, and Kimbap, all of which I ate multiple times a week. I also had opportunities to try the more interesting foods of Korea. At the Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul which is a huge three-story market filled with tanks of live seafood, my friends and I picked fish out of a tank while a man killed the fish, sliced them into Sashimi, and served them, all done right in front of us. I have never eaten more fresh seafood in my life. Later in the summer, a local that I had made friends with took me again to a fish market, where we ate live octopus! The octopus is dead, as they sliced it up in front of us, but for around 15 minutes after death the octopus’ muscles are still moving. So, it moves on your plate and moves when you put it in your mouth, a rather unnerving feeling since I was not used to moving food.

In addition to the food, I was able to have cultural experiences in religion and nature. I stayed overnight in a Buddhist Temple that housed the Korean version of Shaolin monks. We were given monk attire and spent the whole day either meditating, eating vegan meals, or training in Sunmudo, which is a mix of Tai Chi, yoga, and karate. Also, I climbed to the top of a volcano on an island off the southern coast of Korea named Jeju. This volcano, Mount Hallasan, is the highest point in Korea at 6,388 feet, and housed many stunning volcanic rock formations from volcanic eruptions thousands of years ago.

I would suggest to any student wanting to study abroad to also look east. The Korea University International Summer Campus is a great program at one of Korea’s top three schools, and there are so many experiences that are exclusive to Asian countries that I believe have been crucial to my development during college.