Korean Popular Culture and Korean Wave
I thought the teacher was very interesting and he has a lot of anecdotes about his time living in Korea. I honestly don’t really have much to say, but I’ve really enjoyed this class.
Korean Traditional Music and Culture
This is an online class and it’s very easy. The teacher makes it clear that she understands that many of us are either busy or wanting to be able to go out and have fun during our study abroad. The only assignment we have, not including the midterm and final, is a basic short presentation on some traditional song or instrument of our cultures.
Korean Art History
This is my last class of this day from 9 A.M. - 6 P.M. so I am often fairly tired by the time I have this class. This subject isn’t something I find very interesting, but I do like the teacher! The teacher goes over every single slide, often containing some kind of painting, creation (like pots), or statue with a plethora of information. Due to this, my class is often considered behind, but the tests all at least only include what we’ve actually gone over. There are two written assignments about two different Korean art pieces that are fairly easy to do.
Midterms
Korean Popular Culture and Korean Wave ~ It’s online, with a time limit, and we have to have our camera’s on during the zoom meeting. Some of the things in the test are directly in the slides, but some of the things are only what he mentions in class so looking up the answer off the internet isn’t very helpful.
Korean Traditional Music and Culture ~ The midterm is over zoom and singing (in groups) two traditional Korean songs. The teacher will have gone over all the song options and it doesn’t even have to sound particularly amazing, so it was very low stress.
Korean Art History ~ We were given a few dozen pieces we’d covered in class as a study guide and were expected to know their dates, locations, names, and significance (though we didn’t have to know the date/location for every single midterm question). Included in the study guide was also several terms we were to know. The actual midterm included seven of the few dozen pieces in the study guide and five of the terms we were to know.
Finals
Korean Popular Culture and Korean Wave ~ The final is the same format as the midterm, including some information that we learned before the midterm. Reading all the readings was more important for the final than the midterm too.
Korean Traditional Music and Culture ~ Instead of singing in groups, we sang individually one traditional Korean song. Similarly to the midterm, the teacher will have gone over all the song options and, again, it doesn’t have to sound particularly amazing.
Korean Art History ~ For my class, the teacher made the final online and open note. We weren’t given a study guide, but since the final was online, it was a lot less stressful.
I think I’ve learned a fair bit this semester in all my classes and at school, but I honestly think I learned more about myself through this study abroad. We’re given a lot of freedom that many college students can definitely experience in their homes schools, but we’re simply given more through this study abroad.
I know for me it was always up to me whenever let’s say I want to get food, and it’s the same at home, but here there’s more freedom to get quite literally whatever I want. At home, I have a meal plan so I feel a fair bit of internal guilt about buying food when I could just get something from my school’s cafeteria. However here, I was given a meal stipend that was quite literally meant to be spent on food, other things too of course but food was the intention. There are a few bit of other things, but overall I would say that I’ve greatly enjoyed my time in South Korea. I personally am not always the biggest fan of school, often mentioning how I’m ready to be done with it, but one thing I know I’ll always look back on is my time studying abroad here in South Korea.

Kala Yee
My name is Kendall Yee, though I go by Kala. I’m a junior getting an alternative education at University of Redlands through the Johnston Centre of Integrative Studies. I love to learn new languages, listen to music, read, and travel.