In Feb 2013, I spent a entire month living and studying on the campus of Ewha Womens University In Seoul. Unlike the certain segment of the population who must be pros at this, it was my first time setting foot in a girls-only university; I had never been surrounded by so many young girls before in my life. As culture immersion experience goes, it was drastically different versus what I had done before. I will assure you that being surrounded in a all-girls school by attractive college aged Korean girls all day is a lot more comfortable than living in a Muay Thai camp surrounded by enraged, half-naked, sweaty male Thai fighters. I found the situation so hilarious that I had to share my fortunes by inviting my Korean friends to come and visit me on campus. Now these are Koreans guys born and raised in Seoul; and yet they were walking around like little boys in the candy story, giving me a lot of street cred along the way. They told me that this university used to be so traditional that the only males that were allowed on the campus were preachers and delivery boys. They were even more amazed to learn that I had a dorm room in a coed building which housed both guys and girls. Of course, the boys were in the minority; in fact, I don't think I saw more than 5 different guys in the dormitory for my entire stay. And settling into my university life, I went and did my own laundry in the communal laundry room. But every time I walk in, the girls in the laundry room always gives a little jump at seeing a member of the opposite sex. The place is basically filled with baskets filled with, you know, girl stuff. So I was slightly uncomfortable being there as well. And I think my uncomfortableness probably made the girls who were there even more uncomfortable. So it became a vicious cycle of throat clearing with nervous shuffling of shoes and avoidance of eye contact until the girls all bolt from the room leaving me to do my laundry in peace.
How to do this
It's been seven years since I attended a class at a university so the feeling of being back in a dorm and attending classes was quiet refreshing. Ehwa University was a typical university with modern facilities and a great staff. The only difference is that there were just lots and lots of girls. It took a bit of getting used to, but eventually I got used to being the only guy in a roomful of girls. And honestly after the initial shock of girls was over, the whole experience was kind of boring because I'm happily in a relationship, and the language barriers was difficult to breach. This was at the end of my trip, so I flew back to HK pretty frequently over my month there that I probably missed out a bit on the "immersion" part of the experience. Nonetheless, It was extremely fun and great to be a student again although only for 1 month.
You could apply for the language program (the only way guys can attend Ewha) by emailing the Ewha Language Center. The Korean gov has a excellent site with a list of all the language programs here - http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/CU/CU_EN_8_6_2.jsp
That's pretty much it. Let me know if someone does attend so I can visit you! =)
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| My student ID - will treasure this forever |
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| Graduation ceremony |
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| My teacher |
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| My friend |
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| My dorm room |
