VILNIUS TECH students had an opportunity to discover South Korea at Online Winter School

Even though it became tremendously more difficult to travel around the world and get to know different cultures because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this winter Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH) International Relations Office offered a unique opportunity for students to take part in a virtual Online Winter School, organized by the partners of University, Kyungpook National University (KNU) in South Korea. 6 students of the faculties of Creative Industries, Business Management, and Mechanics took a part in this online adventure and today sharing their experience with us.

In this online school, which took place for two weeks between the 25th of January and 5th of February 2021, VILNIUS TECH students had a chance to find out about Korean culture, learn the basics of the Korean language, participate in virtual excursions around the Korean cities and interact in online lectures together with Korean and international students from all over the world. 

Marina Nasedkina

The experience of participating in KNU Winter School was amazing indeed! Learning Korean, exploring the city of Daegu virtually, singing traditional Korean songs, discussing taekwondo – we had it all and even more!

I received an email from VILNIUS TECH International Relations Office inviting students to apply to a winter school online, organized by a Korean university. To be honest, I have never had an interest in Asian countries. However, I decided that it would be a great opportunity to learn something completely new for me! In the middle of December, I got an email from my Korean supporter – that was the moment when I understood that “Yes, this is happening!” I was eager to see what awaits me during this online journey.

As an initiative person myself, I know how challenging it can be to organize something interesting online. KNU Winter School is an example of a very thoughtful and deep preparation of online activities. We had the following schedule: Korean culture (1 hour), Korean language (2 hours), and an hour with our Korean supporter and other international students-participants (12 people, in my case). It was exciting that “Korean culture” sessions were led not by teachers, but by KNU students themselves! The hosts did not only lead discussions but also communicate with participants and organized games and diverse activities. Besides, they actually showed us everything. Korean musical instruments, food, national costumes – we have seen it all during those sessions. I believe this element of showing things brought me even closer to understanding Korean cultural aspects. 

Also, Korean language classes were a lot of fun. We had a wonderful teacher who explained every single concept in great detail. Now I can read Korean and even say some simple sentences! Who would have thought?!

More than 100 students from all over the world took part in this international experience. During our meetings with supporters, we shared our cultures and exchanged ideas. It feels so good to be connected with the whole world while still sitting in your flat! The Internet made us possible to explore cultures and meet new people online – how astonishing it is!

I am happy that I had a chance to participate in such an event. Grateful to my home University for sharing the information and to all participants and hosts of KNU Winter school! Looking forward to new online adventures!

Vasarė Žukauskaitė

I really enjoyed taking part in a two-week program at KNU Online Winter School! It was attended by 919 students from 60 universities and 23 countries. Due to different time zones classes started at 7 a.m., so we had to wake up early, but it was worth it! 

The program included interactive activities with Korean students on Korean cultures such as K-Pop, traditions, movies, food, taekwondo, and a virtual tour of the city Daegu. Besides, we had Korean language lessons. Honestly, for me, it was the most difficult but extremely interesting part of the program. 

The teachers and students of KNU made this project truly enjoyable and exciting! They were very lively, passionate, encouraging, and always keen to help. It was fun to get to know students from Korea and other countries.

Iryna Brolinska

I was very glad to participate in KNU online winter school!

My journey began with an email to the International Relations Office regarding Erasmus + studies in Korea, but because I had to wait for the application to start, I was advised to take a part in KNU online winter school. As I am very interested in Korean culture and language it was an obvious choice for me!

All participants were divided into 2 sections (A and B) and each section was divided into smaller groups, about 20 people in each. Each smaller group had been given a supporter, who helped us with all kinds of questions and participated in a group activity. Talking about the schedule, we had culture class from 7 am till 8 am, then Korean language class till 10 am, and finally an hour of group activity till 11 am (GMT+2). Sometimes it was really hard to wake up so early, especially when I had online lectures at my home University just after that, but I do not regret it at all!

During culture class, Korean students told us about traditional clothing, music, food, made a virtual excursion of Daegu, and many other activities. We were able to participate in discussions during online classes and ask questions. During the Korean language class teacher introduced us to the basics of the Korean language. The classes were very interactive, funny, and interesting. Group activity was my favorite class! We were just talking about different cultures in our small group of about 20 people. We were playing different games, and I made many new friends from Italy, Indonesia, Germany, China, America, and more!

People were really kind and friendly so at the end of the online winter school, we decided to make a little surprise for our supporters and teachers. We filmed a video in which expressed our love and gratitude for their hard work. But KNU online winter school was not only about fun, after each class, we also had to do a little task as homework. 

In conclusion, KNU online winter school was a great experience, and I would definitely recommend it to everyone interested in the Korean language or culture.

Jorė Pivoriūnaitė 

After I have got the invitation from my University, I immediately decided to participate in this project for two weeks together with my groupmate!

We began our online lectures learning about the culture of Korea, including music, dances, traditional clothing, dishes, and so on. In the second lecture, we practiced the Korean language. My favorite lecture was, where we were separated into the virtual rooms with about 30 people in total and discussed all together, talked about our country culture, and played games. In my group, there were people from Brazil, Latvia, Germany, Italy, China, Japan, and a few others. 

We also had to do some homework to show that we participate in the lectures. If we were not able to attend the lectures, we could watch recorded videos, because in some countries the time zone is totally different than in Korea. 

The project lasted for 2 weeks but I got along with my group pretty fast, and it was sad for us to say goodbye. I am really happy that I have participated in KNU Winter School, it was something to brighten up my day during quarantine and make changes in the routine!

Tiffany Linh Van de Walle

One day I was just scrolling on Instagram and I saw a post of @vilniustech_erasmus promoting KNU's winter program and thought it was a great idea to join as I am tremendously interested in Korea and am hoping to do my Erasmus at KNU too!

I enjoyed pretty much the whole experience since it was a wonderful chance to learn more about Korean culture and language. My first Korean language class gave me a pleasant surprise, I did not expect such energy from my teacher, and she was so delightful to teach, I looked forward to it every day we had lessons.

After the successful completion of the course, students received an official KNU Certificate of Attendance and Transcript of Records!