When it comes to studying abroad for classes, many questions can arise. What is the culture like? Where are the coolest monuments? Where are the best places to visit? What is the food like?

However, a very important facet of studying abroad may be overlooked in this time of excitement and joy: what a regular day to day experience is like whilst they are living abroad.

To help me understand this idea in more detail, I contacted my friend Ana Sinuco, who recently returned from her own study abroad trip to South Korea.

The first question I asked her was what she would consider an average day to be for her while she was in South Korea. 
“At first, before class started, I would begin exploring the city. The bus system was so easy to use and so convenient that I went to multiple places at random. I also planned where else I could go in and out of the city with my friend. During a regular school day, I had classes in the afternoon.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I had 2 classes that lasted about 1hr 20mins.

On Tuesdays, I had one class in the afternoon that lasted 2 hours, and I was completely free on Friday. The days I had classes, I would wake up a couple of hours before class and I would eat lunch somewhere new or somewhere I became attached to. Since in Seoul eating outside was cheaper than cooking for myself, I ate outside most of the time. Then, I would go to class (classes were in English), and after class, I went to cafes or karaoke rooms.

On Tuesdays, my friend and I explored other places that we wanted to try around the city. On Fridays, my friend and I would try the places we prepared to go during the week, but most of the time they were far away from the city, so we took advantage of being free on Fridays to explore more areas of the country.”

Another question I asked Ana was in regards to things she thought South Korea did better in regards to day to day experiences than her home country of the United States. 
“People are very organized and they care about the environment and cleanliness. The roads were clean even though there were no trash cans anywhere! This is because kids are taught to take care of the environment and adults stand by this. The city is also very safe and people don’t steal, compared to here in the USA. I think the same regarding cleanliness and safety, but also the styling. People wore beautiful outfits, some extravagant, some normal, but great styling. Even such a small detail made the country look more advanced. 

Regarding the bus system, it was very convenient, organized, and punctual in South Korea, so it’d be amazing if that could also be the case here in the USA. Also, there were so many convenience stores that were extremely cheap, so buying a snack and even a meal was cheap. They were also 24/7, so in case you needed a charger, if you were hungry, or if you couldn’t sleep, you just went to a convenience store!”

I felt it was important to understand something she found very different about day to day life abroad as opposed to day to day life at home. 
“Fruits and cooking for yourself seems to be more expensive in Korea. Although I wouldn’t recommend eating out all the time, the ingredients to cook were still pretty expensive. I haven’t done the math or anything to know if eating out is cheaper than eating in, but for me, it was better to eat out. I still bought eggs and salt and stuff like that for breakfast and dinner so that I wouldn’t spend money eating out all the time, but it was surprising that it came out to be very expensive. It was very surprising to me that convenience stores were so cheap. Since most Koreans eat noodles, there are multiple packages of noodles that you can heat up at a convenience store as well as sausages or meats, and they have warm water dispensers for coffee or other types of noodles.”

Lastly, I asked if this had any effect on how she felt about traveling abroad. Her response was filled with joy and excitement. 
“Definitely go study abroad! When else will you get the chance to be a tourist and student in a foreign country? The US college tuition is extremely expensive, traveling abroad is not more expensive than college tuition, so what are you afraid of?”

All in all, Sinuco’s day to day experience seemed to add more to her study abroad trip than it subtracted. She had a lot of fun and found multiple aspects of daily life she enjoyed; some she enjoyed more than similar aspects back home. Over the course of our interview, she was smiling and joyful, sharing her experiences and thoughts with carefree enthusiasm. Traveling abroad for a study abroad trip, even when looked at strictly from the casual, day-to-day experiences, seems to be more than worth it. 

Lincoln Johnson is a physics and communications major at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He enjoys video games, cars, and World War Two history.

First photo courtesy and copyright Ana Sinuco, adapted by Wandering Educators and published with permission.