Hello readers!
Back with a post, finally! Back with a review on my 2015 Summer Exchange experience. I had a blast during my summer break in 2015, and had no regrets going for the Hanyang Summer Programme. The friends, the activities, the food, the shopping!! One word, SHIOK!!! Gonna focus on accommodation for this post, so watch out for more posts regarding other activities/queries about HISS 2015! On a side note, please do note that I am NOT sponsored to write any of my blogpost. I am just a typical blogger that wants to share my experience to all, to help those that need more info/ help.
If there's anyone from the local universities (NUS/SMU/NTU/SIM, etc) intending to head for summer school in the near future, I would definitely recommend Hanyang International Summer School (HISS). Looking for a cheap destination for Summer exchange? Checked. Looking for a location filled with loads of fun activities? Checked. Looking forward to loads of shopping and food hunting? Checked. Looking for free fieldtrips? Checked. Looking for fun profs? Checked! The list goes on and on, and really, you wouldn't regret it (EVEN IF YOU ARE INTENDING TO GO ALONE, like I did!)
I spent around SGD2.8K on accommodation and programme fees for the 1 month exchange. Roughly 800SGD on housing, which I chose off-campus dormitory and it turned out pretty well (especially the location!!!)I got Roseville in the end, out of all the other off campus dorm, which includes Hyosung, Sunny House, Vision and some other names I forgot, but there were a few others.
Amongst all the other off-campus dorm, I think mine was in the most strategic location. Thank you Lady Luck!(: The allocation was completely random so it depends on where you were allocated to. Roseville was a 15-20minutes walk to school, it is right beside the main gate of Hanyang University. However, by entering from the main entrance means that you will have to conquer the 65 degrees slope upwards every morning (which was the most tough thing I encountered in Korea for that one month). Although, halfway through the programme, my roommate shared with me a route via entry from the backgate which was significantly less steep- and yummy Kimbap en route to school! (Thankful to nice friends made there!)
Roseville was such a great place to live in, there is a busstop right in front of the dorm, a GS25 right at the lobby of my dorm, 2 minutes away from University shopping at Wangsimni station, 30seconds walk to Paris Baguette for fresh bakes, free wifi on the streets and even if you're worried about safety, the police station is right opposite the dorm!!!!
To be honest, I wanted on-campus housing so badly because it was so much cheaper, but they said there wasn't any more availability (which was a lie... the admin were just a lil lazy to do extra processing since I was allocated off-campus dorm already) If you are looking for a cheaper alternative, go for on-campus dorm. I heard from my friends that the female on-campus dorms have private bathrooms, which isn't what they indicated on the webpage, but its a good thing right!! Also, so near to school cos you can wake up late!! However, the downside is that they don't have free in-room washing machine (which I had in Roseville), no fridge for you to store your Banana milk (which I also had and managed to store Banana and yogurt milk for Breakfast in Roseville) and that they have curfew (so if you intend to go clubbing then you'll be locked out of your dorm...)
Off-campus housing is the most expensive shared room option. However, again, based on luck, it depends on which housing you get allocated to. There were 3 different housing for off-campus housing for HISS 2015: Golden Forest, Golden Forest City and Konkuk University Dorm. The best one would be GF, not the one with the 'City' word cos they are very different!! GF, as mentioned by my friend, was like a hotel. They had complimentary bottled water everyday, a housekeeper to pack their beds, it was just luxurious. However, it was quite a distance away from school which means you had to wake up earlier for school since those that stayed there had to take a subway 2-4 stations to Hanyang University station.
Any issues on dorms, do pm me, i'll try to answer! Also, do comment if you have any particular worries/ query about the programme that you wish for me to address in my next blog post!
Till then, cheers!
