Hi!
So the end of Chuseok holidays meant that midterms were coming!! And all the work that were missed during the holiday had to be caught up during these 2 weeks. This means a lot of studying and time going to be spent in the library… Studying is especially difficult in this university, POSTECH. Because entry to this school for normal students is so tough, all of the students here are incredibly brilliant. This means the bell curve is going to be tough to climb and more effort needs to be put in. It is common that when we tell locals we are students of POSTECH, their reaction goes like “wow I respect you”. After being in this school for the past month, I could totally understand where others get their respect from. Students here are really smart and hardworking. Therefore, an advise for those planning to come to POSTECH for exchange would be to expect that courses are going to be pretty tough and fast. To pass might require quite a bit of studying. Nearing to the midterms period, the library is packed 24/7. Legit.. at 3am, 4am, 5am.. there is a constant stream of people in the library studying. Yup, I was one of those trying to catch up till 5am in the morning. Regardless, I do not regret coming to POSTECH for exchange!
So in between all the books and mugging, breaks must be taken. Hence, I would like to introduce more about my first volunteering experience in Pohang! So one of the nights, I volunteered at Pohang Nambu Police Station which involves us patrolling the streets with policemen to ensure the safety of residents. However, due to the weather conditions, our patrolling activities were cut short and we ended up having a talk with the captain of the station and other fellow policemen. We gained a lot of insights and advises from the super welcoming and generous captain. One takeaway which I would like to convey is that Korea or at least Pohang is incredibly safe, especially for females. So there is no need to fear for your safety and know that the policemen are doing an incredible job of keeping the people here safe when you decide to come to korea for travel or for exchange. Hats off to the policemen for their commitment and intuition which has evidently helped to keep the area safe!
This is a picture taken during our patrolling.
Annyeong friends!
