Overseas

Jan Bahr (FoEcon) – Konkuk University, South Korea

„I’m really excited from my exchange in Korea. Generally, the exchange has exceeded all of my expectations. The worst thing about the whole exchange was the feeling of approaching return home, which I had started to feel approximately in mid-October. Although the culture shock was enormous in the beginning and I have been experiencing it in various intensity during my whole exchange, pleasant experiences outweighed the negative ones. Concerning cultural differences, language barrier and mentality, I couldn’t have chosen more complicated part of the world.

Classes were unfortunately held only online from the beginning, but thanks to that I had much more travelling possibilities. From the total of five months of my exchange, I spent up to one month outside of Soul, so I had the chance to visit almost all of the more significant places and sights all over Korea.

I was pretty happy with the academical content, courses were interesting and not very demanding. All teachers were very helpful and apart from one exception, they all spoke English very well.

Thanks to the freedom online classes gave me I had an opportunity to take part in an internship at the embassy of the Czech Republic, which was another interesting experience. I didn’t feel any major restrictions in connection with the coronavirus. Fortunately, nothing had been closed, I just had to get used to permanently wearing a mask, which was really required from the Koreans.

I’m a bit sorry that I didn’t get to visit any neighbouring country because of the coronavirus, but this allowed me to get to know Korea even better. Generally speaking, I fell in love with Korea and I hope I will have the possibility of returning there during my whole life.“

[January 2022]

Lucie Dušková (FIR) – Texas A&M University, USA

„The exchange went even better than I imagined, I didn’t have any major setback and I really enjoyed my time there. Classes were face-to-face the whole time, there were virtually no covid restrictions, masks were voluntary in both university premises and outside the university, as well as in public transport. There was only mandatory testing at the beginning of the semester.

I was happy with the courses I chose, I was especially excited about the teaching style, which is based on discussions and practice a lot more. The evaluation is more continuous in the form of homework, case studies and group projects, which means more work during the semester, but there is no exam period at the end of the semester, so for me it meant that I could be more relaxed and not be as stressed, which I was very happy about.

The integration among local students wasn’t really hard, because exchange students can attend all courses offered to regular students as well, so I was one of few or even the only exchange student in most of my courses. There is also Buddy Program from International Student Services (ISS) available for all students and Mays Business School offers its own program in addition, so technically, it’s possible to have two Buddies. Local students are very nice and friendly and they’ll happily introduce you to their friends, so it’s not hard to find American friends as well.“

[January 2022]

Lukáš Bílý (FBA) – ADA University, Azerbaijan

„Classes are held both face-to-face and online, but most courses are online (one of my classmates has two courses at the university, I have one, other exchange students are mostly in similar situation), which is a bit of pity given the campus’ superior facilities, where one can easily meet local students. We partly compensate ourselves this inconvenience by visiting the library and the canteen.

The academical content differs a lot one course to another. While in one the classes are very interesting and of high quality even on international scale, in other the situation is different. But generally speaking, the university is good, we’ve been a bit surprised by some of more demanding aspects, which were higher than anticipated.

Covid restrictions are in force here and a lot of attention is paid to respecting them. But if a person has valid vaccination, the restrictions aren’t too harsh. To entry all shops and businesses (except for groceries), the vaccination is required, restaurants and bars can only be open until midnight, which slightly impedes broadening our academical horizons, but other than that, the situation is very agreeable.

Although the local ESN isn’t working as they are supposed to due to internal university issues, we managed to meet locals and we even did several trips together. I’m also in permanent touch with a small group of exchange students who decided to go on an exchange despite covid restrictions.

I dare to tell that despite some setbacks, we’re very happy, enjoying our exchange and generally speaking, it’s a very enriching experience.“

[December 2021]

Kateřina Matušíková (FIR) – Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico

„Apart from one course, the classes were online. I wasn’t very thrilled about it at the very beginning, but when I look back, it was actually great. Thanks to that, I had more opportunities to travel. Even the students staying in Mexico for the next semester opted for having online classes, although they had the possibility to attend in person, so they could travel more.

The academical content was as I expected it to be. The studies are more demanding in terms of time, it’s necessary to prepare from class to class, and the classes are very active and involve lots of team projects and writing.

Restrictions due to coronavirus were minimal. The university, night clubs, bars and parks were closed at the beginning. With time, the restrictions had been loosening.

The integration among students was probably the most complicated part because of the coronavirus. But thanks to social media, it wasn’t a problem to get to know other students, although it would be easier without any restrictions, of course.“

[December 2021]

Alex Mičáň (FIR) – University of Western Ontario, Canada

„Classes continue to be mostly face-to-face here. Canada currently has more than 75% population vaccinated, while university campuses are close to 100%. Thus, the pandemic is under control here and there are no sudden increases in the numbers of positive cases. I have 2 out of 4 courses online, but there is always a possibility to attend the lecture via Zoom.

The academical content is great, it’s something new, however outside of my main field of study. Local students are eager to meet with us, it’s also often inevitable to communicate with them as there is a group project as a part of the evaluation in each course. Otherwise, the time flies by really quickly here.“

[November 2021]

Berta Šimonová (FBA) – Korea University Business School, South Korea

„For a while, it looked promising that classes at KUBS could be face-to-face from November, but eventually it was decided to finish this semester online. I’m very satisfied with the academical content as professors try to make the classes as interactive as possible. It’s a pity that I didn’t have the opportunity to visit at least one course at the university and in general, university events are cancelled completely, which is a pity, but also expectable on the other hand. I spend most of my time with exchange students as I don’t get to meet local students much and I don’t work with them on team projects.

I’m having a good time here and I’m often glad that we have classes online, because I have the opportunity to visit various cafes and join the classes from there, so I can explore Soul more.“

[November 2021]