천리길은 한 걸음부터

The title of this post (as well as the title of this blog itself) is a Korean saying that literally means "A journey of 1000 li begins from one step." Li's are a form traditional Chinese measurement, equivalent to around 500m or 1/3 of a mile. But basically, any journey starts with the first step. Though I'm leaving the US in less than a month, on September 15th, the first step of my new journey will truly be on September 22nd when I leave the at least somewhat familiar country of Japan to head over to South Korea.

My reasons behind going to South Korea for language school (and hopefully later regular university classes) are long and a bit difficult to understand, even for myself, but I can definitely say that part of it has to do with liking k-pop, Korean pop music. Those are not my sole reasons for going, but they were the first part in what made me consider it. In the end, the price is equivalent to going to my cheapest option of a four year university in the US.

The rest of this post is going to cover the steps it took to get into Yonsei's Korean Language Instutute and the other things you have to deal with them for. So if you're interested in going on a University exchange or doing language school there like I am, it may be helpful for you. Otherwise, unless you take interest in these sort of things you may want to skip it. I'll cover the visa and places to stay some other time!



First of all, becoming a student at Yonsei University's Korean Language Institute (from here on KLI) as a whole. I applied for the morning Regular Program to begin with. The Regular Program is the only one that you can apply for the visa with, so unless you have another way to get a visa (F-4 for being ethnic Korean, etc.) it's the only way to go. It's a class where each morning of the week you have 4 hours of intensive Korean classes, Yonsei has them 9am to 1pm. Each term is 10 weeks long, for four quarters in a year, for a total of 200 class hours each session. There are 6 levels, supposedly corresponding to the 6 possible results of the Korean Language Proficiency Test.

In order to apply for the Regular Program at Yonsei, you need to fill out the application form (they say they prefer the online application). It's nothing too difficult, basic information and then an essay for why you want to study Korean. You need to send in a diploma or a transcript from your last school attended (if it's high school, they will need the diploma before you arrive since being a high school graduate is required) and a photocopy (or a digital scan) of your passport! That means you, yes you, have to have a passport already.

From that point you need to send the application fee, 60000 won, to the bank account they'll give you through e-mail. All of the information other than the account number for sending the money is on the Regular Program information page. Most of the information I'm going over will also be on there, so go read it over! Each person has their own tuition account at the bank within Yonsei, so you cannot ask somebody else for theirs. It needs to be wired through your bank, and sometimes the prices for that can get hefty. You also will want to send a bit extra than you think you need.

Why, you may ask? It takes a few days for an international wire. If you are unlucky like me, in those few days the exchange rate will drop enough that you no longer have enough to cover the amount. Although this did not happen for me for my application fee, it did happen later on with my tuition. So be careful.

Within two weeks you'll have whether you're accepted or not, and then all you have to do is send in your tuition. Tuition for one term is 1600000 won. Key for a not super accurate but still close estimation for how much that costs is, put a decimal point before the last three zeros in a won price and you get the approximate amount in US dollars. For more accurate/to the moment conversions, I suggest using XE Currency Converter.

Once your tuition is in, congratulations! You are an official student of the KLI. Now comes the hard part, the visa. Unless you have a different visa you're able to get, you need to apply for a D-4 (General Trainee) visa. First what you have to do is e-mail the school again asking for your Certificate of Admission. They will mail it to you, and it will most likely be to your house in just a few days!