When you go to Korea you will probably have a few flight choices from your place of residence. Some of you will have a direct flight from your city or country. If this one is too expensive or already fully booked, you may find other choices departing from your nearest cities or countries. 

In my case, I chose to take the flight departing from Helsinki, Finland. I arrived two days before my flight, so I've had some time to explore this beautiful city (and take a break from the spanish hot weather and the heat that will be waiting for me in South Korea). I know that it doesn't have anything to do with Korea but I will talk about the time I'm spending here, as it's part of my trip as well as a very nice city to visit.

When I arrived I went directly to the place where I was going to stay, Cheepsleep Helsinki. I highly recommend it. It's one of the cheapest places you can find, it's clean, has very nice and helpful staff and it's good located, with easy access to the city centre.

That evening I went to walk around the city for a while and took a lot of pictures.I walked past some touristic nice places like the Cathedral, the Kauppatori market, the Esplanade park, the Railway Station, the Kiasma Museum, the National Museum and the Töölönlahti lake. I didn't have time to go into any of the museums, since I wanted to see as much of the city as possible.

Yesterday, on the second day, I bought a 1-day public transport ticket, which costs 8 € and allows you to use all the public transport in the city. It was a good choice because I wanted to visit Suomenlinna, and you need to take the ferry in order to do that. At the Market Square you can take the HSL (public transport in Helsinki) ferry with the daily transport ticket.

Suomenlinna is a sea fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site and it was my favourite place in Helsinki. It took only about 15 minutes to arrive there by ferry. You can visit it during all year, but some museums, restaurants, shops and other attractions are closed in winter. A lot of Finns like to go there for a picnic and to spend the day under the sun. I liked to walk around the island, especially along the Kustaanmiekka sandbanks. Before leaving the island, I found a small nice café where I could eat a sandwich and drink a coffee for 5 €, perfect choice when you don't want to spend much money.

When the ferry left me again at the Market Square, I took a tram to go to the Kaivopuisto park, another nice place in Helsinki. From the shore you can see a nice view from the sea and Suomenlinna.

From there I went back to the hostel to sleep and get ready for today, when I will finally go to the airport and board a plane to my dream destination... South Korea!

Sungkyunkwan University Seoul campus.

So, I finally decided to go to Korea, yeah!! I will tell you in this first post how I decided to attend the Sungkyunkwan language course and how I applied for it. 

I've been wanting to attend a language course in Seoul for a long time, but hadn't had the chance until now. When I realised it was finally going to happen, I had to face the next step: which language program to choose... 

I always thought about going for the most known ones, like Sogang or Yonsei, but they were too expensive for me at the moment, as I really have to make this trip on a low budget. So I thought about the Seoul National University (SNU) 3-week language program, but I missed the application deadline because I still didn't know if I could travel. Just when I was about to give up, I found about the Sungkyunkwan program. It surprised me because I saw that it is slightly cheaper than the SNU one and you have free extra afternoon classes, which I didn't find in the info about the SNU program.

The application process it's really easy. You can find all the info about the program in their website:

SLI Korean Language Programs

I will attend the 3-week language course. There is also an 8-week one, which I would love to attend, but sadly I don't have that much time available to stay in Korea. :( 

The website tells you all you need to know about the program. You have classes from 9:00 to 13:00 (grammar and conversation) and from 14:00 to 15:30 (extra afternoon class and cultural activities) from Monday to Friday.

To submit your application you need to at least have finished high school. I just sent the following stuff per email:

• The application form (which you download from the website) with a recent photo.
• A copy of my passport.
• A certificate of enrollment from college. (you have to send it at least in English).

The answer came really fast. I received an email the following day saying that my admission was conditionally confirmed and it would be completed after payment. The invoice is attached and you have to pay the amount through bank transfer. Your bank will probably charge you some fees, in my case it was 25 € (Spanish bank). Their bank in Korea will convert the amount to Korean Won, so there can be a difference in the final amount they receive. Then they will refund or charge you the difference when you arrive at the SLI office.

I sent the proof of payment and again I received a very fast answer the next day, saying that my admission was completed. If you need to apply for visa you can request an admission letter at this point, but I don't have further information about it since it's not my case.

Now, one week before the course starts I'm very nervous and excited! I can't wait to finally arrive to Seoul and to go to this University. As you may already know, Sungkyunkwan was founded in 1398 and it was the highest educational institution during the Joseon Dinasty.

One of the buildings at the Sungkyunkwan old campus.