Stories from Abroad

- What are your impressions of the internship in general? What results have you been able to achieve?
It was quite an interesting experience and I got a lot of positive impressions from the internship. I improved my English, I took an exam during the semester and got a C1 advanced certificate. After the courses related to game design and development I decided to change my job, so I guess you could say the experience helped me find my career path.

- What difficulties did you encounter in preparing for your internship?

Basically, all the difficulties were a complete lack of information about the difference between the education system in Russia and the Republic of Korea. When preparing documents for the exchange program, you are obliged to approve the list of subjects to be taken at the partner university, but in reality this is not possible. In Korea there is a certain period when course registration opens and all students start registering in their personal account at the same time and the courses are taken in a couple of minutes. Popular courses such as AI or Professional IT English have been taken in less than 5 seconds. There can be misunderstandings with the academic dean's office at INRTU because of this.

- Describe the process of getting a visa. Your tips for future participants of academic mobility programme.

The visa process and documentation package are updated every year, so you should check the embassy website for up-to-date information. The consular fee is $80.

- What are the difficulties in arriving at the host institution abroad?

I did not have any problems, except for quarantine and blocking of bank cards. In the first week of study, the coordinators explain in detail all the processes of paying for dormitory, enrolling in courses, applying for insurance, etc. The university also has a system of "mentors", a volunteer movement of Korean students who help international students with different issues and give field trips.

- Specify your expenses related to participating in a foreign internship...
Visa: $80
Quarantine: ₩1,400,000
University fee: ₩60,000
ARC fee: ₩30,000
Health insurance: ₩56,000 per month
Dormitory: ₩1,264,000 per semester

It was an unforgettable trip in which I met many interesting people, saw the beautiful architecture of Wroclaw, improved my level of English, and, of course, acquired new knowledge in my specialty.

Preparation of all documents for the internship was difficult, but the international department provided active assistance.
The teachers at the university were responsive and loyal to us, they gave us a lot of useful knowledge. But there were also difficulties. The first difficulty I encountered during my studies was the choice of subjects. Each subject is divided into many components, such as: lectures, practical classes, laboratory work, project work. For each of these areas of study, an assessment or credit is given. Therefore, students who are going to study in Poland should carefully look at how many components their subject is divided into.

Poland greeted me warmly, I received gifts fr om the University of Wroclaw (a bag, a mug, headphones and various souvenirs). Quite fast I was given a student card, which I could use to go by public transport and eat with a discount.

A Schengen visa gives you the chance to visit other European countries. For example, I was in the Czech Republic, wh ere I had long dreamed of being. I ate traditional food there and walked along the Charles Bridge.
I would like to visit more countries, but all my free time was spent studying.

What is your impression of the internship to the Republic of Korea?
In September 2021, I set foot on the land of Korea with a plan to live here for a year.
Life in Korea has shown me that your every plan can fail, and Korean logic knows no bounds. Quarantine measures, moving to a hostel, problems with the bank, cards, documents and other things. But it showed me that I, it turns out, can solve even a ridiculous problem. But, living here, I took a deep breath. So much has happened in a year that there is not enough life to tell.
During the year I’ve met so many people, traveled around Korea, improved my Korean language skills, and also seen a lot of opportunities, visited some doram dates, eaten so many delicious and new food and gained unreal experience of living abroad.
About the difficulties at the stages of the internship
I went to South Korea during the COVID-19 and the main difficulties I had were plane tickets and quarantine. I recommend that all participants of this program learn in advance the rules of entry into the country.
The process of obtaining a visa
-a study visa (D-2) is required
-recipients: citizens of the Russian Federation who have a certificate of enrollment in a Korean educational or research institution above the college level
-a single-entry visa (without the right to re-enter the country)
-consular fee of 80 US dollars (banknotes from 1996 issue, without change, in cash currency, without marks and blots)
Difficulties upon arrival at the host foreign organization?
South Korea strictly treats the health of its citizens and ensures the safe stay of newcomers; therefore entry into this country requires a huge list of documents upon arrival.
Expenses related to participation in a foreign internship:
My expenses during the year:
Visa expenses - $ 80 = 5000 rubles.
The cost of the flight is 60,000 rubles.
Registration fee 70,000 won = 3100 rubles.
Insurance 1 month / 56,000 won = 2500 rubles
Public transport fare 1500 won = 70 RUB
Meals 2/day = 3760 won (≈200 rub)
3/day = 5400 won (≈300 rub)

1. My impressions
The internship was wonderful! I learned a lot of useful information, improved my English language skills, met many good people from all over the world. The knowledge I gained during the internship will help me in mastering my profession. I got a lot of unforgettable impressions and valuable life experience!

2. What difficulties did you have at the stages of preparation for the internship?
- I didn't find any particular difficulties for myself, the only thing that could somehow aggravate the situation is the deadlines for submitting documents, but in this matter I did everything in advance. I would like to recommend that you approach the issue of preparation more seriously and not delay the deadlines for submitting documents, provide for any possible nuances.

3. The process of obtaining a visa. Your tips for future program participants
academic mobility.
-The process of obtaining a visa is quite simple and easy. To receive it, you need to have 2 most important documents - a passport and an original invitation from the university. You need to understand that the visa is not done in a couple of days, but the whole process can take up to several weeks, so take into account all the deadlines and do the documents in advance!

4. What difficulties did you encounter upon arrival at the host foreign organization?
The main advice will be to fulfill all the requirements on time and carefully read all letters from the university. It is also important to specify the dates of each item you choose. We came across the fact that some subjects were simply not taught during our internship, despite the fact that they were included in the curricula and were available for selection on the organization's website. But the curator of the host university will help you cope with all the difficulties.

5. Specify your expenses related to participation in an internship abroad:
Visa 8000 r
Trip (Irkutsk – Wroclaw) ≈ 30,000 rubles
Deposit in the hostel ≈ 8000 r
Monthly fee in the hostel is 10,000 rubles (+ utilities 1000 rubles))
Products per month ≈ 8000 r
The cost of public transport is 40 rubles per trip
Laundry (on the dorm floor) 80 rubles per hour of machine operation
Student card 400 rubles
A student ticket gives a discount on travel on trains, commuter trains and public transport (from 30 to 50%).

My internship was so useful and productive for me! A lot has happened in these 4 months actually...
I wanna say that at the moment it was the best time in my life. Also I improve my English skills when communicating with foreigners. And also engineering/technical English related to my specialty Architecture. I believe that studying at this university gave me even more motivation for me. And the professors at this university are real professionals and gurus in their field, who will not only teach and share their experience in the professional field, but also just so good people who are ready to speak heart to heart. Wonderful University! And of course, making new friends from the whole world! It was unforgettable. I am very grateful to the university for this opportunity!
     Difficulties happened in the choice of courses. Initially, the university did not provide a catalog of new courses / disciplines (there were only previous ones). Having chosen all the suitable courses and agreed with the my University teaching staff, later, just before the flight, when all the tickets were bought and the accommodation was paid, a new catalog of courses for the upcoming semester appeared, in which there was not a single discipline that I had chosen before! In my specialty, only 3 courses were given to choose from (I couldn’t choose in another direction, initially the university wrote that it was forbidden to choose courses in other areas), the first of which was for freshmen (initially it didn’t fit anymore, because I’m studying in another course, I they just wouldn’t have registered for it), the second one, which came up and I chose it, and the third course, which I couldn’t take, because the class schedule coincided with the second one. As a result, I received only one course (6 credits) out of the initially selected 4 for studying for a whole semester at a Korean university. It was no longer possible to refuse, because all tickets and accommodation were paid. This problem affected not only me, but other foreigners too! I think that this is a real minus, because I wanted to study more disciplines at this university.

     The visa process took about 2 weeks. To obtain a visa, it was necessary to prepare a certain set of documents, a list of which the embassy provided on the website, and a consular fee of $80.

     The main difficulties in the preparation process arose due to the situation with COVID-19. It was necessary to take into account and compare the time and date of the flight to take PCR tests before departure (no more than 36 hours after the result was issued). Perhaps for most people, a 7-day quarantine will seem like an inconvenience, but for me this time was quite fun and interesting.

     My expenses for academic exchange:
     Visa: $80
     Flight/round trip: ~ 85,500₽
     Contribution for ARC: ~2,000₽
     SIM card for 4 months with unlimited Internet: ~7,500₽
     PCR tests on the territory of the Russian Federation: ~3,000₽
     Private health insurance: ~20,000₽
     Quarantine 7 days: ~60,000₽
     Hostel for 4 months: $ 1,300