SK Global House: Pros and Cons

SK Global House and International House (I-House) are the two main dorm buildings at Yonsei University for international students. They provide affordable housing and plenty of amenities for students. I chose to live in SK Global House because of the extra features and bathrooms inside the bedrooms (in I-House there are common bathrooms). SK Global House is only slightly more expensive than I-House. Here are my pros and cons of living in SK Global House after living here for almost a semester:

Pros:

• Washing machines and dryers are located on the Basement 2nd floor of SK Global House.
• A dry cleaning service is available for students on the Basement 2nd floor and very affordable. As an alternative you can pay the dry cleaning service to wash your clothes for you and they will even fold your clothes for you.
• Each floor in SK Global Lounge has a lounge and study room/media room for you to go to when you get tired of being squeezed in a small dorm. There is also a lounge on the main entrance where you can hang out with your friends since each floor is gender-restricted.
• SK Global House rooms have bathrooms inside the rooms – nice because when I need to use the bathroom, I would rather use it in the privacy of my own room. I-House residents share public restrooms.
• GS-25, a popular convenience store chain, is conveniently connected to SK Global House so you don’t have to leave the building to grab some food or home items – although I will warn you the prices here are much higher than your average restaurant in Korea. There’s also an ATM there if you one. The same goes for the food options connected to SK Global House – Burger N Shake, Caribou Coffee, Cafe Kikini, and a tonkatsu/ramen place. If you’re hungry for some Korean food I suggest the Korean restaurants in New Millennium Hall and the Korean Language Institute building. They also sell snacks there.
• Living in the dorms makes it easy to make friends and you will likely meet the same people on the elevator, at the convenience store, in class, and then later on roaming in Sinchon.
• There are a number of places that will deliver food to SK Global House since students regularly are ordering food there.
• There is a kitchen in the Basement 3rd floor of the SK Global House and you can buy storage space for pots and supplies.

Cons:

• There is a constant mosquito problem in the two dorm buildings. They seem to be living within the vents and if you leave your window open prepare to be harassed by mosquitoes.
• Living with lots of students means you will no doubt be prone to whatever illness is spreading around. It’s hard to avoid when everyone presses the same elevator buttons and opens the same doors.
• No member of the opposite sex is allowed on your floor, nor are they allowed in your room. You’re an adult, but you’ll be living like a teenager. They will watch you with security cameras located everywhere.
• If learning Korean is your goal of coming to Korea – you’ll have a hard time doing that as most people in the dorms will be speaking English…it wasn’t a problem for me since I was more interested in meeting people from around the world.
• Although there is a fridge on each floor in SK Global House – people steal each others food regularly and its such an issue that I can’t even buy anything to store in a fridge.
• Although there is internet at SK Global House – it is painfully slow and sometimes randomly disconnects.

The Flight to South Korea and Arriving at Yonsei in Seoul

The flight to South Korea was just another obstacle on the way to South Korea, but the final one until I could finally set foot in my study abroad country. There was no way 24 hours of traveling in the skies and through various airports was going to be a pleasant experience. We arrived in Tampa International Airport at around 7AM on August 23rd. While checking my bags the American Airlines employee made a joke about “Seoul Food”, but nobody laughed….too early for jokes. ;] We made our way to the gate and decided to get some Burger King in the airport since it was the only thing open. I hate breakfast at Burger King…it gave me a stomach ache later.

The flight from Tampa to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport wasn’t too painful. I spent most of my time playing Pokemon Yellow on my Game Boy Color. That game never gets old. Once we arrived in Dallas I decided to have a burrito via a recommendation from my Mom at Blue Mesa Grill in the airport. They advertised a 12″ burrito and I asked the Spanish employees if they had Carne Asada…their response wasn’t convincing but I was hungry. The burrito was a mess.

First of all it was 6″ burrito…not 12″ as advertised and it cost me $10. I passed a McDonald’s on the way there and probably would have been better off eating there. The burrito had almost nothing appetizing in it and fell apart the minute I started eating it. I paid extra for sour cream as well. It was a waste..but I was hungry so whatever.

The next flight from Dallas to Tokyo was the real challenge. I landed a window seat for a 12+ hour flight. I didn’t anticipate I would need to pee at least once every hour. The Japanese woman sitting next to me slept almost the entire flight so it was awkward waking her up every time I had to use the bathroom. American Airlines served some stomach turning food as well…especially this frozen ham and cheese sandwich. Towards the end of the flight I got the guts to speak some Japanese to her and it felt great to be able to communicate with a real Japanese person in a language I have been studying for years. After 12+ hours of boredom we finally arrived at Narita Airport…the view of Japan flying in was awesome. The rice fields and feudal castles were visible from the plane. I thought to myself I will come to Japan one day!

Once we touched down in Narita Airport we had to pass through another inspection and then head to our connecting gate. Narita Airport was awful. I would be happy if I never have to return to Narita Aiport again. There was no air conditioning and it was ridiculously hot and congested in there. There was no free Wi-Fi and I honestly expected a Japanese airport to be more high-tech. Ironically, Incheon Aiport in Seoul has free Wi-Fi and looks more modern than Narita Airport. In addition, during my visit you could only get 79 yen per dollar and with items well over 1,000 yen you were sure to lose tons of money if you exchanged and bought something there. I decided to wait it out and exchange my dollars in Seoul for wons.

The flight to Seoul was actually the best flight of the entire ride. The American Airlines flight was hosted by Japan Airlines (JAL) and they were the most courteous flight attendants I have ever had the pleasure of riding a plane with. The view of Tokyo at night from the plane was amazing…completely lit up.The flight was less than 2 hours, but they still provided a meal and the meal was delicious. A fusion of different Asian cuisines in a bento box. The flight attendants also brought plenty of drinks and stayed busy throughout the flight instead of just sitting in their seats like on the other American Airlines flights. I would recommend Japan Airlines to travelers.

After the flight I finally arrived in Seoul at around 9:00PM on August 24th. I passed quickly through the passport inspection and then proceeded to the baggage claim. Korean people use these carts to put their baggage that I have never noticed anyone using in the United States. I decided to grab one and it helped me out since my bags were so heavy. I spotted another American and decided to wait next to her for my bags. Turned out she was also on her way to Yonsei and I made my first buddy.

We decided to go together and exchanged our cash and then headed to the bus stop to wait. The bus took quite awhile, for some reason all the other buses kept coming around at a quicker rate. When it finally came we were so excited to be on our final transfer to Yonsei University. One interesting thing on the bus was that the bus driver made sure everyone had their seat belts on…in the USA it is sit at your own risk. There was also a television with Korean TV on and Korean magazines in front of us.

We got off on the Ehwa University exit as recommended by Yonsei and then I realized I was going to need to carry over 75 lbs of luggage (4 bags) up a hill to SK Global House. Luckily, we found another foreigner who helped us out. I am not accustomed to walking up hills, especially with luggage and when we finally made it up it was a great relief. We were given our key cards to our dorms and I headed in to find out I got my requested roommate. Awesome.

He wasn’t in the room when I made it to the dorm and I decided to go exploring downstairs. Turns out there is tons of things in the SK Global House building. Restaurants, a 24-hour convenience store, a fitness center, laundry mat and dry cleaning center, phone store, computer labs and more. I was fascinated…especially with the computer lab since I wasn’t sure how to hook up my internet yet and wanted to update my family and friends on my status.

I came back up afterwards and unpacked a little before calling it a night and heading to bed. I had arrived in South Korea and I was officially a student at Yonsei University.