Can Muslims Eat Pizza in Korea?

 Salam and Hello,

                         

It is time for my second vlog in Korea.

A lot of my friends and people I met will always ask me if I eat anything like Pizzas or Pastas in Korea. This might seem like trivial a question but, it is a rather heavy thing for muslims as we need to ensure that the food we eat are Halal.

Fear not my sisters and brothers. The answer is YES! We can eat them in Korea but it depends heavily on what the ingredients are. You really need to ask the workers at the restaurant about them and usually, they are very delighted to help. The easiest way you could ask them to change the ingredients or just exclude them would just by simply saying you're allergic to meat. In Korean it would be --> 저 아레르기 있어요. 고기와 햄 빼주세요 (jo a-ler-gi is-so-yo. ko-gi wa hem pe-ju-se-yo) which translates to "I have allergies. Exclude meat and ham please".

Hope this help you in your future food-hunting in Korea.

Signing off.

This has been 하나

Celebrating Eid al-Adha in Korea (Sambutan Raya Aidiladha di Korea)

Salam and Hello,

How time flies. It feels very recently I came to Korea and now, I am busy preparing my CV and resume to embark on my next trip into the working life. I can't believe it is already my last raya (eid) in Korea and I can't believe it took me almost four years for me to finally make a vlog about it. What was I doing all this while?

Raya in Korea might not be as festive as celebrating it back in Malaysia but, I can't deny that it has its own charm celebrating it in a foreign place, especially here in Korea. Back in Malaysia, we get excited at the thought of going back to our hometown to celebrate raya with our extended family. Here in Korea, our juniors, seniors, and other Malaysians are our extended family and it never fails to amaze me that wonderful feeling of them welcoming us every time.

Some might wonder, why did I make a vlog about Aidiladha and not Aidilfitri? Well, it'll be a bit disappointing to tell you that this year's Aidilfitri wasn't as festive as the past years'. We had to celebrate it in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, the pile of assignments and also our mid-term exams. Yeah... it wasn't pretty. Fear not, we still managed to have a simple celebration among my batchmate here in Sungkyunkwan University. In fact, I might just include some pictures to show that indeed I at least managed to celebrate Aidilfitri this year.

Next year, eid will again be celebrated in Malaysia. I wonder how different it will feel? Well, I guess we just have wait and see.

Signing off.

This has been 하나.

 

How Did I Get to Study in Korea

Salam and Hello,

Wow, how time has flown. When was my last post posted? 2016, wow! It has been roughly 4 years of me living in Korea and I have not posted anything of my studying life and my life generally in Korea. Okay, I guess it is time to finally talk about them.

My journey of studying in Korea is a long process and very interesting. I learned Korean at Seoul National University Language Education Institute (SNU LEI) for 1 year. Before that, I learned Korean at Intec Education College, Malaysia for 9 months as a part of my preparation as a JPA scholar. My diploma was taken at Dongyang Mirae University (DMU) and currently, I am a final-year degree student at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU). I will divide my story/experience based on the most-asked questions given to me.

1. How did you go to Korea?
After SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia), I applied for a scholarship for Engineering under JPA. If I remember correctly, I applied for Japan but somehow after the interview, I got Korea. After that, JPA scholars are sent to Intec Education College to learn basic Korean and some related courses for Engineering.

2. How did you learn Korean?
My journey of learning Korean is divided into official and unofficial. Official means, I go to classes and they are divided into levels, Unofficial means through movies, music, readings, and conversation. I can't really elaborate on the unofficial learning other than you have to be very hardworking and take notes on everything. Not just listening, watching, or reading, and just hoping to pick up stuff as you go along.

My official journey started at Intec Education College. The teachers there are from SNU LEI (during my time) so, they follow the syllabus from their university. The learning is divided into 6 levels and for each level, they are divided into 2 parts (A & B). In Intec, it was from Level 1A to level 2A, and it took around 9 months. After that, it was from level 2A to 6B at SNU LEI in Korea for 1 year. At LEI, I even learned Hanja (Chinese characters), Chemistry, Physics, and Calculus in Korean, just to know the terms in Korean.

3. How did you get into universities in Korea?

As I mentioned in the introduction of the post, my learning journey had many levels. (Please mind the short forms, they are mentioned at the introduction if you need help).

•  Korean Language at SNU LEI -- 1 year
•  Diploma in Information & Electronic Engineering at DMU -- 2 years
•  Bachelors in Electronic & Electrical Engineering at SKKU -- 2 years

For my education in SNU LEI, I did not need any particular registering because in a way it is like a credit transfer program from my preparation in Intec Education College. So, I would say my registration was done by the office of my college with Pejabat Penasihat Pendidikan dan Latihan (PPL) Korea. I am not sure for self-sponsored students and how the process went for them but do check out their official website for LEI [link].

Next is my diploma. Most of my friends went for a degree after graduating from LEI while a few of us went for a diploma. Why? There are requirements you need to fulfill set by JPA to decide whether you go for a diploma or a degree. Personally, it was because the major I wanted for my degree did not get a green-light from my PPL counselor at that time and also my mom told me that it was better to go for a diploma first, you know in case I get sent back to Malaysia while I'm doing my degree. 

The only university I could take for my diploma (as set by my scholar) was in Dongyang Mirae University (DMU). We went for the university, did our usual registration which was handled brilliantly by the counselors handling foreign students. After that, I had to take a test for my Mathematics and English skill. The rest was done by the counselors for foreign students. They handled our accommodation and will provide you with more help if you need them.

For my degree, I transferred my credits from my diploma study to my current university, SKKU. You will be called a transferred student (편입생). Bear with this, this will be a long process, prepare yourself. 

• Survey all the universities you want to go for very early to check all their requirements. You need to do this so you have time to complete all those requirements because they usually involve certain tests or assessments you need to take. For foreigners, it is the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) and they will put out the required level you need to have achieved. Trust me, the process just to get that TOPIK will be very long and might be repetitive to some.
• In my case, I chose SKKU because they had the Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea (ABEEK) for the major I wanted to go for. That was my main concern. After that, it was, "Do they offer courses in English? Will I be able to pass the requirements needed to get into the university? Will I be able to graduate in time as set by JPA? Will I be able to find a place to stay?"
• When I got successfully accepted into the university, it was time for the office to check out all the courses you took to decide how much credits get transferred. They have an ABEEK office on campus where you sit down with the counselor to cross-reference all your courses taken in diploma with the courses offered in degree in SKKU. You need to give the syllabus information of your taken courses, submit materials like reports or assignments and anything they need.
• After that, the counselor will tell you what courses you should take, what lab, and any other requirements you need to graduate. So, pay attention.

4. How did your family/parents felt about you studying in Korea?

I am very sure they are happy with me and my decision to study in Korea. I won't deny that they are worried about me studying somewhere far from them but, my parents have been very prepared with the fact that I will be studying overseas since I was small. All in all, they are happy that I got a scholarship for it and proud of me. 

5. How is it like studying Korea?

This question, I think deserves a post of its own. So, I guess we will just have to wait for the next post.

Signing off.

This has been 하나.