This morning, we had an even later start, as by this time many people were starting to feel worn out and exhausted. On top of the low energy, it was going to be an all-day soaker. Around 10:00, we rolled out and took public transportation to Yonsei University. The prestigious school is part of the “SKY” schools, standing for Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University, all of which are tough to reach like the sky. The university was founded in 1885 by American Christian missionaries, and because of this relationship, it has a sizeable population of international students and exchange students from American colleges. When we arrived, we ate at one of the dining halls, getting to experience college food at a university abroad. I got an octopus bibimpap, and while it didn’t hold up against some of the other great dishes we’ve had, it was pretty good for campus food. Despite the rain, we still did a campus tour, getting to see the library, student union building, the business building, a medical research lab, and the historic Underwood Hall. In front of Underwood Hall was a statue of the school’s founder. When observing the statue, you could even see bullet marks from the Korean War. As it began to rain harder, we took some time to visit the student store, and we got delicious ice cream waffles before going on a tour of a neuroscience lab.
After some free time, we were introduced to a professor at Yonsei who happened to go to Pitt for her graduate schooling in bioengineering. She introduced us to her neuroscience research and some of her research team. They have worked on studying Alzheimer’s disease and stress/depression on a neurological scale using testing done on mice. We started the tour of her lab by doing a Q & A with her undergraduate and graduate research team. Getting the perspective from students at a Korean University really highlighted some of the major differences, with a large one being price of college. Yonsei is considered one of the more expense private schools in Korea with tuition being around an average of 9.2 million won. While this sounds like a lot, it converts to only $6,570 per semester. For being an expensive school by Korean standards, this is extremely reasonable in America considering that Pitt’s tuition is $11,000 per semester for in-state students and nearly double that for out of state students. Beyond academic questions, it was fun just getting to talk to other people our age from Korea and hearing their experiences. After the Q & A, we toured some of the lab spaces. We got to see some pictures of neurons in a slice of mice brain and learned how they prepare these samples. We also got to see special photos that detected plaque forming in a sample over several months to a year. Studying the growth of this plaque and the deterioration of memory, they have been able to test different methods of treatment. Their research will hopefully contribute to finding a cure to the Alzheimer’s disease that many face in old age.
After taking a soggy subway ride back to the hotel, a group of us went out to get McDonalds in Gangnam for dinner. Part of this was craving French fries over kimchi, but we also had intentions to compare the chain in Korea to the ones we have back home. Most of the menu was similar, with some burgers having a Korean kick of spice or the inclusion of chicken wings on the menu. Also, they gave drinks in reusable plastic cups that were returned with the trays when we were done to reduce waste. After a triple paddy cheeseburger and fries, we picked up snacks and went back to the hotel. After a long day in the rain, I took a nice hot shower and got some sleep.
