Hanyang International Summer School, or HISS, is a direct summer program affiliated with Ithaca College. Bradley Rappa, an Ithaca College Park professor, has taught at Hanyang University every summer for the past 14 years. He teaches a research and documentary class at Hanyang, and with this class the goal is to make a documentary in only a month.
When I was a freshman, I had made an application to HISS but never pressed submit. I was too scared to go abroad by myself and was worried it would be too much for me. Although I had taken an introduction to photo, I had no prior production experience and wasn’t sure if I could actually pull off making a documentary. That summer, I kept thinking to myself what my life would’ve been like if I went to South Korea – if I had taken that chance and not just let it pass.
However, when I was in my junior year an email of Ithaca College’s “Intercom” popped up, and I knew that I needed to go, that I would do anything to make it happen. So, when orientation opened up for it, I showed up. Rappa went over the program; all things I have heard prior – but this time I went in with a new perspective. Not a mindset that was anxious, but rather one that was ready.
As a junior Writing for Film, TV, and Emerging Media major, I was scared to take this class. It was with a professor I have never had previously and I was meeting new peers I’ve never been in classes with.
I kept telling myself – if not now, when? After that, I talked to my mom about the program and luckily she was very supportive. She gave me the green light and I decided to go!
The application process was smooth, some of the forms I was confused by, but the HISS staff was very quick to respond and reassured me that everything was okay. However helpful though, this was a process that I had to do on my own.
Finding housing, figuring out a daily budget, and coping with flying on my own for the very first time was very stressful. In the end, I prevailed and got everything together.
Picking classes was a very easy process: I knew from the jump I wanted to take Rappa’s documentary class and wanted to help with any project I could. So naturally, I put that on my schedule. As a dance minor at Ithaca, I knew I wanted to take a dance class to fulfill a credit. So, that is what I looked at next. There were a few choices ranging from K-Pop dance to Ttraditional dan dancing, and even pilates. Unfortunately, the K-Pop dance class was completely filled, so I had to find something else. As I was looking into traditional fan dancing, I read the syllabus and found the activities on it not being super aligned to what I wanted to get out of the program. Looking at the syllabus for pilates, it seemed super intensive, which is something I knew I wanted when looking at sport/dance related activities; I wanted a class to challenge me, as with a lot of ab workouts and focusing on balance. With a little research, I knew this was the one for me.
When figuring out a schedule, I wanted to make one where I could get everything out in the morning/afternoon and leave the evening for exploring Seoul. So, my pilates class starts at 10am and ends at 12pm, leaving one hour for lunch, and then my documentary and research class starts at 1pm and ends at 4pm. A kind of schedule that was perfect for me.
Moving forward, I had done a lot of activities during my solo travel abroad. Outside of school, I had visited many places around Seoul and outside of Seoul. One of my favorites was taking a last minute trip to Jeju Island with some friends I met through the program. We booked our airplane tickets and Airbnb for less than $150 for three days. The ride from Gimpo Domestic Airport to Jeju Island Domestic Airport was about an hour in change. I got to experience fireworks on the beach, see beautiful waterfalls, and visit the Hello Kitty Cafe which I didn’t think I was going to like that much, but after visiting I realized that I had a lot of fun with my friends. During my time in Jeju Island, I also had the most amazing sushi I have ever had. It was 31,000W which is roughly $22.53 for ten pieces of sushi. All of the fish was freshly caught!
Solo traveling to South Korea has also made me a lot more social. I had no one to rely on and because of that, it pushed me to go out of my way to make friends. Something I noticed was that a lot of the people who had friends with them going into the program, did not push themselves to make a ton of friends outside their bubble, which is totally fine; but I feel as though to get the whole experience, it is better to come here by yourself.
Being pushed out of my comfort zone was something I really experienced during this trip. Flying solo, coming here by myself, and living alone made me more comfortable with my own company. I realised that I do not need to rely on anyone for any sense of comfort. During times of trouble, I did not run to my phone to call my friends. Instead, I relied on my own intuition and led with that. I gained such a large sense of independence since being here. I have changed so much during this process and I am utterly grateful for the privilege of being able to experience something like this.
Going a bit into Rappa’s class, not everyone gets the chance to direct a documentary. Everyone in the class had to pitch a documentary idea the second day of class. After everyone pitched, we all had to pick which documentary idea each of us wanted to work on. Luckily, there was a lot of interest in my documentary pitch. So, I was one out of the three students in a class size of of twelve to go forward with directing a documentary. At this point of time in my life, I have directed and co-directed beforehand, but all of that was narrative storytelling. However, with a documentary, you are not in control of making the story. Rather, you have the story sitting in front of you that you cannot control whatsoever. You take the material you are given and work with it, to ultimately make a compelling story.
Stepping way out of my comfort zone, I found myself cold-calling pet cafés all over Seoul for my documentary project. Each call was a little nerve-wracking, not just because I had to pitch my film, but because most of the staff didn’t speak English. Even when they did, I was met with a lot of polite but firm rejections. It was definitely discouraging at times. But after strings of “no”, one café finally said yes – they welcomed us in, let us film, and even agreed to an interview. It felt like a huge win, and made all the awkward calls and language fumbles completely worth it.
This whole experience has truly been one of a kind. I have met friends from all around the world and connected more with my Ithaca peers during this process. I suggest that if you are thinking about going – do it! Much easier said than done, but truly if you have the opportunity why not take it? Getting the chance to live and study in another country is such a lovely experience and opens your eyes to living life in a new way.
When you explore the world, you realize that Ithaca is just a tiny bubble of what the world has to offer you.
