Xingyan Jin, Yejin Seo, Chaeeun Kim

As people step into Ewha Womans University, their eyes are dazzled by the spectacular view of the Ewha Campus Complex (ECC). The ECC was designed by Dominique Perrault who is best known for designing the National Library of France. It is South Korea's largest underground campus that accommodates classrooms as well as a bookstore, theater, market, cafe and more. We did a survey of 30 students in the EIE to find out which places in the ECC were the most popular hang-outs and which were the least popular. We also asked the students why they liked or disliked these places.


Places which EIE students like most

We picked the three main places in the ECC where EIE students prefer to spend their free time.

The most preferred place is the large stairs. About 26% of the students chose the large stairs as their favorite place to spend free time in ECC. The large stairs are often called ‘잉여 계단’ by students, which means it’s a place for idle people. Students who voted for this claimed that it is useful because it’s close to the classrooms and the temperature is very cool. Also, some said that staying on these stairs during break time does not require any money. Many university students go to cafes to spend their break time. This usually costs a lot of money because most cafes sell beverages and brunches that are expensive.

The second most preferred place for EIE students is the study room. Approximately 20% of the students answered that they like to spend their free time in the studying room located on B2 and B3 of the ECC. Most of them emphasized that it is a very convenient place to study and manage their time well.


Third, about 13% of EIE students we surveyed chose the convenience store as their favorite place. There is one convenience store called GS25 in the ECC. It serves various kinds of foods including fruits and instant foods. It is very convenient to grab something quickly when students are hungry without going outside the campus, or even the building. People who voted for GS25 as their favorite place to go in the ECC said they enjoy spending time in GS25 because there are fresh foods and the clerks are very nice.


Places where EIE students avoid spending their time

There are some places that students really don’t like. According to our survey, 27% of students said they avoided spending time at Arthouse Momo. Arthouse Momo, as a unique cinema which shows art films, and offers movies featuring various kinds of cultures. But students complained that the theater does not show new movies and the tickets are too expensive. So, it seems to be rarely used. If the theater played some current movies, sales could increase and students may become more satisfied. The second most undesired places in the ECC were the fitness center and Olive Young with the same rate of 20%. To be honest, we were surprised about the fitness center because there are always many users in the training room. But our students complained that even though it has a low fee and good location, it is always crowded even after 7 o’clock. Also, someone told us she did not know how to use the fitness center. 

The Olive Young located on B4 is also less popular. Many students said it is too small, so it’s hard to find what students want. And the location is in a corner where few people pass by. The biggest problem is that there are at least 4 large Olive young or Watsons near our front gate which are also close to ECC. So the Olive Young in ECC cannot attract students at all. Many said there was no difference whether it exists or not.


Conclusion
We surveyed 30 students in EIE and found the places which are popular and unpopular for students. The top 3 preferred places were the large stairs, convenience store and the study room. The top 3 places where students didn’t want to spend their time were the theater, the training room and Olive Young. Through this survey and research about places, we can not only see which places are preferred but also where to go for our spare time.