How borders are drawn and enforced has far-reaching consequences, whether we live on either side of them or halfway across the world.

Alessandro Ford, the first Westerner allowed to study in North Korea, is opening up about his experience living in the totalitarian dictatorship.

From August to December 2014, Ford was enrolled at Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung University where he stayed in a dorm with about 90 foreign students, most of them from China. His father, Glyn Ford, who previously was a member of the European Parliament and has been on diplomatic trips to the country, helped arrange his study abroad.

University life in Pyongyang was different, to say the least. Ford was closely monitored throughout his time there, and he said the university placed some local students in his dormitory so he would have someone to talk to. The facilities were bare, with squat toilets and no showers (they bathed communally “like the Romans,” he said). The dorm also ran out of hot water for two weeks during the winter, which dipped down to -20 degree Celsius. And there was absolutely no sex among the unmarried students.

In interviews with the BBC and Guardian, the 18-year-old talked about his unique gap year experience and provided a glimpse into what his classmates thought about their country and the outside world. Here are some of the most interesting insights: