In the city of Ostrava, the city famous for mining and manufacturing industry of Czech Republic, a sister university of Dongguk, University of Ostrava Technology is located. The 4th biggest university of Czech Republic has similarities and differences with Dongguk University. From dormitories to campus life, The Post reveals a comparison between the two.

Foundation
Dongguk University was established in 1906 by pioneers of Buddhism in order to educate people who is yearning for studying and having Buddhism beliefs. In addition, Dongguk University has strengths in humanic fields. University of Ostrava Technology, on the other hand, is famous for its natural sciences and engineering and was founded in around 1849,  as the Mining Academy in Pribram.

Dormitories
Compared to the Namsan Residence Hall which is a dormitory of Dongguk University, Ostrava’s dormitory is old and shabby both inside and out. The distance between buildings and the dormitory is quite far as well. Dongguk’s dormitory is directly connected to buildings by elevators and stairs, but in Ostrava, it takes a little bit of time to move from the dormitory to other buildings.
For dining spaces, Dongguk’s dormitory has a cafeteria on the first floor, but Ostrava doesn’t. Instead of a cafeteria, Ostrava’s dormitory has a kitchen on every floor where students can prepare their own meals. Each student usually have kitchen utensils such as cooking pots, knives, and such. In addition, every floor has a quite big room for students who want to have meals with friends ran by booking system and microwaves exists for students who want to heat up a frozen food or pizza for a quick bite.
Dongguk University’s dormitory has a newly built fitness center where students can take care of their body shapes and health, but Ostrava’s dormitory does not provide it and compared to Dongguk's, Ostrava's dormitory does not provide computers in the lobby.
In both universities’ dormitories, rooms are shared between two students. However, in Ostrava, the dormitory does not divide the floors as male and female sections. It is common to have male or female friends next door. Parties are more commonly held in Ostrava compared to Dongguk, where parties and drinking are strictly forbidden.
In Ostrava, the rooms can be rented to other students or people from outside of school during term breaks.

	Ahn  Su-ji  talks  with  her  Turkish  friends  in a  library.

Campus Life
On the campus of Dongguk University, it is quite easy to find cafes where students can grab a cup of coffee and chat. Almost every building has a cafe inside or nearby. However, in Ostrava, students relax and chill in beer houses and clubs located on campus. Students can drink beer and hang out there. Unlike them, Dongguk students need to walk out of the campus to have a jug of beer. It is a little unusual for Korean students to find clubs inside the campus. It seems like students in Czech Republic enjoy freedom of drinking more than Korean students on campus. Unlike the vibrant campus, there are not many places to hang out or shop outside of Ostrava. If students want to watch a movie or go to a fancy cafe, they need to take a tram or a bus. In Dongguk, Chungmu-ro area near the university provides pretty much everything. There are clothes shops, pubs, restaurants and theaters where students can enjoy after-class life. The Central Library of Dongguk University is bigger than Ostrava’s, but Ostrava University has library in each college, making it easier for students to access libraries and borrow books. Also, Dongguk has a cafeteria in almost every college. The College of Social Science has Guruteogi, the engineering building has Arisu and there is Sangrokwon located near the College of Liberal Arts. But in Ostrava, there is only one big cafeteria called Menza. It is used by students who do not like cooking for themselves or those who have classes nearby.

Campus Location
Czech Republic is located right in the middle of Europe, so it is convenient to travel to neighboring countries by public transportation, such as bus and city trains. Compared to Korea, where the land is surrounded by seas, air travel is not necessary for Czechs. In addition, the prices are comparably cheaper as well. So exhange students in Ostrava travel a lot to nearby countries and enjoy life with low living expenses. A lot of students who like to travel around various European countries and are interested in engineering subjects visit Ostrava University. On top of these, there is a beautiful Ostravan castle called Sileisan and festivals held near the it which is referred to as Ostravan Festival. Popular singers and plays can be seen during the festival and a lot of tourists come to visit near the university for the festival.
Ostrava, therefore, has a lot of attractions and experiences you cannot enjoy while you are in Dongguk University. Czech Republic is not a well-known country to Koreans yet, but this kind of opportunities to become an exchange student could be of a great way to improve the two countries’ relationship.

Park Su-jeong, Guest Reporter  .

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