Korean and international students are sharing their stories as they meet each other for the first time. Namsan Residence Hall's programs will help both international and Korean students to develop a unique friendship.

Beginning between April and May, Namsan Residence Hall is preparing to initiate culture programs to help the students who live in the dormitory to improve their relationships. According to the Dongguk Post’s interview with Jo Sung-hwan, a senior officer in the administration, the Namsan Residence Hall Administration Office plans on transforming the first floor of the dormitory into a multi-cultural zone where Korean and international students could interact with each other. Also, the administration office is going to hold special events in which students could make Korean food together and could climb Namsan together.

 

In April, beginning with finding international students willing to volunteer, the lobby of the building is going to be transformed into multi-cultural zone where different booths representing different countries would be set up. The booths would be decorated with different pictures and maps where students could learn about different cultures. Volunteering international students would take turns and would stay at each booth. Korean students who can speak different languages can apply for the volunteering positions in order to help the communication between Korean and international students. For all the volunteers, there are plans to offer some incentives, but these have not been specified yet.
   

The event where students could make Korean food together is going to take place between April and May. There is the possibility of this becoming an annual festival if it receives a lot of support from the students. The decision whether to run the program as a form of contest or just as an ordinary cooking program has not been made yet. The program is only limited to 20 to 30 students and they would have to pay a certain amount of money for it.
   

A hike up Namsan together is another event that can foster closer relationship between Korean and international students living in the dormitory. Students would get together before mid-term examinations, and the route is from behind the National Theater located near Dongguk University to the Namsan Tower.
   

 Recently, the efficient management of the Namsan Residence Hall has been called into question as there are too many unused computers in “Information Plaza,” which is located in the first floor of the building. The unused computers which are both a waste of electricity and space has led to some students’ complaints. They have asked that the dormitory reduce the number of computers and create a study hall instead. However, the Administration Office finds itself in a difficult position to meet students’ needs as it lacks actual survey data that reflects the opinions from the majority of the students. The office is planning to solve the complaints of the students soon.  
   

In the interview with the Dongguk Post, Joanne Cornelisse and Julian Stellink, both international students majoring in communication & public relations, said that they would like to join the programs. However, international students who live in the dormitory, they added, already have a hiking group and a cooking group for themselves. Thus, the programs are needed to be more interesting in order to attract more international students. Moreover, all the activities in the multi-culture zone should be easy, fun, and not mandatory to hire more international students and to create friendlier atmosphere.
   

In another interview, Kim Ae-ri, an international trade majoring student, told the Dongguk Post that she highly expects that this program would help destroy the cultural barrier between Korean and international students. She added that there simply is no chance to meet and talk to international students in the dormitory. Thus, Korean and international students would get closer through the programs the Namsan Residence Hall is preparing and she wants to join them as soon as possible.

Park Se-ho  sinpausa31@dongguk.edu

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