On the 9^th of October, Korea annually celebrates “Hangul Day”, which is a special commemoration dedicated to the Korean alphabet that King Sejong made in the Joseon era. In celebration of this special holiday, the international affairs department, in collaboration with KT&G Sang Sang Univ. created a program named “BUT” which stands for ‘Be United Together” and means “Friend” in Korean. This program is for international students to participate as a chance for them to learn and interact with each other as well as the local students at our university.

To find out more about Sang Sang Univ. and their relationship with the university as well as how the organization found its way to the international students, Kim Ha-Na, a representative from KT&G Sang Sang Univ. was interviewed.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for this program?

Kim: Sang Sang Univ. is a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) group, and we mainly focus on art and culture. Right now, there is a growing number of international students in the universities in Korea, so we wanted to help the international affairs department of CWNU achieve more with our help.

Q: How did you decide to sell coffee during this event?

Kim: Coffee is a familiar beverage that can be found everywhere in the world, so we decided to hold a one-day class for students to learn how to make coffee using hand-drip and other methods so that they can perform well during the event. Another reason is because coffee is much easier to make than other food, so it is convenient and relevant for the students.

The event consisted of a variety of activities. One was be the relay for Hangul Day which had the participants use the Korean language to make a meaningful statement. Another activity was the Hangul henna tattoo wherein one could choose decorations to put on their body as a symbol of commemoration. The last activity was the life photo zone, this was a photobooth where one could take pictures to capture the moment and caption what they want to say about Hangul Day. The best part was that prizes were given to those who completed all the activities.

The activities were really enjoyable and commemorated Hangul day, but the part which really united the students was the coffee stand. The unique feature about this stand is that there were different types of drinks to choose from and they varied according to the country they originated from. For example, there was milk coffee that came from Vietnam. Since students learned to become baristas for this event, Dong Thi Hao, a Vietnamese student from the business management course was interviewed to get a personal view on what it was like to be a barista for a day.

Q: How were you able to interact with other students through making coffee?

Dong: Though the one-day class, I had fun while learning about the process of making coffee. Since there were a lot of foreign students, we all shared the distinct traits of coffee and other beverages from our country and taught it to one another, and I think that’s how we really shared our cultures.

Q: Was it difficult to be a barista?

Dong: It was difficult to handle the orders of customers and the amount of water for the coffee, but it was manageable and we were able to push through successfully. Though it was a bit tiring, I was glad that we all got to have an activity that we could do together and get to know each other better in the process. I hope that more events like this will be prepared in the future.

All in all, the “Be United Together” event ended with positive responses. It is good that our campus community has opportunities for the growing population of international students. Hopefully, even more opportunities like this will be found in the campus for foreign students to have fun and get involve

The Henna tattoo activity in one of the booths located at Bongrim Hall.

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By Baik Jong Min, Cub Reporter  Jmbae1025@gmail.com

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