Changwon National University's “2019 International students sports day” was held on April 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Sports day for international students is an annual event held by international affairs to build cooperation and promote harmony among all students. Since the ISC (International Studies Council) was formed, the members took charge of hosting the sports day. The participants were made up of various nationalities as well as all international students attending Changwon University and Korean students who wanted to build friendships with them. The sports event was divided into morning and afternoon, and each team was scored and an award ceremony was held for the teams ranked first through fourth. At lunch time, there was a meal for the convenience of overseas students.

At the start of the event, they relaxed their bodies by stretching together. Then they were divided into four teams - Red, Green, Yellow and Blue - and had time to randomly select a team leader and set up a team slogan for each team. In the morning, all the students first started the "Hoop Relay" game, which passed the hoop from the first to the last runner, while holding hands. After that, students did a “ticket-backing” and “mission relay”. At Mission Relay, there are various missions such as wearing top or bottoms, applying lipstick after spinning on one’s place, making an elephant nose with hands, following yoga positions, and finding the appropriate student on the mission paper, which was very fun for the students. In the afternoon, students had a small dance party for fun. After that, they did “the game of penalty kicks” after spinning in place 10 times and “balloon pop game”, and “Tug of War”. After finishing all events they had the prize for 1st – 4th. So how did the participants feel after enjoying the International sports day? Let's meet 2 executives of the ISC who participated in the sports competition and 2 Koreans and 2 international students!

ISC Chairman Yu Bin said. "I was happy that we took charge of organizing the sports event for the first time. Of course, during the preparation process, we also shared many thoughts and opinions in contemplating how to bring the Korean-style sports competition together with international students. We learned a lot from the event, and I bet all ISC friends became close during the process.”
Da sol, the planning department of the ISC said, "I enjoyed the International sports day as a participant last year, but I had to take charge of hosting it this time. I feel proud that we started with nothing and finished the sports day successfully. There was a challenge: a sudden change in the game. For the penalty kicks, the soccer goal was so small that the rules of the game had to be changed suddenly and completely. Also the participation rate of Korean students was low due to the high ratio of foreigners compared to last year. So we are trying to encourage Korean students to participate more."

Olesia Shaposhnikova (Dept. of Korean Language and Literature) from Russia said, "The International sports day was so fun and the mission relay was the most fun of all the games. What made me happiest was that I can meet new students. I met a variety of friends, including students from Iran, Pakistan, China and Mongolia. However, when I playing the balloon pop games, some students approached violently or touched my body. I was a little embarrassed. But I am happy that I made many friends. Thank you to Korean friends and teachers of the ISC.”
Ho Ti Giang (Dept. of International Trade) from Vietnam said, "Last year, I sung a song but I couldn’t this year. But There were so many different games and especially penalty kicks was interesting because I had never played it. I got a prize of herb tea with Korean beauty as a more meaningful gift to me. I hope that students of different nationalities come, and I want to continue good relations by having a lot of conversations and communication between Koreans and international students.”

Kim Mi Ji (Dept. of Japanese Language & Literature) said, "I am working on the One-To-One Program (1:1 matching program between Korean and foreign students), so I participated because I want to interact with more exchange students. Mission relay is the most memorable game to me. Among the games, the rules were the most complicated. That's why there were many students who didn't understand. But it was so impressive talking with my team members who were trying to explain the rules to each other by using the languages they could. And I was surprised that there are many foreign students in our school. Through this event, I could experience different cultures and characteristics of each country. It’s a great event with people of various nationalities. I want to thank the students of the ISC for their hard work and look forward to the fun activities.”

Park So Young (Dept. of Journalism & Mass Communication) said, "At first, I was worried that it would be awkward because there were not many Korean students. However, almost all of the international students spoke Korean well and were all kind. Balloon pop game was the most fun game. Especially because our team made a strategy. Rather than stepping on each other's balloons and popping them, there were many opinions to protect each other's balloons. It was a good memory for me to participate in the game by gathering opinions and joining hands with students studying abroad. If there is something to be desired, there were times when the waiting time was extended between playing games. But the staff of ISC were all kind and generous. I was happy to have an opportunity to become interested and friendly with international students and I really want to participate in next year’s sports day!"

Group photo held on International sports day

Reporter, Lee Yeon-Ju  ekrud6059@naver.com

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