The Chonnam Tribune has published this page to share the voices of foreign students at Chonnam National University. For this issue, we interviewed new international students about starting fresh to study abroad and what they look forward to during their university lives. We could listen to voices of
My college life was truly global. As a member of the International Students Community and the International Students Supporters at Chonnam National University (CNU), I interacted with international friends and realized how big the world was and how much I have not experienced yet. Motivated by my de
Q: Have you ever felt any cultural differences while traveling in Korea?A: I’ve noticed distinct cultural differences in restaurants. Korean restaurants consistently provide complimentary water, dry tissues, and wet tissues. In my home country, some restaurants provide water or tea along with dry ti
Q: What should be considered before touring Korea?A: One thing to be aware of when visiting popular beaches in Korea is that the lifeguards can quickly ruin your fun. Even though you’ve traveled for hours to visit a beach, they can ban everyone from swimming if they think the waves are too big. Sinc
Q: Where was the first place you ever visited in Korea?A: The first place I visited in Korea was Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do in 2003. It was the first time I was in Korea and my first job in Korea, so I spent the first month exploring the city and becoming familiar with Korean culture including food,
Q: What are you doing during the holidays in your country?A: I heard Korean people play yutnori, a Korean board game, together with their family during the holidays. In Singapore, people also enjoy board games together on holidays. Out of all the games, they usually play the traditional board game "
Q: Do you have fond memories from celebrating holidays in Korea?A: I think the experience of Seollal (Lunar New Year) is so fun. When I celebrated Seollal last year, all my Korean friends’ families got together, and the children received money. I sent New Year wishes for a Korean family and received
I had the desire to become an exchange student studying abroad and to make Chinese truly ‘my language’. I have been learning Chinese for many years, but I have always thought that it would be completely different to learn it in Chinese-speaking countries compared to learning it in Korea. After compl
Q: Have you experienced Korean traditional culture during the holidays?A: I went to a traditional event where there was a fake traditional Korean wedding. During the fake wedding, I wore a hanbok (traditional clothes) and took pictures. Also, I experienced Chuseok (thanksgiving holiday) at the Gwang
The Chonnam Tribune interviewed two American students, Ryan Rohrbach (Junior, Dept. of Political Science, University at Buffalo) and Blake Levins (Rising Sophomore, Dept. of International Relations and Global Business, University of Southern California) on July 10. They attend the 2023 Critical Lang
Le Huynh Thuy Vi(Senior, Dept. of English Language and Literature, Vietnam)Q: Did you have any difficulties staying with your roommate?A: I lived in Residence Hall 9 in my first year at Chonnam National University. My roommate came from another country, and we had absolutely different schedules. I a
Even before I entered university, I had a vague dream of being an exchange student studying abroad, but my dream was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. When I was in the first semester of the fourth grade, I fortunately found an international internship program so I could experience living and wo
Africa2023 Nigeria Presidential Election Result: The 2023 presidential election in Nigeria was held on February 25, which has Africa's highest GDP but also has the largest population in Africa. This competition was noticeable as none of the candidates were an incumbent or a former military leader fo
Botirkhonov Saidsherdorkhon Sherzodbek(Senior, Dept. of English Language and Literature, Uzbekistan) Q: What do you do when you are fasting? How do you take care of your meals?A: Fasting in the month of Ramadan is obligatory for every Muslim. When it comes to food, I think we will buy all groceries
I loved the memory of my trip to Europe when I was in middle school, and that made me want to work in Europe in the future. For this reason, I decided to major in French language and literature, and I decided to go to France to use what I had learned in school. I applied for the Fall 2022 Global Lan
Fiona Boettinger (Exchange Student, Dept. of Biological Sciences and Techniques, Germany)Q: What did you enjoy at the festival of CNU? And how was it?A: I tried different dishes with my friends that were offered there. My favorite was kimchi pancakes. I also wrote a wish on a piece of paper that you
Yang Yung Wei (Global Korea Scholarship Student, Language Education Center, Taiwan)Q: Have you enjoyed a festival in your country before?A: I studied at National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, Taiwan, which is located at the center of the city. Therefore, there is not much space to hold big act
Nina Zaplatilkova (Exchange Student, Dept. of Biological Sciences, U.K.)Q: What were the impressive memories that you experienced at the festival ?A: At the festival, I enjoyed my first concert in Korea and it was also one of my first experiences with Korean music. Before the festival, I was not ver