One of the merits of being a Hanyang University (한양대학교) student is that we have lots of opportunities to meet foreigners. From business major to natural science major everywhere we could see students that came from another country.
Both Koreans and international students have the necessity of making friends. Some Koreans will want to improve their speaking skills by being friends with international students. On the other hand, international students will need Korean friends to ask things about Korea.
Even the large number of international students and the necessity of making foreign friends people have a difficulty in being friends with each other.
The biggest reason will be the difference of language. Of course, in language both sides have the responsibility. To make a relationship both Koreans and international students need to know other’s language. To give a tip for international students speaking Korean will be a good strategy because Koreans are expecting to see foreigners speak Korean.
Even the language barrier is solved people have difficulties in being friends with international students. Students do not know about various opportunities that helps make bond between Koreans and international students.
Because many Koreans and foreign students seem to be in lack of information about exchange programs I will introduce some activities that helps you make foreign friends.
- Take English courses
I took an English liberal arts class named introduction to digital photography. The class was about taking pictures in a suggested way and present your photos. There are many international students that are interested in taking photos and by team there are chances to take pictures out of campus. So, for an excuse of doing your assignment you could go out with your new foreign team mate. I also made a friend that came for an exchange student from Cornell. I could improve my pronunciation and my grammar and I could give him useful information about Korea.
- Enter a school club that welcomes international students
I am in a swimming club and I meet international students every week. The name of our swimming club is IMS and the club is open to international students. We have a regular exercise every Saturday in Cheonggu (청구) which is 10 minutes from Wangsimni (왕십리). We do have a tough exercise but after swimming everyone eats dinner. Also, when we get to eat meat we always care about vegetarian friends. So, we could say that IMS swimming club is a foreign friendly club that helps people to make foreign friends. Like our club there are some club open for foreigners so try joining!
- Participate in international volunteer programs
I am participating on a volunteer program called Welcome Hanyang. My job is to answer questions that people ask in the international building. Like where is the civil engineering building? How can I make an international ID card? Here I get chances to speak with international students. There are also other international students that are doing the same thing as me and I can meet them if they are working in the same time. Because we talk to each other for about 2 hours even we met two times we get to be best friends. Moreover, people in Welcome Hanyang sometimes meet each other a have dinner together. We talk about problems and improvement in volunteering. Also, Korean students and international students exchange interesting information in Hanyang and Korea. Last week I had an experience to explain about the reason of the serious relation between China and Korea. After explaining I decided to study more to explain better for foreign people.
There are many volunteering activities for international students so why not join!
(Like above there are lots of ways to make foreign friends and it is almost up to yourself!)
Article by Jonghyuk from Korea, a Sophomore in Business Administration
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