KU holds International Students’ Festival
Students from 22 countries prepared special events to promote their homelands. 

Korea University held its International Students Festival (ISF) on May 16 and 17 of this year’s first in front of the Global Leadership Development Center.

The Festival, which takes place each semester, is organized by KUBA (Korea University Buddy Assistants) and attended by KUBA members and currently enrolled international and exchange students. The Festival includes several small events in which the foreign students can promote their homelands and the uniqueness of their respective cultures. In particular, the ISF held in the second semester is larger and attracts most of the foreign students currently studying at the University and thus becomes one big place for harmonization.

On May 16, countries like Malaysia, Japan, Italy, and Finland opened up their booths. On the second day of the Festival, students from Ecuador, Taiwan, Hawaii, France, and Peru joined the Festival. The total number of countries represented reached 22.

During the Festival, students prepared and served traditional food from their respective countries. They also hosted small events where visitors answered quizzes about their countries to win prizes. Starting at noon and running for 90 minutes, a fashion show took place on a catwalk that had been set up in the center of the venue. The students strutted the runway in traditional clothes from their respective countries, and some of them demonstrated traditional dances or sang traditional songs. The campus was filled with festivity.

The talent competition featured Japanese fencing (Kendo) and Mexican songs that were particularly popular. People lined up to sample freshly baked chocolate cakes at the Australian booth and tigrillo at the Ecuadorian booth.

Patricia San Juan, an exchange student from Canada, found the festival very interesting. “It was a great chance for me to learn more about the cultures of different countries that most of us are not familiar with. The events were a lot of fun, and the food was so delicious that I want to visit those countries someday.”

Seon-hee Han (Division of Health Policy and Management, 2015), a member of KUBA and manager of the Finnish booth said, “I did not know much about Finland before, but thanks to this festival, I learned a lot about the country and its culture. The preparation process was hard, but I found it very rewarding.”

At the conclusion of the festival, the organizing committee granted awards to booths based on how cooperative students were throughout the preparation process; visitors’ responses to each booth during the festival period; and the quality of the small events prepared by the participating students.