Living in Korea is not always a simple task, especially if you are a minority. One big minority group in Korea is the foreigners, and we decided to look into the lives of some foreign students who eat the Halal lunchboxes provided by POSTECH food services. Most students who apply for them are Muslims as Islamic laws permit them to only consume meat produced by slaughtering animals under specified procedures. The Postech Times decided to briefly look into their life in Korea and asked them about their opinion on the halal lunchboxes. 

Please introduce yourself.
Hello. My name is Ainu, a graduate student of the Graduate Institute of Ferrous and Energy Materials Technology, GIFT, and I am from Indonesia. I eat halal lunchboxes due to my adherence to religious laws.

How has your experience been living in Korea so far?
It has been an interesting experience as I live in DICE (Dormitory for International Culture Exchange), an environment where I find myself constantly surrounded by people from different cultures. Although I still need to surmount language barriers from time to time, living with Korean people has been a pleasant experience as they are very friendly.

Finding halal meat and food in Korea is not an easy task. Were you aware of this when coming to Korea?
Yes, I was aware of this. To overcome this problem I cook mostly vegetable dishes. Fortunately, nowadays, some online markets sell halal meat which is helpful for Muslim people living in Korea. However, most offline halal stores are located in big cities like Seoul and Daejeon. Some universities with many international students, like KAIST and Yonsei, have halal stores near the campus. Sadly, we don’t have one near POSTECH. I hope that one day, there will be a halal store in Pohang as it would be greatly beneficial for the Muslim students at POSTECH.

Are you satisfied with the halal lunchboxes provided by POSTECH Food services? What are some things you like or do not like about the lunchboxes?
Thankfully, I am not a very picky eater, so I am satisfied with the lunchboxes. The lunch boxes tend to be a complete meal containing carbohydrates, protein, vegetables, and even fruits. It tastes very nice as well. One thing I would like to change is that the menus are not very varied, especially in the way they are cooked. I enjoy their grilled chicken with cheese and fish cutlets, but trying different cooking methods would certainly raise the overall level of satisfaction.

Any last remarks you would like to make to the POSTECH Food services?
Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to them for providing the halal lunchboxes. They are very helpful, and I hope it is the same for other Muslim students. So far, I have loved the lunchboxes but would love it even more if the meals were a little more varied.