After they get admitted to POSTECH, ISSS opens an orientation for all foreigners. In the orientation, they introduce POSTECH’s founding philosophy, departments and earning credits, and dormitory rules and regulations. ISSS helps foreigners network and establish a community. Helping families get situated by explaining day care, transportation, banking, etc. is another ISSS goal.
After foreigners become Postechians safely, ISSS plans programs to help foreigners understand Korean culture and enjoy their time in Korea. Lectures on Korean culture are held and foreigners have a chance to experience Korean traditions and tour global companies. On the New Year and Korean Thanksgiving Day they experience traditional performances and make Songpyeon, which is a Korean traditional rice cake. Foreigners can also experience food of other foreign countries through I-Pub programs for “The Sunrise Festival”, a POSTECH festival held every spring. In DICE, the dormitory for foreign students, Korean students can live with foreign students and help them adapt well.
About 30-40 foreigners visit ISSS per month. Foreign peoplemay have difficulties with courses, visas, culture, and so on. ISSS tries to solve their problems. If the problems are related to a private life, ISSS can connect them with experts at the Counseling Center in POSTECH. They can get advice on loneliness, relationships, culture shock, and adjustment to campus life in the center.
ISSS serves foreigners from the time they apply to POSTECH through the trip back to their country. Jung-Hee Yang, a director of ISSS, said “Satisfaction of foreign people is as important. It is an invitation for them to promote POSTECH to the world. As foreigners prepare to go back to their countries, they often give us a present to express thanks. They may say, ‘My experience in POSTECH was wonderful. I felt comfortable while I was in there, ‘ to their friends. They likely have fond feelings for POSTECH. As they share their good experiences, more professors, researchers, and students will come to POSTECH and our college will become more globalized and we can realize our dream of becoming a bilingual campus.”
ISSS is located on the first floor of the POSCO International Center.
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