When international students come to POSTECH to study, they can live with many Korean Postechians. There are many programs for international students to make friends with Korean Postechians. DICE, the dormitory for foreign students, has programs for this. The Postech Times interviewed Jeong Seon Young (LIFE 13), dormitory representitive of DICE, and 3 international students.
According to Seon Young, there are many programs in DICE, and through them, many international students make friends with Korean students and learn Korean culture. For example, DICE students participate in I-PUB in the POSTECH festival. It is a party and many international students cook their foods and enjoy eating or drinking. Korean students also enjoy it and make friends with international students. Also, there is a party named FMP (Friday party). Like other groups in POSTECH, DICE also has MT (Membership Training) at the beginning of each semester. If any students, international or Korean, cannot participate in MT, there is an event for them. It is like opening parties in the departments of POSTECH. There, international students have a good time playing Korean drinking games.
Moreover, DICE has 5 programs to introduce international students to Korean culture every week. Through these programs, international students learn Korean language and culture while making friends with Korean students. Also, international students can become familiar with Koreans while introducing their hometowns through these programs. In addition to those programs, there are many exchanges between international students and Korean students. They even cook together at lounge while living together.
Norman Rao (SESE M.S. candidate), who is from Pakistan, had experience to make friends with Korean students. He usually uses meeting program from the Facebook page of DICE. Many international students and Korean students make an appointment to have meals together and DICE covers part of the expenses. Calvin Yoon (IBB M.S. candidate), who is from the USA, also uses these programs. He said that there are many good programs to encourage friendships between international and Korean students, but many Korean students are afraid of using English, so it is hard to become close. He hopes Koreans learn to change their attitudes about English, and become more comfortable with it, like other international students. For this reason he tries to be especially friendly toward Koreans. Julien (MSE 14), who is from France, goes to Log Cabin (the bar on POSTECH’s campus) to make friends with Koreans while drinking.