Spring is here. Flowers are blooming and every day SNU students will be able to hear guitar chords and singing, talking and laughter here and there throughout campus. You may have already seen 'mini bake sales' at the Haebangteo, the space behind the College of Humanities, or the Acro, the space between the Central Library and the Administration Building, in front of Student Center, or most often, in front of Jahayeon. These 'mini bake sales', except for the 'bake' part, are called jangteos.
These jangteos are usually held by baans. All SNU students are divided into groups called baan (classes). The concept is similar to a homeroom class but without a supervisor; students are in charge of everything that the baan does. Baan was a concept introduced in the late 90s with the specific purpose of enabling students, prior to choosing their major, to socialize. This has been the case with the College of Natural Sciences and the College of Social Sciences which began accepting students not according to majors but according to a new system in which students enter the department of their choice in their second year.
In the case of small departments, the baan may be analogous to majors, or in cases of large departments, such as those in the College of Business Administration, a single department may be divided into three or four baans. In short, the baan system was introduced, in addition to various social organizations and clubs, to give first-year students a sense of identity. Thus it's not a choice but a given; on average approximately thirty students are arranged in a baan according to a random selection process. Each baan usually has two major school events every year—the 'jangteo' in the spring, and the 'ililhof (one-day bar)' in the fall.
When the weather gets warm enough to eat outside, jangteos begin to appear. Each baan holds their jangteo on a different convenient day, lasting until pretty much the end of the semester. Each jangteo lasts for one day. This year the first jangteo began during the second week of April. Over the years it has become a very important part of the SNU student tradition.
At a jangteo, each baan usually sells light foods or side dishes such as fried dumplings, spicy rice cakes (tteokbboggi), Korean pancakes and beverages like makgeoli or beer. Each baan decides internally the price, menu, and what they're going to spend their earned money on. Typically baans spend the money on preparing orientations or providing letterman jackets for next year's freshmen, or on MT trips. In addition to the baans, clubs may hold jangteos for
a specific cause and donate their income to needy institutions or use it to fund their own performances.
The most important thing is that jangteos provide an opportunity for freshmen and seniors to meet, for seniors to meet old friends they haven't seen since their freshman year, and for seniors to treat freshmen to large quantities of available beer…. The students gathered around here and there forms a peaceful and lively picture. Students should enjoy the warm breeze and lie in the grass, eating, drinking, and last but not least, socializing.
Written By LEE Bo Young, SNU English Editor, bylee0708@snu.ac.kr ?
Reviewed by Eli Park Sorensen, SNU Professor of Liberal Studies, eps7257@snu.ac.kr
Proofread by Brett Johnson, SNU English Editor, morningcalm2@gmail.com