Poster of International Day

SNU Buddy hosted International Day - their annual global expo event - on the 8th of October, where 13 countries introduced their cultures to fellow SNU students through informative posters, decorations, and traditional foods.

As the hub of the university grounds connecting numerous departments, the Student Centre cafeteria is usually the most crowded because of its convenient location. However, with the temporary closure of the Student Centre cafeteria this week due to maintenance work, SNU Buddy could not have chosen a better day to host their annual International Day event. Students who had to look for a different place for lunch did not have to search very far, as a food festival with a wide range of menus from all around the world was just two buildings away.

SNU Buddy is a student voluntary organisation that helps foreign exchange students in SNU adapt to Korea, and form friendships between Korean and other international students. Some programmes and activities that are arranged to accomplish this objective include Temple Stay, Chuseok Party, and hiking the Gwanak Mountain. KIM Min Suk (Department of International Relations), the director of this semester’s International Day, claims that International Day is one of the major events that SNU Buddy hosts, with one of the largest budget scales. Although in previous semesters the Office of International Affairs and selected embassies in Korea funded the event, the organisation only used its own budget this semester, which was accumulated by membership fees at beginning of the semester.

Global Expo Booths

This semester, International Day took place on the 8th of October, opposite the Jahayeon Pond. 13 countries - Switzerland, Denmark, China, USA, Japan, Canada, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, France, Italy, Australia, and, for the first time, Morocco – decorated their individual booths to represent their countries and prepared their country’s traditional dishes. For example, the Switzerland booth prepared Alpermagronen (Swiss Mac ‘n Cheese) and Fondue, the Morocco booth prepared Tajin (Moroccan stew with meat, vegetable, and spices), and the Australia booth prepared Sausage Sizzle (Australian Hot Dog) and Honey Joy (baked cereal with honey). All menus cost 2,000 Won, which is cheaper than most menus in the cafeteria, and this inexpensive price encouraged students to enjoy several dishes from other countries without hurting their wallets too much.

Tajin (Morroco booth), Danish meatballs (Denmark booth), Fondue (Switzerland booth)

Grilled cheese with onion and bacon (USA booth), Poutine (Canada booth)

SNU Buddy started preparing for the event in August, and the hosting students put great effort into their menus to provide the Korean students with an authentic taste of their country’s food. KIM Ah Young, an exchange student from New Zealand who represented the Italian booth, revealed, “We stayed up very late for the past few days in the dormitory kitchen, trying to get the best recipe for our Pomodorini e Tonno menu.” The efforts of all the students who served their country’s dishes paid off at the end. PARK Yeo Kyung (College of Humanities) commented, “I could taste their hard work in the food. This year was honestly the tastiest International food day yet!”

Menu board

SNU Buddy members cooking
their country’s traditional dishes

Another factor that attracted students to the international booths were the colourful decorations and displays exhibiting different countries and their cultures. Country flags, posters that presented the country’s demographics, landmarks, traditions etc., and others that introduced and described the menus they prepared, decorated the expo booths. The China booth for example, made a poster that introduced their traditional festivals including the Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) and the Lantern Festival, in addition to basic facts about the country. Some information was provided in Korean, which was convenient for the Korean students to learn about the different countries as they waited for their food to be served.

Australia and Denmark booths decorated with flags and posters

Furthermore, students could also enjoy performances staged by Triple-H (SNU Vocal and Hip-Hop club), students from the department of Korean Traditional Music, and collaborations from Korean and foreign members of SNU Buddy. Kim Min Suk explains, “Although we are a foreign student organisation, we don’t stage performances only by foreigners. We believe that inviting Korean students to perform allows for a more genuine exchange between the Korean and foreign cultures.”

Order of performances

Last year’s president of SNU Buddy, KIL Na Yeon (Department of Clothing and Textiles), also attended the event and expressed her accolade. “I was so surprised and touched at how much they had improved from three semesters ago. I am very proud of the members and how the organisation is developing significantly.” When asked how the organisation manages to improve the quality of their event in such a short period, Kim Min Suk answered, “We always provide extensive feedback after each event, sharing our successful experiences as well as our failures. As these know-hows and practices are accumulated, the event is naturally improved and developed. I am certain that in a few years, International Day will be improved at an even greater level.”

Overall, International Day was not only a valuable opportunity for SNU students to experience and learn about different cultures of the world, but also a significant event for both the Korean volunteer students and the foreign exchange students of SNU Buddy. Since most activities arranged by SNU Buddy are one-sided - introducing the Korean culture to foreign students - International Day is the one and only chance where international students can introduce their cultures to Korea. Kim Min Suk adds,"It is one of our major events because it doesn’t just takes place internally within the SNU Buddy community. The whole SNU student body is also involved, so we are all the more aware of creating a better impression of SNU Buddy as a whole through this event."

Written by Hye Bin Lee, SNU English Editor, hahahybes@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Eli Park Sorensen, SNU Professor of Liberal Studies, eps7257@snu.ac.kr