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| 'This Korean Holiday Carries Deep Meaning' |
| [Photo essay] Chuseok gives foreign students a chance to learn traditional Korean culture |
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Kim Yong Han (internews)  |
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Published 2004-09-28 18:34 (KST) |
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 | |  Male and female foreign students enjoy a game of jegi-chagi. | | | ©2004 Kim Y.H. | |
 | | | Foreign students forget their hometowns for a while as they make Korean rice cakes known as songpyeon. | | | ©2004 Kim Y.H. | |
 | | | Chinese student Jang Jjeo Wi (right) helps his compatriot Jang Cheol button up his hanbok. | | | ©2004 Kim Y.H. | |
 | | | "Making songpyeon is hard, but fun," say some Russian female students (left) and a Turkish male student (right). | | | ©2004 Kim Y.H. | |
"As I learn Korean culture, it grew anew and was surprising."
Keimyung University (KMU) held a special event for its foreign students Monday in which the school allowed them to experience traditional Korean culture at the Gyejeongheon (a traditional Korean house) of Hanhakchon, a small traditional village built by KMU to allow visitors to experience a taste of traditional Korea.
 | | | Chinese students in hanbok get their photo taken. | | | ©2004 Kim Y.H. | | The students, who came from afar and were experiencing the Korean holiday of Chuseok for the first time, wore traditional Korean outfits (Korean: hanbok), learned to play a Korean shuttlecock game known as jegi-chagi, and made Korean rice cakes known as songpyeon.
 | | | Yukikowa Yuko praises her friend who is wearing a hanbok. | | | ©2004 Kim Y.H. | | The students, who came from countries like Turkey, the United States, Japan and Russia, were surprised by the culture that was so completely different from their own as they wore their hanbok and played jegi-chagi in the wide yard in front of Gyejeongheon.
 |  | | | Russian female students ask, "These shoes are too small. Aren't there larger ones?" | | | ©2004 Kim Y.H. | For foreign students who were more or less unfamiliar with wearing hanbok, tying the breast strings and ankle strings and wearing the Korean jackets might have been a little strange, but they experienced our traditional culture with sincere expressions, as if everything were surprising and new.
Some of the female foreign students, who were not quite used to walking upon the courtyard in hanbok and Korean rubber shoes, complained that their shoes were too small as they asked about things of which they were curious.
Ahad, an international relations student from Uzbekistan, said as he enjoyed wearing hanbok and playing jegi-chagi, "I enjoyed experiencing Korean culture. My country has a different culture from this place."
A student from Turkey said, "It was strange, but wearing traditional clothes and experiencing the culture was interesting."
Yu Hye Yeong, a Korean student in KMU's tourism management department who was volunteering to serve as the students' window for the experience, said, "I could make foreign friends, and it was a good opportunity to do some service work."
Her friend Kim Bo Gyeong, who studies French at KMU, said, "I participated so I could help foreign friends and make some more foreign friends."
Jang Cheol (name transliterated from Korean), a Chinese student in his seventh month of a Korean language program, said, "It's true that I would like to go back to my hometown on holidays, but it seems that experiencing a Korean holiday like this carried with it deep meaning," giving the impression that he was able to alleviate somewhat his homesickness at Hanhakchon.
 | | | Foreign students leave Gyejeongheon to play jegi-chagi. | | | ©2004 Kim Y.H. | | Heo Yun Do, who runs Hanhakchon and guided the students through their experience, said, "We made the holiday experience program thinking of the foreign students who couldn't return home for the Chuseok holiday."
Li Gyeol (name transliterated from Korean), a Chinese student who was so excited about wearing a hanbok for the first that he spent much time and energy taking pictures with his camera phone, smiled broadly and said, "I like wearing hanbok." He explained the difficulties of foreign student life, saying, "When it's Chuseok, I automatically think of my hometown. I want to go home, but it's not vacation."
 | | | Chinese students record their memories of Korean life with their camera phones. | | | ©2004 Kim Y.H. | | The students boasted to their friends of their self-made songpyeon, and spent a precious time experiencing for the first time the meaning of Chuseok and the culture and customs of Koreans.
 | | | Heo Yun Do helps foreign students make songpyeong. | | | ©2004 Kim Y.H. | | Meanwhile, the event will continue until Tuesday. The foreign students will share their songpyeon and fruit and build warm relationships with some of the Korean students.
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©2004 OhmyNews
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