On July 30, a special summer orientation program for foreign students was held in room 505 of Centennial Hall. The name of the program was Sookmyung International Summer School (SISS), and it was held by in partnership with the Center for International Affairs and Cooperation and the leadership group URINK(United Relationship IN Korea). It ran from July 30 to August 21. SISS aims at fostering global citizens with various perspectives. The program’s major objectives were to provide participants with ways to live happier at college and expand their global perspective towards academic study. The program was held twice during the summer vacation, and the first one ran from July 3 to 24. The second program had its orientation and welcoming party for participants on July 30, and as part of the opening, participants watched a short video about Sookmyung and were given a campus tour. For their lunch, participants ate the Korean traditional dish, Bibimbap. Except for the July 30 opening, several lectures were held on the rest of the days of the program. Each morning, students took 3 hours of Korean language classes, and in the afternoon, students did Korean crafts and learned Korean traditional sports. The program gave students a chance to experience Korean culture and learn Korean history both in the classroom as well as through off-campus activities such as visiting the DMZ, Lotte World, Gyeongbok Palace, taking part in cooking classes, doing a templestay, watching a Nanta performance, and so on. In particular, courses were taught by renowned professors from partner universities invited to provide more diverse and better education for foreign participants. Also, students experienced lots of Korean traditional culture and met new friends from all over the world. Furthermore, through the program, foreign participants were able to become more at ease with Korean college life and start to take pride in studying in Korea. Foreign students at Sookmyung, how about registering for the next SISS summer vacation program? It could be good opportunity to meet new friends and experience Korean tradition.
