From June 27 to July 26, ‘UOS Buddy I’ took place at the University of Seoul. There were 80 foreign students participating from 20 different countries and 57 diverse universities. A total number of 40 Korean students took care of two students each and they became ‘buddies’ with each other. Every student from UOS could sign up for UOS Buddy. In addition, those who were on a leave of absence could apply for this program as well; however, students in graduate school were unqualified.

▲ Students participating in an orientation program for UOS Buddy II
It was free of charge for Korean students to stay at International House for a month except in the case of students on a leave of absence. Furthermore, every activity and meal was also offered for free except for a three-day-trip to Jeju-island or Busan; foreign students could go there for half price of the original cost.
Most of the participants in this program stayed at International House for an entire month in the same dormitory with their buddies. They enjoyed a slew of activities such as visiting Insadong, Changdeok Palace and the DMZ, watching performances such as Nanta and Jump, spending time on Jeju-island or in Busan, trying on traditional Korean clothes and the like. Plus, most of them took classes in English together. There were approximately 20 classes opened for them to enroll in various fields including Science, Business Administration, International Relations, Korean and much more.

‘UOS Buddy Ⅱ’ began on Aug. 5 and ended on Aug. 23. This was more of a small-scale summer school compared to the former one because it was limited to only Japanese foreign students. There were about 30 Japanese students participating and each Korean student became buddies with two of them.
Regardless of its scale, the activities done were similar to those of the first UOS Buddy. One thing that was distinguishably different was that Korean students could also get reimbursed 50 percent of the total cost of the Jeju-island field trip. Additionally, they could only go to Jeju-island instead of being given a chance to choose between Jeju-island and Busan. Lastly, students from graduate school could also participate in this program and receive credits the same as general students who took part in ‘UOS Buddy Ⅱ.’


By. Joo Hye-ri

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