Sports Day for International Students
300 international students at Dankook University joined the event
May 11, 9 am - one fine, sunny day on campus. Foreign students started showing up at the gym at Jukjeon Campus. Representing a broad range of nationalities, more than 300 people gathered in the gym. There were smiles and expectations on everyone’s faces as the crowd members greeted each other. They were international students participating in the International Student Sports Day hosted by the DKU Office of International Affairs.
The Office of International Affairs held the 1st International Student Sports Day for international students studying at Dankook University at the Jukjeon Campus gym and grand field from 9:30 am to 10 pm on Saturday, May 11. A total of 330 people including international students, exchange students and language learning students studying at Jukjeon and Cheonan Campuses participated.
This event was held to give an opportunity for international students to make friends and to overcome the difficulties of homesickness during their overseas study in Korea so that they could gain a sense of belonging while enjoying their experience here.
With an opening ceremony marked by GTN (Global Talent Network) performances of PSY’s Gangnam Style and Gentleman, the DKU International Student Association heated up the event from the very start. The Sports Day featured various sports events like dodgeball, basketball, tug-of-war, hurdles, relay race, O/X quiz, samulnori (traditional Korean performance), and balloon-popping. International students had a joyful time participating in the event and meeting new people.
After the Sports Day, international students had a chance to watch a movie at Jukjeon CGV sponsored by K-movie Supporters held by Gyeonggi Content Agency and Lotte Cinema.
“People had huge fun from the K-pop performance to the sports events,” said Torrin Mike (masters degree student, Politics and Diplomacy), one of the participants. “I would like to thank the university for making this opportunity possible since we haven’t had many chances to gather together even though we all study here at Dankook University. I also heard many students who had a good time at the Sports Day saying they want to become regular students at Dankook University in the future.”
“Although this was the first time we have ever held this event, the international students were very satisfied,” said Jae-dong Lee, Director of the Office of International Affairs. He also expressed that International Affairs “will hold the event regularly so that international students studying in our university can build a network and to enforce the global competency of our university.”
