Foreigners flying across thousands of miles of sky were imagining what the life in Korea would like. The thought itself might have been just as wonderful as the flying. As soon as we boarded the plane, we were wondering what the people in Korea would be like and how they would react on seeing us. We are quite different from them, how then would we adjust among these “new” people? Such mixed questions swarmed in our minds. Amidst all the feelings, we were still confident of making a number of good friends.
    As soon as our flight landed, we were dying to get out of the plane to explore our new surroundings, to meet people and to see the university. The moment came when we reached the place that is the Chonnam National University (CNU) in Gwangju.
    It was a start of a new life which meant being responsible for ourselves, of facing certain difficulties like how to live, how to survive, how to take care of things like food, how to overcome the language barrier and how to adjust to Korean culture
    Many students who come here at first go through a difficult time. Due to their lack of proficiency in Korean, they face lots of problems in communicating with the natives. Although a person wants to convey their thoughts and feelings the language barrier makes it difficult to be understood. This major obstacle causes us to often feel alone while availing of the good education CNU has to offer. While we knew it was never going to be an easy ride for any of us in adjusting to the obvious differences here, for e.g., eating habits and other such things, the adjustment is confounded by the language “problem” since almost all the professors mostly teach us in Korean and hence a great stumbling block is created for foreign students who just want to perform to the best of their ability.
    Here we learn lots of things and gain a valuable insight into the Korean people and culture and how much we wish we could be here for a longer time so that we can learn more and more. Our stay here prepares us on how to surmount challenges willingly and tackle all kinds of situations. I personally feel our biggest lesson learnt here is how to survive in a different culture.
    After having spent considerable time in CNU, we have become more comfortable and have adapted to the new environment. We teach English to our Koreans friends and learn Korean in return. Now we find Korean people to be helpful, disciplined and friendly to talk to. And day by day we overcome the challenges which we face, by the help of each other.
    Now we are becoming so close and free with each other that we can go around talking about our issues, joys and happiness. After spending some quality time here we have come to understand how close we actually are in our cultures. Being an Indian the first similarity that comes to my mind, especially is that we happen to belong to the same continent, Asia, and we naturally share proximities in our beliefs and traditions. Being from India and a native speaker of the Hindi language, I can compare and would like to tell everyone that in the Hindi language, just like Korean, we have the same degree of respect and honorific forms for the elderly. All our doubts about an alien culture are subsiding for the reason that we have found little difference between us and them and a thought which comes to our mind is that we are neither Chinese, Japanese, Nepali, Bangladesh, Thai, Indian nor Korean or anything else but just humans separated by the vast creations of nature. Something binds us all together and the mentality that we belong to some particular region has no foundation, it’s just an illusion that we are different, in reality we are one; mortal human beings.

Nepal: Ram Kumar Phuyal (Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate School of Economics)

    So far as the views of my foreign friends here at CNU are concerned, we are all here with a bundle of different thoughts but have a common interest as a whole, and we are extremely happy to exchange/express our opinions on upon tenure in here in CNU life.
    Foreign students are in CNU because of different reasons but mainly it is to learn for the sake of knowledge, to study in order to know the secrets of nature and of life, to educate ourselves for compassion, to learn self discipline so as to conquer weakness, to become humane in the supreme sense of the word, and never to count the cost.
Eventually, what we intend to focus on is to direct ourselves towards a goal that transcends the petty barriers of selfishness, to be sensitive, kind and conscientious, to raise our voice against injustice, to be friends to the weak and defenseless, and to build a better future.
    CNU is attempting to address all these particular issues on its current learning-teaching process, so that we may indeed eagerly look forward to a future that will be more truthful, safer, and more capable of rising to the heights of global interaction.

Bangladesh: Niraj K. Shil (Ph.D. Candidate, Veterinary Medicine)

    CNU is a multi-cultural, harmonious enclosure where we learn the basics that will equip us well, not alone for academia but also for basic life expectancies. Coloring the canvas can lead to a beautiful. Similarly here, knowing that we have the best equipment at our disposal makes us feel good and brings enjoyment as we try to contend with a new diversified culture, language, and environment.

Jamshid Roostamove ( , Dept. of Korean lang. & lit.)

    I arrived in Korea 2 months ago and discovered for myself that it is a wonderful country with very kind people, magical culture and unique nature. Similar things exist between Korean culture and that of my native land. This inspires me to learn language and culture of this country more and more. It’s an honor for me to study at CNU. I thank my professors-teachers and my Korean friends who help me to learn the Korean language and culture.

Dr. Nitin Kurkure (Visiting Professor, Veterinary Medicine)

    It is an eye opening experience for me. I came here two months back. My impression about this country is the best example of very fast developing country.
    As a teacher in the university I feel that professors here have undergone more pains to create good teaching material for students as compared to other developing nations. Internet facilities for students are amazing. I was struck by the student’s quick grasp of the subject. I expect eulogistic performances from them in future, too.
But as a foreigner who doesn’t know the Korean language, it is somewhat difficult to find one’s way when lost on the street. Most Koreans will not refer to the Korean language & culture as “Korean,” they will refer to it as “our language & culture.” Koreans, of course, have their own ideas about what’s good in life, and what's valuable. I suppose Korea is a little rigid when it comes to reinforcing national identity.
    Now let’s talk about hospitality. My experience has been very nice. The dean of the department here has made all possible efforts to make my stay here comfortable. Also cares much about my health. All other departmental colleagues are very helpful and kind to me.