On October 29, the annual International Student Festival (ISF) was held at People’s Square in front of the Woodang Hall. With over 30 countries participating, the festival was colorfully decorated with flags of diverse countries where everyone had an opportunity to share their culture with each other. This year held a special meaning as it was the tenth anniversary of holding the festival.

▲ Exchange students from all over the countries participated in the ISF by sharing their cultures. Provided by Lee Hye Soo.

The festival started from ten o’clock, lasting till four o’clock. Till then, students had the opportunity to get a glimpse of the cultures of various countries. Each booth had traditional foods, culture and games of the country and all of these experiences were opened to KU and international students.

Another highlight of the festival was the “Fashion Walk” in which all representatives of each country would walk the catwalk platform showing off their traditional clothes. Some countries, such as Brazil, performed their traditional dance or showed off famous characters of their country, such as Japan. Another impressive sight was when all the representative international students did the Korean traditional bow, jeol, in front of the crowd.

▲ Representatives of Japan showed off their colorful traditional costume and delicious food. Provided by Lee Hye Soo.

The success of the festival highlights Korea University (KU)’s efforts to become one of the international universities around the world. In 2013, around 4,500 international students had enrolled in KU and this was the biggest number to date. There are students from all parts of the world, such as Taiwan to Australia to Brazil. The festival would not been a success without the help of the Korea University Buddy Assistants (KUBA). Prathik Harikrishnan (‘09, Division of International Studies) said, “I really enjoyed the experience and I think everyone else did as well. I love the students here and the diversity; I definitely think this festival was a huge success.”