Winter school provides warm welcome for students visiting Ajou University in Tashkent

K-campus

Published: 04 Apr. 2024, 14:07

Winter school provides warm welcome for students visiting Ajou University in Tashkent

Students participating in the AUT International Winter School program poses for a photo [AJOU UNIVERSITY]

Since Ajou University opened Ajou University in Tashkent (AUT) in Uzbekistan, programs such as the AUT International Winter School (AIWS) have offered opportunities for students at the Korean and Uzbekistan campuses to come together.

AUT is Ajou University's first overseas campus, opened in February 2021, based on a partnership between the Korean university and Uzbekistan's Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education. The Tashkent-based university offers undergraduate programs that follow the curricula of the corresponding departments at Ajou University, while all being taught in English.

Since AUT opened its doors, there have been opportunities for students in Korea and Uzbekistan to come together.

One was the 2024 AUT International Winter School (AIWS), held at the AUT campus in Uzbekistan from Jan. 8 to 12.

The program is designed to provide Ajou University students with opportunities to experience global culture and build a sense of solidarity among the students of AUT. Students visited museums and companies in Uzbekistan, while participating in group projects that made them discuss social issues regarding Korea and Uzbekistan. Students who complete this program could receive one credit.

Many students applied, with 58 students from 16 majors selected for the program. Kim Yong-hyun, Ajou University's humanities dean, and Kim Jong-sik, dean of the university's International Faculty of International Studies, accompanied the students.

As student reporters, The Ajou Globe was able to get an opportunity to apply and participate in the program.

Throughout the program, the students were divided into groups and assigned an AUT buddy. The groups were able to tour the school together with their buddy, seeing buildings and facilities that looked different from their own school.

There were four major buildings in AUT, known as buildings A, B, and C and the dormitory. There was a classroom and a library in block A, and there was an administration office and another classroom in block B. There was a canteen, conference hall and sports hall in block C.

As a student at Ajou University, the library was one of the parts that felt disappointing when looking around.

In Korea, libraries are used as study rooms and reading rooms for students. The library of Ajou University is large, using the entire building. However, the library of AUT is about the size of a lecture room. There is not enough space to read books, and there are not many books, which was inconvenient.

The importance of reading is being emphasized more and more in modern society, and The Ajou Globe hopes that the library of AUT will be further developed.

Apart from those factors, AUT was in good condition. It had the curriculum and know-how offered by Ajou University, along with sites and buildings provided by the Uzbekistan government.

In particular, the classrooms located in each building were clean, as they were established in February 2021, and were convenient for students to use.

Students visiting AUT also enjoyed the winter school program, with many saying so according to a survey of students that participated in the program.

Around 58 percent of the students said they were "satisfied" with AIWS and another 38 percent said they were "very satisfied."

Among the many activities, visiting Samarkand, a city in southeastern Uzbekistan, was one of the most satisfactory programs.

Around 70 percent of survey respondents said they were "very satisfied" about the Samarkand visit on the third day, with 30 percent saying they were "satisfied."

Contrary to the positive answers, there were negative responses as well.

Food during the program was one of the factors that students disliked, with 41 percent of respondents saying that breakfast offered at the AUT student restaurant was "normal" and 26 percent saying "it was a poor meal." Another 3 percent responded that "it was hardly a meal."

Satisfaction could have been low because Uzbekistan’s traditional food, such as obi non (Uzbek bread), fried eggs and ham was served every day, which is different from Koreans' culinary choice of mainly eating rice as a staple food.

When asked about accommodation during the program, about 16 percent said they were “uncomfortable to stay” and around 7 percent said they were “very uncomfortable to stay.”

Despite such inconveniences, the program was able to facilitate relationships between Ajou University and AUT students.

One of the most helpful things during the stay at AUT was the AUT buddies.

As Uzbekistan was unfamiliar to most of the students participating in the program, even things like transportation systems and language were all new. However, students were able to finish the program safely thanks to the help of buddies, who were assigned to each group.

More than half of the survey respondents said they were "able to participate in the program more easily thanks to the buddies and are satisfied."

This isn't the first program bringing Ajou University and AUT students together.

The 2023 Ajou International Summer School was held last year at Ajou University for about two weeks. Organized by the Office of International Affairs, the summer school brought 26 students from Ajou University's global sister universities and 20 from AUT to the Korean campus. Students learned about the Korean language and experienced Korean culture through various activities.

This article has been contributed by Kim Yun-a of The Ajou Globe, an English-language publication from Ajou University.