CU'S Asian Exchange Program

I interviewed Dr. Joseph Manzo, who is in charge of the Korea/Japan exchange student program.

    This program was started five years ago, in 2011. He traveled to many countries, including Korea and Japan. He thought the people there are nice and cool and began an MOU(memorandum of understanding) with some Korean and Japan Universities. The president of Concord University wants many international students, so the exchange student program became active. Now there are many students here from Korea and Japan.

    The first time this program was started, ten students went to Korea and Japan. But as time went by, three or five people participated in this program.

    Students go to Korea for two weeks and Japan for a few days. They visit some universities, such as Kangwon National University (KNU). KNU is located in Chuncheon, capital city of Kangwon state. In KNU, students can take classes everyday, and students learn economy, history and geography. KNU has headquarters and branch schools. The branch school is located near the seashore. So students go to sea and mountains, and can go scuba diving, too. They also go to Seoul and  see a lot of attractions, such as the DMZ (demilitarized zone) between North and South Korea. They can learn about music, cooking, martial arts, language and social science. If students apply for this program, they stay in the dormitory in KNU and eat in their cafeteria. A buddy system is used between Korean students at KNU and the Concord University students.

    There are a lot of entertaining things around the KNU campus: pubs, karaoke, restaurants, transportations, cafes, etc. Students also get the opportunity to try many different foods in the KNU cafeteria.

    After they spend two weeks in Korea, they get to go to Japan and stay there for few days or a week. Students who are interested in this program can visit Dr. Manzo’s office until February, which is the application deadline. If accepted, the trip will take place in August. The reason why the deadline is February is because students have to get a passport and it takes a few days for the schools in Korean or Japan to admit them as an exchange program student.

    Students cannot prolong the term of this program, however, because it supposed to be a summer program and can only last three weeks. So students taking part in the exchange program are supposed to be very active and learn something everyday.

    The cost of this program is about $2,600. Including airline tickets and dormitory/food fees. But if there is money left after all of the expenses are paid, students can get their money back.

    Marty Perdue, an art major here at Concord who is interested in this program, said the reason why he is interested is because he wants to travel the world and experience exotic things; he is interested in entertainment and movie art in Kora. He wants to broaden his experiences. He said that he is curious about the culture shock that he will experience and how people will treat him as a foreigner.