“Korean Temples are wonderful!
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- Writer 커뮤니케이션팀
- 보도일자 2012-11-26
The temple stay program allows the participants to spend the night in the Buddhist temples and experience the life of a Buddhist monk. As the concept of 'healing' becomes more prominent, interest in the temple stay program has increased. It has particularly become a hotspot for tourists visiting Korea as an opportunity to experience a different culture.
On October 13th, our university's Korean Cultural Institute (Dean Siyeun Moon) prepared a temple stay program for international students attending our university. For 2 days, 36 students from France, China, Germany, other countries, and the Sookmyung Cultural Ambassador went to Busuk Temple in Seosan, Chungnam province to participate in the temple stay program.
Under the topic of 'Feeling Healing,' a number of activities were planned for the temple stay program. The students were able to learn about Korean Buddhist culture by experiencing Dadam (a tea ceromony while having conversation with a monk), Zen meditation, dancheong (traditional multicolored paintwork on wooden buildings), and other cultural Buddhist activities. They were also able to experience first hand the traditional markets, traditional bowing, traditional clothing, and other traditional Korean activities.
The international students commented that donning the awkward training garbs and meditating at 4 in the morning was a difficult yet thoroughly unique and interesting experience. Saskia (Culture & Tourism, Class of 2012), who is from Germany, commented, "The spirit of the mountain and the kindness of the monks made the experience special. It was a great memory that I will cherish forever." Seoyoung Yoon (English Language & Literature, Class of 2010) commented, "Being able to interact with the international students through this program made me feel proud."
Not only was the temple stay event fruitful, the city of Seosan sponsored the traditional culture experience program and paid for the participation and transportation expenses. The event qualified as a total success. A representative for the Korean Cultural Institute stated, "We will continue working to satisfy the cultural needs of the international and domestic students by expanding the cultural exchange program to all walks of Korean culture."