From November 22 to 26, 21 students from 10 AUA member universities, including 3 student ambassadors from Seoul National University, visited the planned site for the 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea – where Seoul National University also has a campus.
On the first day of activities held in SNU Seoul Campus, students attended a lecture on the Legacies of the Olympic Games. In the afternoon, participants were given the opportunity to introduce the traditional sports in their respective countries followed by a demonstration and practice session of Taekwondo – the Korean martial art and national sport.
The next day, students departed for Pyeongchang, where they had the chance to explore Pyeongchang House which held a variety of interactive activities and state of the art technologies that allowed visitors experience various winter sports and the atmosphere of the Winter Olympic Games. After lunch, students visited the residence of Heo Nanheoseon, a famous Korean poet, where they had a first-hand glimpse of a traditional Korean household. In the evening, at the SNU Pyeongchang Campus, students were placed into groups and carried out a thoughtful discussion on related topics such as Olympics and Sustainable Development of the Region, Olympics and the Future, and Olympics and Paralympics.
On the final morning of activities, students were taken to Gangneung Ice Rink for a fun ice skating lesson. It was the first time for many of them to try this sport. For the last session of this AUA student’s activity, students participated in a workshop where they presented the results developed from the previous discussion session.
As the first AUA Arts and Sports Event, this program offered a thoroughly enriching experience for participants. Centering on multi-cultural learning through the medium of an international sports event of the magnitude of the Winter Olympics, participants gained a deep understanding of the Olympics and its impact on the surrounding region and the world. Furthermore, students developed their cultural awareness through communication with their peers, multi-cultural team work efforts, and first-hand experience of Korean culture. All this contributed to the creation of everlasting friendships spanning across the Asian region and fulfilled one of the key aims of the Asian University Alliance.
