Shalayna came to Korea to study English from Azerbaijan and her best friend, Kim Min-Hu, is majoring in Local Autonomy. They have known each other for one and a half years and during that time they spent a lot of time together and have built up lots of memories. But they seem different and have no obvious similarities. How did they become friends?


1. How Did They Meet?
   In 2013, Shalayna and Min-Hui met each other a through tutoring program sponsored by CNU Language Education Center. When Shalayna first went there, she had some prejudice about the program because many foreigner friends said that Korean tutors didn’t help them out a lot. After meeting a few times, it’s over! But Min-Hui was different. They met each other every day for the first 6 months! Even after the tutoring program’s term was over, they met continuously.

2. What Was the Reason for Becoming Best Friends?
   When they met first, there was an awkward silence between them. But Shalayna and Min-Hui are similar in many more ways than anticipated. They talked about normal student’s problems like diet, love, and school life and they became close friends soon. Especially, it has a big meaning to Shalayna because she had some hard times during her early days in Korea due to the language barrier and cultural differences. But Min-Hui gave her lots of help so she can learn Korean quickly and adapt herself to her know surroundings more easily. To Min-Hui, it has also a big meaning. Shalayna is a friend who fills her school life up. Because Shalayna has an assertive characteristics and doesn’t avoid challenges in her lives, she can make Min-Hui’s plan that Min-Hui just kept hope mind. That is, they helped each other.

3. What Culture Do You Want to Introduce to Each Other?
|Shalayna|
   I want to introduce “Hot-blooded” to her. “Hotblooded” means literally “eager to be friends.” In our country, we can become close in 3 seconds with anyone whom we just met. If I see someone in coffee shop and she does something I like, I just go over to her and initiate conversation. And we become friends soon.
| Min-Hui |
   I want to wear Korean traditional costume “Hanbok” with her and go to the Hanbok festival with her and spend time together.

4. What Do You Want to Do Most Together?
| Min-Hui |
   Recently, I started taking piano lessons. And Shalayna said she can play several musical instruments. So if there are some opportunities someday, I want to perform in an ensemble with her.
|Shalayna|
   When I was in Azerbaijan, I volunteered to work with my friends. It was great because my friends and I enjoyed serving as volunteers. And also Min-Hui likes to volunteer, too. So if I get the chance, I want to do volunteer work with her.

5. What Do You Want to Say to Korean Students Who Are Afraid to Be Friends with Foreign Students?
   There are a lot of Korean Students and just a few foreign students on campus. And foreign students feel uncomfortable to initiate conversation with Korean students because they are in the minority. And if they started a conversation first, Korean students think “They do it that way because they are foreigners.” Don’t think of them as foreigners. Reach out to them as normal friends!

Jeong Su-yeon | By CP Cub Reporter