"Buenos dies," "buenas trades," "buenas noches," "Hola," "Te amo." What are these terms? If you can recognize them, Then you might have leaned some Spanish. On July 12th I met a foreign student, Cesar Williams, who speaks Spanish. Where do you think he came from? Surprisingly, he came from Panama. When I imagine a person who speaks Spanish, I just think of people from Spain. I wondered what made him visit Korea.

CP : Please introduce yourself to our readers.
    Cesar : My name is Cesar Williams and I am from Panama. I am a sophomore and I am majoring in mechatronics engineering.

CP : What motivated you to apply for CNU?
    Cesar : Before I came to Korea, I got a scholarship from the international office. Actually I wanted to go to Taiwan but there is no mechatronics engineering program there, which is my major. I had no choice but to apply for CNU, Korea. When I am in Daejeon I feel like I am at home. When I go to Seoul or somewhere out of Daejeon, I miss Daejeon, just like my hometown.

CP : How did you prepare for the application?
    Cesar : I prepared credit, certificates and I was a competitive swimmer in Panama. These helped me when I applied to study abroad. 

CP : You are from Panama. I don't think it is easy to adapt to Korea. What was difficult for you when you moved to Korea?
    Cesar : Above all, the food. I am not well-suited to Korean food. It is too spicy for me to eat. It is so different from Panamanian food. At first I lived in a dorm, so it was hard to have meals everyday in the dorm. Secondly, there was a language barrier. I could not speak Korean and could not understand Korean.

CP : Do you have any specific experience in Korea?
    Cesar : One day I went to Seoul and asked a woman. "How can get there?" But she turned away from me, and ran away without saying anything. I was embarrassed. Another day I went to Seoul with my friends once again and we were lost in a subway station in Seoul. None of us knew how to speak Korean. Fortunately, however, a man approached us and asked us where we wanted to go. Finally he went along with us and we were relieved.

CP : When do you notice a cultural difference between your country and Korea?
    Cesar : Firstly, I cannot dance in Korea. Of course I can go to a club where people enjoy dancing but it has a different meaning, as you may know. In western culture dancing is common, but not in Korea. Instead, Koreans enjoy singing at karaoke. That is interesting, but I do not enjoy singing. 
    Secondly, people always ask me the same question, in the same pattern. They ask "Where are you from?" "How old are you?" even "Are you married?" A question of age is strange in western culture. We don't ask these questions, but I know it is common in Korea and I can understand it.

CP : Please introduce Panamanian culture to us.
    Cesar : Panama has only one season all year round and it is sunny. Every Friday my friend and I would go on a picnic. It is also windy. Panama is famous for thc Panama Canal. It joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and helps foreign ships pass through thc canal. Therefore many people immigrate to Panama. in Korea, they distinguish foreigners by their appearance, but in Panama, you do not know where they come from before you talk with them. I was stunned when I noticed all the students in class were Korean except me.
    When Cesar Williams set foot in Korea he was 8,850 miles away from Korea. It might be very hard to live here. However, he soon learned to speak Korean and does not feel strange living in Korea. Moreover, he is considering studying for a long time in Korea. I hope he will achieve his goal while he is in Korea.

By Kim Tae-woo CP Reporter 
twkim@cnu.ac.kr