On November 2, a volunteer event took place in front of the New Administrative Building where students, professors and faculty members of Hanyang University (HYU) participated in kimjang (the process of making kimchi) to share with needy locals in the neighborhood. The Hanyang Volunteer Corps, a representative volunteering society in HYU, promoted the kimjang event for 2013 in place of their annual volunteering work of delivering briquettes. “The reason why we decided to change the program was that the number of the people using briquettes is decreasing each year. Therefore, we determined that kimchi, one of the most enjoyable foods for Koreans, would be a proper substitution,” said Choi Sung-hwan, the administrational manager of the Hanyang Volunteer Corps.

Although it was raining, the approximately 200 volunteers from HYU enthusiastically attended this event, making and then delivering the kimchi. The kimchi made that day was delivered to 650 households in Seongdong-gu. Choi Eun-sung, a Senior majoring in Germany Language and Literature, said “I feel proud of myself. This event was meaningful to me because I was able to make other people happy by making kimchi on my own.”

The event provides students with a worthwhile experience of helping others while also giving them a special experience of kimjang. “Though attending this event was little hard because of the rain, kimjang was a very interesting activity which was totally new to me. It was a great new experience,” said Kim Min-jun, a Sophomore in the Division of Materials Science and Engineering.