#3 KF-EAI Korea Friendship, What Comes After!

Hello. I am Nihat Khalilzade, a graduate of the first cohort of KF-EAI Korea Friendship.

Q. You are a graduate of the first cohort of KF-EAI Korea Friendship. What led you to participate in this program?

A friend I met while participating in another global activity introduced me to [KF-EAI Korea Friendship]. I was able to learn many aspects of Korean society that cannot be learned in university. By taking lectures in various fields, I filled in my shortcomings and deepened my thoughts about Korea. I have been in Korea for almost 7 years, and I feel that participating in this program allowed me to understand Korea more deeply.

Q. Was there a lecture that was particularly impressive?

I remember Professor Cho Dong-ho's (Ewha Womans University) lecture <A Story of North-South Korean Unification> from last year. When I first came to Korea, I was curious why Koreans did not seem to fear the threat from North Korea at all, and whether unification was truly possible under these circumstances. Professor Cho Dong-ho lectured on the necessity of Korean Peninsula unification based on the case of German unification, and I recall the point that he saw the possibility of Korean Peninsula unification in the German experience. It was a meaningful time as I could hear in-depth discussions about North-South Korean unification, a topic I had been interested in, including how the people of South and North Korea think about unification and what efforts should be made for it.

Q. Was learning Korean difficult?

Previously, I submitted a paper with foreign exchange students and Korean students as a team on the topic of 'Characteristics of Koreans Focusing on Communication Styles.' Although Koreans may not be aware of it, foreign students often face communication difficulties due to unique Korean linguistic habits that foreigners do not easily understand. For example, instead of saying 'You trust me?' or 'I'll do it for you,' Koreans say, 'Oppa, trust me?' or 'Unni will do it for you.' This is said to be a linguistic usage that reflects a culture that values social hierarchy. Also, even though Korea is not a polygamous society, they use expressions like 'our wife,' right? The use of the word 'uri' (we/our) reflects the 'uri-ism' of Koreans who find their identity within a group. Even if one knows the words and grammar perfectly, it is difficult to understand without knowing the unique usages of the Korean language. To understand the communication style of Koreans, I believe one must reinterpret the 'context' and infer their true intentions.

Q. You recently appeared on JTBC's <Non-Summit>. How was that experience?

I was surprised that there was no script. Of course, before the recording, each panelist has many discussions with their assigned writer about what opinions they will express. It felt fresher because the recording wasn't done according to a rigid script. I worked hard with the intention of promoting Azerbaijan on the broadcast, and later, the Deputy Ambassador of Azerbaijan, who watched the broadcast, invited me to a dinner banquet, expressing gratitude for my efforts to promote Azerbaijan. I was very thankful.

Q. A message for foreign exchange students studying in Korea.

Many of my friends who came to study abroad find it difficult to adapt to Korean culture. They often encounter bewildering situations due to differences in communication with Koreans, etiquette, language, and food. Efforts are needed to experience and understand Korean culture, but there are not many opportunities that provide such experiences. I hope they can participate in programs that offer in-depth understanding and experience of Korea as a whole, and opportunities for continuous interaction with people from various fields, rather than one-off Korean experience programs like KF-EAI Korea Friendship.