Organized by the Daejeon International Center (DIC) and hosted by Daejeon Metropolitan City, the very first Daejeon Sports Day for International Students is to be held at the gym of KT Human Resources Development Center on October 1 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The organizers describe the event as the first annual sports competition for international students from Daejeon “to provide a chance for mutual communication and harmony among international students [...and] to promote local patriotism for Daejeon among international students and their understanding for Korean culture.”
International students sports days have previously been arranged at the national level and at the university level, but the upcoming one finds its significance in that it is the first one ever to be held citywide in Daejeon, where international students’ population density is one of the highest in the country. Students from 10 universities in Daejeon and Chungcheongnam- do will be participating in a number of events ranging from several inter- university competitive games, such as soccer, group rope jump, and tug of war, traditional sports experience, and cheerleading performance. Raffle events are scheduled to give away tablet PCs, cameras, vouchers, etc. to participating students. Along with competitive games, there will also be a special stage for a talent show.
KAIST delegates are to compete with students from nine other universities, including Pai Chai University and Chungnam National University, whose participants came second and third place, respectively, at the 2013 national sports day for international students, and Daejeon University, which hosted its own sports day for international students in May with a whooping participant count of 160.
Application is open online through the web page https://ko.surveymonkey.com/r/XGDDJVC, and inquiries should be addressed to the KAIST International Scholar and Student Services Team. Those interested are reminded that the total number of available spots for each university is expected to be about 100, so early submission of applications is encouraged.