When President Nick Bruno traveled to South Korea to tour the universities involved in exchange programs with ULM, he discovered he would receive an honorary doctorate in business administration from Hanbat University.

Bruno traveled with Eric Pani, vice president of academic affairs, Michael Camille, associate dean of the College of Arts, Education and Sciences and Kioh Kim, coordinator of International Exchange Programs to three universities.

Kim was very excited to visit Hanbat National University, Chungham National University and Geumgang University, but was even more excited for Bruno to receive his honorary doctorate.

“He was always asking me about the things that he had not seen before in Korea. He was working hard to learn Korean language before our departure. I was amazed to hear the perfect Korean pronunciation from him,” Kim said.

Kim has developed exchange programs with universities in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Kim said ULM has a very strong relationship with Hanbat and that’s made possible with Bruno’s continuing support of the internship program.

In South Korea, university presidents only serve for a fixed period of time and Hanbat President, Won Mook Lee, hoped Bruno would visit before his term expired in June.

“Koreans put a lot of emphasis on relationships. I’m humbled that they felt so strongly that they gave me the opportunity to be rewarded that honorary doctorate,” Bruno said.

After being so warmly welcomed by Hanbat, Bruno considers Lee to be a good friend. Lee even asked Bruno to stay an extra two days, so he could give him a tour of the country.

Traveling to South Korea

Bruno didn’t know what to expect when they left for the 15-hour flight, because of the turmoil with North Korea.

“Here listening to the news and North Koreans talking about firing missiles and rallying their armies,” said Bruno. “I guess I went their expecting a considerable amount of tension and anxiety as it related to those potential conflicts.”

But he found them to be very calm, as if nothing was going on. There was no tension and Bruno said he was glad he got the opportunity.

South Korea is roughly the size of Louisiana and has a population 55 million people. There are large residential skyscrapers and mountains covering most of the country.

Although he didn’t get the chanceto tour the country, Bruno still enjoyed what he did see.

“It’s a very clean country; it’s a very pretty country in relation to how they’ve developed it and the constructions. Their universities are amazing,” Bruno said.

Bruno was amazed at the masses of people living in what seemed to be a small place.

“As Americans, we’re so accustomed to space. But then, all of a sudden, you’re put in an environment where people are bumping into you,” Bruno said.

It was the first time Bruno had ever been to South Korea and to the universities.

When he was younger, he enjoyed reading about far eastern culture. Traveling to South Korea satisfied a dream of his to finally visit one of the countries he enjoyed learning about.

“I wanted to schedule to take them many different places, show them many things, and have them eat many different Korean foods within such a short time,” Kim said.

Kim said Bruno wasn’t picky about any “strange food” he had not eaten before and liked all of the Korean food he tried except for “fermented skate.”

“On Saturday when we were touring Seoul, there were school children who were actually going to school, so they take education very seriously,” said Bruno. “They realize that education is the future of a country and its economic and social well being.”

Hanbat Commencement

In the time that they were there, Hanbat was having commencement. During the event, three Hanbat students who were the first group of Hanbat exchange students to come to ULM, sought Bruno out.

“It was truly a great moment, they were so excited that I was there and participating in the same commencement that they were. Their English was beautiful,” Bruno said.

Bruno would love nothing more than for his students to take the opportunity to experience one of the institutions.

“It would change your life. I have a totally different perspective than I did before I went. It’s an amazing culture and amazing institutions and what they’re doing over there,” Bruno said.

He believes it shows a different perspective of what the world is like.

“To sit down and actually spend time with international students is very enlightening. You begin to see how they think and what they think about us,” Bruno said.

“Students need to see and understand how people on the other side of the earth live because the earth became flat,” Kim said.

According to Kim, most Korean students coming to ULM have not been to any other countries. As soon as they come to the U.S. and to ULM, “their eyes are just open to the world like frogs can see the great ocean after getting out the well.”

Once they experience a new country and culture, Kim said they usually set up their life goals much more clearly.

Meeting the Staff

While visiting Chungnam, one of the faculty members told Bruno that he was ULM alum. There were six other ULM alums teaching in the city.

“It’s a weird thing to have someone talk to you and ask you about the bayou and different parts of the campus from that far away,” Bruno said.

Bruno discussed with the leaders of the universities further collaborations and exchange programs such as possible faculty exchanges. They would love to have native English speakers help their students.

Kim believes that this is something that could happen soon.

Lee wants all of his students to be able to speak English. Bruno spent two months working with Rosetta Stone on Korean.

“I do admire him because a large portion of their administration and faculty speak English and they speak it pretty well,” he said about Lee.

ULM was strongly recommended by faculty and the offices of the international programs of the three universities.