"MT", which stands for membership training, is a modern phenomenon in Korea. It is basically a retreat where a group of people from an organization go away together for a day or more and carry out a variety of group-bonding activities and training activities.
It is a rite of passage for university students who might go on several MT retreats for the various clubs and associations they have joined and is a good way for the younger students and older students to bond with each other and establish and strengthen the all-important "senior-junior" relationship. (See the feature article in the previous edition of the eZine for an explanation of the senior-junior relationship.) Drinking alcohol together is considered by Koreans to be one of the best ways to bond with others, so naturally there is lots of drinking when people go on MT.
MT is not done just by university students. Companies, religious organizations and others also go on MT. The ratio of training to fun activities will depend on the organization, but in the case of university clubs, very little training is accomplished.
A Korean associate's MT experiences are a great topic for light conversation. Undoubtedly, they have many humorous anecdotes to share.
