Ten thousand people in the audience. Fifty people performing a play. One key role, played by yours truly. 2nd place! What am I talking about?
It started about three weeks ago. I received an email asking me to join a Task Force Group. What the ultimate purpose of the task force was will come later. The important thing is that it meant that I had to learn how to dance. Me. Dance. Once again, Me. Completely inept at dancing. When I was younger I used to hide at weddings so that my mother wouldn't make me dance with my sisters.
Despite my pleadings not to be sent to my own personal dance hell, it could not be avoided. So I was sent to a resort, where I joined with my team who had already been practicing dancing for four weeks. I was given two weeks to do my best to learn the art of dance. Honestly, I started entirely with the wrong mindset. Constantly thinking that it was crazy for me to be there, that it would be impossible for me to learn the dance steps in enough time, much less actually move like Im dancing, and not just a robot. Partially because of that mindset, the first week was torture. Morning joggings followed by intense exercising and the afternoon and evening into the late night practicing dance.
It wasn't until after I realized that this was more than just a dance. It was a performance telling a story. A story to improve the culture of the company, Samsung. All it took was a small change of mindset. A team working together to paint a picture of the future. The second week went so much better, being able to see how the constant practicing in dance came together into a real story. I actually learned how to dance... at least the two dances that I had to learn. While I can't actually dance them like a real dance, I can at least simulate it. And after all that hard work, my twisted two and a half weeks took an interesting twist. The story was all about a global employee, Ademola. Ademola was an actual employee at Samsung that came to join us for the play. The thing is, he is actually of the class of 52, while this play is part of the Blue Festival for the class of 53! As a celebration for the class of 53, it would not be very practical to have someone from the class of 52 as the lead role. The upper management agreed, and commanded us to do something about it. There was a total of 5 foreigners in our group. 3 of them were from the class of 52. 1 was a chinese girl. The last one was me. There really was no choice. I had to step up to the plate and become the lead role, two days before the performance.
But what performance? What is this performance all about? Every year Samsung hosts The Blue Festival for new employees. It is a very large festival to celebrate and show the energy and passion of the new employees. The festival ends with a performance from various teams representing each different Samsung company. It is a totally different experience from any thing in America, practically unfathomable for its impracticality. More than 250 new employees spend six weeks doing nothing but dancing and getting paid for it. Imagine! Why? Well, as I mentioned, to show the energy and passion of the new employees. It gets the employees fired up and excited to work for such a company as Samsung and gets the other employees inspired and recharged seeing the new employees and remembering when they were new employees. It also helps to bond the new employees together and teach them about overcoming the impossible, accepting challenges that they never thought they could overcome.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Saturday, May 11, 2013
To the Han River
In January, I had a dream. It wasn't quite to grandiose as Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream, but it was my dream, and that's good enough for me. Before I began work and was swallowed up by the man eating machine known as Samsung (<-actually you could probably insert any large coorporation here), I wanted to go on one last adventure. As if living in Korea isn't adventure enough. My dream was to bike to Busan. That is roughly 600km away from Seoul. It was the middle of January, but it was starting to get warm, so I was really preparing mentally for such a trip. Luckily I was saved by a night of heavy snow that quite abruptly ended postponed that dream. That's right, its still going to happen some day.
Last time I met my wife's extended family, and last time I met her father as well, I heard comments about my belly. As everyone know's I am thin as a bean stalk. I don't have a belly. Or at least I didn't, but thats what happens when you sit all day every day listening to lectures with no chance to move around. So I decided to do something about it. Of course, to be honest, every day I decide to do something about it, but somehow by the time night comes, the sit ups and crunches that I plan to do end up being done in my dreams. But, last weekend, I was finally able to really get out and exercise, so I biked about 30km (18miles). That was the longest I have biked in Korea, I am sure, though certainly not the longest I have biked in Chicago. I went twice the length (60km, 37 miles) with the return trip fighting a headwind. I was beat upon arriving at home. Thank goodness I didn't try to go to Busan in January, because that would have been a really tough journey. I know I would have made it, but it would have been a very tough challenge.
Must build up endurance to go roughly 150km a day before I can think about heading to Busan.
Last time I met my wife's extended family, and last time I met her father as well, I heard comments about my belly. As everyone know's I am thin as a bean stalk. I don't have a belly. Or at least I didn't, but thats what happens when you sit all day every day listening to lectures with no chance to move around. So I decided to do something about it. Of course, to be honest, every day I decide to do something about it, but somehow by the time night comes, the sit ups and crunches that I plan to do end up being done in my dreams. But, last weekend, I was finally able to really get out and exercise, so I biked about 30km (18miles). That was the longest I have biked in Korea, I am sure, though certainly not the longest I have biked in Chicago. I went twice the length (60km, 37 miles) with the return trip fighting a headwind. I was beat upon arriving at home. Thank goodness I didn't try to go to Busan in January, because that would have been a really tough journey. I know I would have made it, but it would have been a very tough challenge.
Must build up endurance to go roughly 150km a day before I can think about heading to Busan.
Mother's Day
To all the mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day. I am very sorry to report that my wife, as yet, has not been able to enter into the hallowed chambers of motherhood and therefore cannot yet be on the receivership of such congratulatory words of kindness and love.
Just last week, here in Korea, we celebrated Children's Day and Parent's Day. For some reason, both parents get celebrated on the same day, probably so that they can go back to work the next day without needing a second day off later. Some may ask, why do they need a special Children's Day? After all, every day is a childs day, at least from the grown up's perspective. Well, I have not yet done all of the proper research yet to be fully informed, but I was told that Children's Day was created to encourage children's rights. As I write this, I am becoming more and more curious exactly what that means by children's rights.
Last night my wife asked me what we do in America for Mother's Day.
Me: "Well, normally we wake up early in the morning and go to the race. Usually before the race starts, I go and buy my mom a cup of coffee from McDonalds."
Wife: "Ok, I mean, what do normal families do for Mother's Day?"
To that, I had no answer, I don't know what normal families do on Mother's Day, so if someone could please educate me, I'd appreciate it.
Just last week, here in Korea, we celebrated Children's Day and Parent's Day. For some reason, both parents get celebrated on the same day, probably so that they can go back to work the next day without needing a second day off later. Some may ask, why do they need a special Children's Day? After all, every day is a childs day, at least from the grown up's perspective. Well, I have not yet done all of the proper research yet to be fully informed, but I was told that Children's Day was created to encourage children's rights. As I write this, I am becoming more and more curious exactly what that means by children's rights.
Last night my wife asked me what we do in America for Mother's Day.
Me: "Well, normally we wake up early in the morning and go to the race. Usually before the race starts, I go and buy my mom a cup of coffee from McDonalds."
Wife: "Ok, I mean, what do normal families do for Mother's Day?"
To that, I had no answer, I don't know what normal families do on Mother's Day, so if someone could please educate me, I'd appreciate it.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Life as we know it-North Korea's Hot Air
Lately, I have been rather absent from my blog. In fact, I have been rather removed from the Internet entirely. By the time I get home after training, I am so exhausted mentally that I just simply pass out on the couch. Listening to some really difficult classes in Korean can be really exhausting, and then to attempt to take a test on said classes can be more so. That being said, I realize that, considering the current political situation, I should probably say a word or so about how things are going here.
I am not sure how often people hear about it in America now, but recently, every morning when I wake up, the first story in the news is always about "Bukhan" (North Korea). Even now, as I type this, late at night, on the news they are talking about North Korea. They have made a serious of belligerent, boisterous, brash comments threatening war. The most current comment was a warning to all the foreigners in South Korea to make arrangements to leave as soon as we can. It's that serious. Or is it?
To be sure, even the Koreans around me are now taking this situation a bit more seriously than previous ones. I was here in Korea when an unknown torpedo, suspected to be North Korea's, sunk a South Korean military vessel. It was very tense here, and there were a lot of people angry with North Korea, but everyone knew that South Korea wasn't going to attack, it was just a lot of anger and frustration. I was here when Yeon-pyeong-do was shelled by North Korea. The island is off the coast of Incheon, where I was living at the time, and even then, while people were worried, the overall concern was more towards those who lived on the island and nearby islands and towards the two civilians and two military personnel who lost their lives during the shelling. There was not that much talk of escalation then either, only a lot of anger. There were many smaller events as well. I remember one where some refugees from North Korea wanted to send brochures across the border via balloons and North Korea threatened to shell them if the balloons were sent. I believe the South Korean military prevented them from launching the balloons on the scheduled day, but eventually, the group was successful, and nothing really serious happened.
This time, everyone is just a little bit more edgy. But.... But, as I listen to the radio, to interviews from locals, the general consensus is this. Time and again North Korea has made belligerent provocative threats. The locals are used to these threats and recognize them as the hot air that they are. Tensions are high, but if you go to the grocery store, nobody is buying massive amounts of ramyun or water to survive some kind of serious catastrophic event. Nobody is panicking. I believe that there is more of a chance to get injured walking across the street than to get injured due to war with North Korea right now. That being said, please look both ways when crossing the street. To be on the safe side, check one more time too.
My thoughts on the matter:
-incredibly frustrated with the situation: they aren't going to attack, so stop blowing hot air and rocking the boat
-annoyed: all this news about war must be wreaking havoc on my mother and grandmother's sleep pattern
-mildly amused: seriously, in this climate, with even China not fully backing them, they threaten war? Suppose it happened, the Chinese could not openly support them for fear of global condemnation.
-confused: what if it really happened? What if there was a spark that set everything off? Of course, we can go to America, but what about the family here? What about my job?
I hope that those in power, especially those in the US, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, and North Korea, can work quickly and effectively to diffuse this situation. In addition, I hope that we can put an end to the constant charades that North Korea has developed and in fact mastered. I ask that you all include the diffusion of this rather tense situation in your prayers as well.
That being said, have no worries! I have prepared (or rather am in the process of preparing) in case things go bad, and am confident that things won't.
I am not sure how often people hear about it in America now, but recently, every morning when I wake up, the first story in the news is always about "Bukhan" (North Korea). Even now, as I type this, late at night, on the news they are talking about North Korea. They have made a serious of belligerent, boisterous, brash comments threatening war. The most current comment was a warning to all the foreigners in South Korea to make arrangements to leave as soon as we can. It's that serious. Or is it?
To be sure, even the Koreans around me are now taking this situation a bit more seriously than previous ones. I was here in Korea when an unknown torpedo, suspected to be North Korea's, sunk a South Korean military vessel. It was very tense here, and there were a lot of people angry with North Korea, but everyone knew that South Korea wasn't going to attack, it was just a lot of anger and frustration. I was here when Yeon-pyeong-do was shelled by North Korea. The island is off the coast of Incheon, where I was living at the time, and even then, while people were worried, the overall concern was more towards those who lived on the island and nearby islands and towards the two civilians and two military personnel who lost their lives during the shelling. There was not that much talk of escalation then either, only a lot of anger. There were many smaller events as well. I remember one where some refugees from North Korea wanted to send brochures across the border via balloons and North Korea threatened to shell them if the balloons were sent. I believe the South Korean military prevented them from launching the balloons on the scheduled day, but eventually, the group was successful, and nothing really serious happened.
This time, everyone is just a little bit more edgy. But.... But, as I listen to the radio, to interviews from locals, the general consensus is this. Time and again North Korea has made belligerent provocative threats. The locals are used to these threats and recognize them as the hot air that they are. Tensions are high, but if you go to the grocery store, nobody is buying massive amounts of ramyun or water to survive some kind of serious catastrophic event. Nobody is panicking. I believe that there is more of a chance to get injured walking across the street than to get injured due to war with North Korea right now. That being said, please look both ways when crossing the street. To be on the safe side, check one more time too.
My thoughts on the matter:
-incredibly frustrated with the situation: they aren't going to attack, so stop blowing hot air and rocking the boat
-annoyed: all this news about war must be wreaking havoc on my mother and grandmother's sleep pattern
-mildly amused: seriously, in this climate, with even China not fully backing them, they threaten war? Suppose it happened, the Chinese could not openly support them for fear of global condemnation.
-confused: what if it really happened? What if there was a spark that set everything off? Of course, we can go to America, but what about the family here? What about my job?
I hope that those in power, especially those in the US, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, and North Korea, can work quickly and effectively to diffuse this situation. In addition, I hope that we can put an end to the constant charades that North Korea has developed and in fact mastered. I ask that you all include the diffusion of this rather tense situation in your prayers as well.
That being said, have no worries! I have prepared (or rather am in the process of preparing) in case things go bad, and am confident that things won't.
Friday, March 22, 2013
A True Blue start
Hello hello welcome its so good to be back. But back from where? I underwent a surgery of sorts, a transfusion of blood from the standard average red blood to the more supernatural blue blood. For the many who do not understand my secret code, in short, I was in training as a new employee of Samsung. It is common knowledge here that everyone from Samsung has the bllod of Samsung running through their veins. And for those completely clueless, Samsungs logo happens to be blue. While I cant really reveal many things that went on during the first training course, I will say this: the Samsung training program is truly unique and, while I cant speak for some of the wild left wing technology giants in California, there is nothing like it in America. I danced, I sang, and I acted. What I didnt do was sleep a whole lot, usually 3 to 4 hours a night with a few bad nights of just 2 hours.
There is a concept in Korea that people from western cultures have a hard time accepting. It is this idea of oneness. In America we place a lot of emphasis on the individual and his spirit and creativity. In Korea they tend to think of one team as ONE. Oneness doesnt mean that they force everyone to give up their personality and just become a number in a pseudo socialist state of big brotherism. No, its rather that conformity is more valued and emphasized than individuality.
So what does all this business of one ness have to do with me and my training? Everything. Learning how to function in the company within the group yet still expressing ourselves was an important aspect of the training. But Ive said too much already. If you want to know more you are just going to have to contact me directly.
So back to my blue blood and the psychological brainwashing that I went through. In short, it worked. To what extent one must wait and discover for ones self over the course of the next few months but I believe my blood is sufficiently blue. Im just glad that the first round of training is over and I can see my wife again, breath fresh air and see the sun again, and walk outside at will again.
Upon being released from my enprisonment, I mean training, however I did expeeience a slight hint of disconnect from the outside world. I was slightly disoriented with my surroundings. Which lead me to ponder how do ex cons feel aftee being released from years of prison?
A thought to ponder!
Monday, January 28, 2013
Impressions 6
Chiang Mai is the Wisconsin Dells of Thailand. Plenty of sights to see downtown lots of souvenir shopping (of which we did not partake) and a plethora of outdoor activities. Normally such a touristy place would not interest me but after the time spent in foreign Bangkok it was a breath of fresh air. You see in Korea people are somewhat afraid to speak to you in english but spoken slowly enough they can understand. Many Thais including young ones dont even try. The fear in their eyes is deeper than the Pacific ocean and as their deep dark eyes get bigger and bigger in fear you realize it is hopeless. Smile and move on and vow to learn Thai. Chiang Mai is worlds apart in this regard. While all in all Thais are extremely friendly they cannot express that very well in Bangkok but in Chiang Mai their kindness is unleashed.
We spent two days in Chiang Mai but we coukd have spent a week without getting bored. Everyone is laid back and relaxed. No harrassing just very casual. I believe they hippies from the 70s relocated here.
While in Chiang Mai we took a tour that included a ride on some very sickly elephants. In the future I must search more thoroughly and fund sociably responsible agiencies because that part was not pleasant. However we were also able to see a long neck tribe, a hike to a waterfall, whitewater rafting ride, and bamboo raft ride.
The following day was a half day cooking school. The chef took us out to a local market where he explained some of the foods. Then he took us out to his farm where he showed us the many herbs used in Thai cooking. He was very concerned about organic farming so that was a plus. Then he walked us through our four dishes as we prepared them. In total we made 8 dishes and had sone extra curry paste for later. Well worth the 800 baht each ($27).
And then there was the long overnight train back to Bangkok. Infamous for extremely late arrivals it did not let us down. We were to arrive in Bangkok at 8 30. It is now 10 48 and I suspect we have a half hour to go. The reason... there is only one track serving two directions.
Key fact: Thailand has the best train system in the region.
Impressions 5
2013-01-19T11:56:54.265Z
Rama 9 Soi 3, Huai Khwang, Bangkok 10310, Thailand
Arrival into Chiang Mai was rather uneventful despite the information guy who was sulky after I didnt take his advice about lodging. Got on a minibus right away no problems and no overcharging.
First night we walked into my first pick of hostels but they only had a room for one night. No problem we can move the next day. After a walk to the night market we realized no places had rooms available. But lets not breeze over the night market. It starts out small just a few peddlers on the street selling typical tourist merchandise. But once you find the side branch hosting the food market youve hit the gold market. A plaza very similar to the plazas in Rome with one key difference... Ladyboys, Transgenders,and cross dressers in their show outfits. I guess its Las Vegas meets Rome? Food was good if not great at the market but the rotti was delicious. A crepe like invention commonly filled with banana chocolate or egg then drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. Not only is it delicious but also dirt cheap. One banana rotti will typically run you 25 baht roughly 80 cents. In fact the following night we went to a restaurant that judging from the atmosphere in the US woul run you 75$ in Korea maybe 45$ but for the two of us eating three dishes and a beer it cost 435 baht. Thats 14$. Any one planning to retire soon and lookung at prospective locations dont discount Thailand. And because Chiang Mai is the Wisconsin Dells of Thailand plenty of tourists assures no problems with finding those who speak english. Seriously... Think about it.
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