End of Week 1!

I’m less than an hour away now from wrapping up my first week at the office and being free for the weekend. Having now been in Seoul for just over a week, I couldn’t be happier about the ease of my transition. I have a great apartment, a cell phone, a (so far) good job, a small network of American friends, and a couple of Korean friends.

The weeks been fairly uneventful, which explains why I haven’t really felt the need to update my blog since Monday night. On Tuesday I had lunch with my boss and a few of my senior co-workers. It was much easier than Mondays lunch, as this time everyone spoke great English. During lunch, I talked mainly with my cubicle neighbor, Mr. Moon. We found common conversational ground when I brought up sports and found that Mr. Moon was somewhat of a Braves fan back in the heyday when we had Glavine, Maddox, and Smoltzy in our line-up.

The rest of my lunches have re-united me with my fellow interns, and fostered more sadly comedic attempts to communicate. I look at it as a positive though, as it has helped me foster friendships with some native Koreans and will force me to really develop my language skills.

Today after lunch we talked over coffee about music. They asked who my favorite artists were and I listed off Adele, Mumford and Sons, and Muse. They had heard of Muse and Adele, but I guess British folk rock still has a ways to go before it penetrates into Asian culture.

After listening to Adele’s single, “Rolling in the Deep,” Lee asked if I had ever heard of Brian McKnight. I said I had not and so he pulled out his phone and played “Still.” I could not hold back my laughter. If you were like me and had no idea who this guy is, I encourage you to type “Brian McKnight Still” into youtube and listen to the song. I suppose that if Brian ever loses his fan base of desperate 12 year-old girls and lonely-hearted middle-aged women, then he can still rely on young Korean men to fill the void.

After I returned from lunch today I wrapped up my second report. This one was a review of another lengthy document, this time overviewing India’s trade policies. I took more time on this one. I don’t think I necessarily did a bad job on my first, but my boss, Mr. Yoo, requested that I give him more detail and provide a more complete picture of the policies. I’ve worked hard the past four days and am now ready to turn in a lengthy 7 page prose discussing India’s successes in the services and manufacturing sectors thanks to trade liberalization and the challenges it faces in propping up its struggling agricultural industry and building up its infrastructure to ensure continued growth (I shortened the title a bit before I turned it in). It’s not the most interesting work I’ve ever done, but it is at least intellectually stimulating and if I ever go back to Tech and take a class on Indian trade policy I think I’ll make an A.

Tomorrow morning at 9AM I will be returning to Kotra’s facilities to embark on my first company outing. We are leaving for an overnight stay at a Buddhist Temple. I was told to wear athletic shoes so that I could “climb a mountain” as well as bring a change of clothes, a towel, and a toothbrush. Other than this I have no idea what to expect, but I am pretty excited, and I will be sure to discuss the adventure in detail when I return on Sunday night.

On a final note I would like to wish Mariah Wolek a (day late) Happy Birthday! I hope you had a good one Mariah, it was great getting to talk to you, Nic, Pep, and the kids on Skype!