World Knowledge Forum

Practice Day 1
Listen to 36 minute speech given by William H. Gates III called "A New Kind of Capitalism for the 21st Century."
Practice Day 2
Listen to a panel at the World Economic Forum discussing the global energy crisis.
Practice Day 3
Listen to a 45 minutes speech given by Barack Obama to Congress on health care reforms.

I did all this practicing for the 10th Annual World Knowledge Forum held in Seoul at the lovely WalkerHill Sheraton Hotel & Casino.
*Unfortunately, I did not get any time at the Casino.

http://www.wkforum.org/WKF/v3/eng/main.php

Many people were asked, but after careful consideration between FMs, Training Center, and Faculty Management, a mere 20 people were asked to be candidates to attend. We had to go to 3 training sessions to prove our press release writing ability. True, the room was filled with high-caliber writing talent spanning from people with Masters in English to those with newspaper and radio backgrounds. Intimidated, I walked in with only a blog under my belt. Sure I was a contributor to my university newspaper and had received As on various essays and research papers, but nothing could really prepare me for these training sessions. It wasn't the draw of seeing George W. Bush open the WKF. I wanted to go as a reporter for Maeil Business Newspaper. This would be a great professional and learning experience.

We were asked to watch a clip of either a speech or panel discussion that spanned topics that would be featured at the World Knowledge Forum such as the recession, the currency exchange, and the energy crisis. Then, we would have to rush to a computer somewhere within the 4-story building and create a press release in standard format with at least 10 direct quotations.

Equipped with MP3s, blank sheets of paper, and a writing utensils, we set-off in a writing competition to prove our ability since only 10 people would be chosen out of 20.

Without research done ahead of time, we were fresh fish starting relatively on level playing ground. My first session felt insanely hard. Thankfully, we listened to Bill Gates who is relatively easy to understand. I had over 8 pages of loose-leaf notes. I picked a room where the air-conditioning was set to heater mode. I thought that listening to music and retyping all my notes would help me, but these approaches proved time-consuming leaving my content bare, disorganized, and unfinished.

My second practice session was even harder. We were given a panel of non-North Americans discussing the global energy crisis. What made it even worst is that were were not given one of the names of the panels; perhaps the most important-the head of OPEC! They used unfamiliar terminology and had thick accents.

My third attempt was my best. We listened to Barack Obama, an eloquent speaker full of great sound-bites for the press release. Furthermore, since he is the President addressing Congress, there were plenty of pauses for clapping or emphasis-crucial time needed for getting clear notes and quotations. I attacked this assignment differently than the others. This time I wrote a 5 point outline of his speech, then placing appropriate quotes within each category. All was left was for me to paraphrase his ideas and write around the quotes. I was left with 5 extra minutes to proofread.

Happy about my last attempt, but still in the doldrums about my total performance, I was very discouraged about my chances of going as a reporter at the WKF. We were given chances to talk with the editors about our 3 practices, but I didn't even want to entertain the idea of failure. Nevertheless, I was surprisingly chosen.

We had to submit research prior to the event to show management of our dedication. Lazy and pressed for time, I submitted lengthy research mostly copy-pasted bios. However, as the event approached I watched YouTube clips of interviews I would be covering. The presentations and panels I covered are below.

Paul Krugman, 2008 Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics

"The Global Economy"

"New Mobile Map 2015"

Woo-Young Kwak, Executive VP, LG Electronics

Zane Moi, Regional Director, Research in Motion (RIM)

Esko Aho, Executive VP, Nokia Corporation & Former PM of Finland

"Creative Marketing in Down Times"
Jean-Claude Larreche, Professor, Insead
Joe Fuller, Chairman, Monitor Group

Sue Shim, Senior VP Marketing, Samsung

Bernd Schmitt, Professor, Columbia University

Bill Rhodes, Vice Chairman of Citigroup
"The Global Economy: the Outlook & Role of Korea"

After we finished the press releases, they would be edited, and then posted in PDF format on the WKF website. Even more rewarding, they were used by Maeil Business Newspaper reporters to create actual news stories.

*Press Releases can be found here http://www.wkforum.org/WKF/v3/eng/sub3_1.php

I spent 2 days with 20 Chungdahm writing experts. We held a corner of the Maeil Business Newspaper press room. Our table was covered with laptops, half-eaten sandwiches, and mounds of empty coffee cups. We racked our brains for the perfect word, the right quote, and meeting the 45 minute deadline. We sweated in our business suits waiting for the next session to begin or just the day to end. Thankfully, Chungdahm paid for us to stay at the W Hotel, the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in. My experience at Chungdahm has had its ups and downs, but this has been by far the best learning experience I've had during my tenure at this company. I've made friends with the best and brightest of this company and I know this won't be the last time we work or at least see each other.

World Knowledge Forum Chungdahm Writers

Highlights in Korea

No this is not an entry about the highlights of Korea, but rather a response to a reader of my blog: "Where do you get your hair done?"

Since I moved from Texas to NYC at 18 for my freshman year of college, I decided to do something drastic. I made a drastic move, therefore I needed a drastic change. Being ethnically Asian--specifically Filipina, going blond was just the thing. Throughout university, I was jet black, striped blond, all blond, brunette, and even burgundy. Now that I'm well out of university and my experimental days, I have stuck with blond.

After many conversations with foreigner blond friends, Zen kept coming up. It is called The Art of Zen. It's a small salon at Exit 1 of Ewha Women's University subway station. My first stylist was Sunny. She once interpreted "ash blond" as in NO RED to mean "platinum". My students called me "Grandma Teacher" for a good week until she fixed it for free with low lights to create a dark blond color. Since the miscommunication, she has understood my color as "bright sunny blond". She wasn't the greatest colorist, but she was very easy to talk to and created great cuts for me. She was Vidal Sassoon trained in London and is actually married to a Chungdahm employee which made our conversations pretty interesting. She would keep me for 5 hours as if my visit were a spa treatment. I was a bit skeptical because she was very pregnant when I met her. Nevertheless, I got to enjoy some People, Vogue, Cosmo while she and her assistant went at it highlighting, massaging, cutting etc. I don't go to her anymore because she has left to be a full-time mommy. Pretty typical for Korean's wives here.

The dark "grandma" look.
Winter 08-09

Now, I go to Yunny. She is a petite girl who spent most of her career in a salon in Australia. She looks like a university student, but she is well-married so there's not telling how old she could be. She is better than Sunny because she is in tune with the edgier styles of today. Furthermore, I'll tell her what I want and she'll counter with even better styles and color. I now spend around 3-4 hours in the salon, but this time with less magazine reading and more conversation about life, love, and traveling. I have been to her twice and have loved the results every time. She even threw in a hair treatment for free the last time I saw her!

Shorter & Blonder
Summer 09

Information:

The Art of Zen
Ewha Women's University Subway Stop Exit 1
Phone: 02-362-4125

Colorist/Stylist
Yunny

Half-head High-lights: 90,000 won
Haircut: 30,000 won
Wash/Dry/Style: Free

*Bring a few photos of the style you want to discuss your options.

The Way To Junggye

Subway Station Sign to Junggye Station

What do you get when you take a group of eclectic people and stick them in northeastern Seoul? Here’s a hint, the answer starts with a “J” and rhymes with “Unggye”. From the second you got off the plane at Incheon Airport, your biggest fear, after “I hope I like kimchi”, probably was, “I hope I like my co-workers?” While many other schools are known for recruiting the same type of person over and over again, the Chungdahm experience is unique in that from the very beginning it brings people from all walks of life together that may otherwise never have met.

The Junggye Branch is a perfect example of this dynamic blend. The general consensus seems to be that from the instant you walk through the door on your first day at Junggye, there is something very laid back about this branch; yet also full of many knowledgeable people who can teach each other so much in and out of the classroom.

One of the first things that you realize is the amazing diversity of the instructors being of different races, of vastly different alma maters, and of very different backgrounds. Broken down even further, each individual brings experiences so unique spanning from the teacher who spent the last year backpacking the world to the one who has never visited any country but Korea. Junggye is the microcosm of what teaching needs – a collective of diversity that enhances the classroom experience. Whether this includes the disc jockey, camp counselor, sandwich artist, post-modern rock guitarist, customer service representative, journalist, swing dancer, or class president, we create quality teaching.

The second thing you quickly realize is they all genuinely like each other and want to spend time in each others company. It doesn’t matter where you are from or what you look like. From Namsan to “noraebang”, to dinner and disco, from baseball games and barbecues, to volleyball Sundays and trips to Busan or Seoraksan, the group at Junggye is packed full of fun-loving people always planning events to spend time together even when they don’t have to. I can hardly count the times an email has circulated at 9:15pm about having Chinese in Kondae or galbi in Nowon. People will generally hang around to see what everyone else is doing after work or ask you about how your class was.

So what is the secret to having a group of people who like each other this much? We like to think it starts from the top:

Have a Faculty Manager who is open, friendly, generous, laid-back, and inspires - rather than scares you into action.

Have Head Instructors that are objective who do not nit-pick about minor details, but encourage you to find your own style in order to become the best instructor you can be.

Have instructors who are willing to share materials, secrets, and tips of the trade that work for them, rather than hog them away so that only they can be number 1.

Have a fun-loving and high-spirited group of people who are friendly, honest, open, and up for new things.

But most importantly, the real beauty of Junggye is that we consider ourselves a family; not just a group of co-workers. Cheesy as this may sound, we actually call ourselves the “Junggye Family” because here, that’s just what we are. We find ourselves laughing, crying, teasing one another, and experiencing life together. We have students wondering what really happens in the break room because at any given time there is animated discussion, laughter, and sometimes even a dance contest or two.

Singing at Hweshik (Company Outing) & Silly Bonding
Noraebang & St. Pattys Day

Paparazzi Bonding

Me, Norma & Susie, Eugene, Mark, Juliann, & Dan B.

Everland & Hiking
John, Marc, Dave & Dave and Hannah

Girls & Boys Bonding

Hannah, Mierie, Ellie & Dan C., Mark, Dan B.

Jeju & Busan Trip Bonding
Paula, Susie, Norma & Me + Eugene & Dave

Most of us have met people here who will be in our lives long after teaching in Korea becomes a distant memory. We may leave because the teaching experience has forever scarred us, or simply, that our year is up and we need to move on to the next stage of our lives. Despite the reasons, we leave with a genuine feeling of love for our co-workers – our family. Even when we have to go our separate ways; we are always part of the family. It’s this special bond that keeps people coming back to visit long after they have moved on to different lives.

The Junggye Family

In the end, what you learn about yourself at Junngye is that it doesn’t matter where you are from or what you identify with. To everyone here, you are simply a person, and even more importantly, you are family. One veteran at Junggye put it best “It doesn’t even matter if you leave the country… once Junggye-er, always a Junggye-er”. You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family, and with a family like Junggye, why would you want to?

*This article was published in the Chungdahm Summer/ Fall edition of Culture newsletter written & edited by Norma Ojehomon & Shadiyah Lim.

Quickie Eye Exam

Going to the eye doctor is such a dreadful experience...back home that is. Now, that I've lived in Korea over a year, my one-year supply of contacts have diminished. Why is it a dreadful experience you ask? Well, for me it is because I always end up being humiliated.

What number do you see?

What letter do you see?

What animal do you see?

Repeat with the other eye hoping to have memorized the previous lines.

Fortunately, I don't mind my tests back home because I have a pretty hot doctor back home that can look as close to my retinas as he wants. Joke joke. He's actually my friend's dad whom I've had as a doctor for over 10 years.

In Korea, you don't have to go through all the tests; glaucoma, cornea shape, diabetes, dilation, refraction, peripherals, color-blind etc. The doctors--hopefully--or eye professionals didn't even ask what my prescription was. They sat me down at a machine where I had to look through binoculars at a green dot while a red laser scanned my eye. The process took less than 3 minutes an out comes a "receipt" with my prescription. Less than 100% accurate, the checker puts hand-held lenses with the machine's prescription asking me how it is. If it isn't the best clarity, the checker will test me with other lenses near the given prescription. After this 5 minute consultation, I move to the contact lens counter and pick the box I want. This is the toughest part about the entire exam because Korea does not sell one month daily wear contacts! I had to buy 2 week instead. The cost of the contacts were more expensive (150,000 won for 6 month supply) than what I pay at home, but what I pay at home is the $100/year insured rate. The big plus is that the entire consulation was free! Way to go Korea with your advances in eye checkups, affordability, and ease!