Weeks 12–20 · Seoul, South Korea · April – May 2014
Korea —
The DMZ lite tour with a landmine warning as an afterthought, Sharon and Annelise visiting for spring break, Buddha’s Birthday lanterns and boiled silkworm, getting a haircut without Korean, 100,000 people on Bukhansan, the not-really-voluntary volunteer day with a table of Korean War veterans, and Korean baseball with a mini-keg backpack server.
Last two weeks been pretty much work, eat, sleep (OK — eat was a couple of times a day). Got out twice — once to see a long-time friend and her family that I knew from my old company and once to the DMZ. There are 2 DMZ tours — we took the DMZ lite tour as the tour that actually goes into North Korea has a long waiting list. We’ll sign up for that this summer when the girls are visiting — ironically, Alex will not be able to cross with the other 3 of us because she is US military…
The Korean Demilitarized Zone is a 250km strip of land running roughly along the 38th parallel, established by the 1953 Armistice Agreement that ended active fighting in the Korean War. It is 4km wide and is considered the most heavily fortified border on earth, with land mines, barbed wire, guard posts, and armed patrols on both sides. The Armistice was a ceasefire, not a peace treaty — North and South Korea are technically still at war. Third Infiltration Tunnel, opened to tourists, was one of four tunnels discovered dug by North Korea under the DMZ. North Korea claimed they were coal mines; the tunnels were painted black to support this claim. The full JSA crossing tour that requires a waiting list takes visitors to Panmunjom, where the armistice was signed.
Big excitement this week as I am heading to the airport to pick up Sharon and Annelise for a visit. I’ll be in sales mode. I had a lot of feedback on translation stories, specially ones where I look stupid. I was at a Quiznos and hyperfocused on seeing a cheese steak and ordered a set (combo meal) and I said large size. The lady taking the order said “won” size and I said big, the lady said “won” size and I used hand gestures to indicate a big cup. She then slammed down a cup and said “one size.” My bad.
As I said in my update, big week with Sharon and Annelise visiting. First rule of sales is be on time — I violated that rule as I was an hour late to pick Sharon and Annelise up at the airport (I allotted 2 hrs for 50 miles and it took 3 hours and 90 miles with traffic/avoiding traffic) and fortunately Sharon had activated her international cell service so we could connect. Second rule is don’t oversell something you can’t control — I had told the girls how great Cheonho was (my neighbourhood) and that so far I haven’t had any issues with homeless people or people harassing me. Of course, on Sunday morning Cheonho (after a big Saturday night) was a little trashy and while we were walking a guy comes out of nowhere and then falls down in front of us begging for help. Ended up he was still working off a long Saturday night so we got him some food and although he really wanted more Malakki — he seemed OK after a bit.
The rest of Sunday we toured Seoul and hit the highlights and visited one area of town that has a potential place to live in Jamsil and finished the day off with a Korean BBQ with 3 other families.
Monday the ladies explored my neighbourhood more and in the afternoon we did a hike on the outskirts of town at Bukhansan National Park. It was good for me to be able to explore and find activities for later — they have downhill mtb there.
Tuesday and Wednesday was spent visiting schools and looking at apartments in Itaewon (expat area of town) while seeing some of the local sites. Annelise was great in approaching with an open mind and was intrigued with discussions of volleyball tournaments in Manila, model UN club having debates in China, and senior trip to Thailand. Both schools we visited were great and if Annelise doesn’t pick a certain one, there will be a very sad volleyball coach.
Thursday was a formal tour sponsored by Samsung — Sharon and Annelise went and were able to go to traditional dress shops and jewellery shopping — it was too bad that I was working and missed it.
Bukhansan National Park sits within the Seoul city limits and covers approximately 80 square kilometres of granite peaks and forested valleys. It is one of the most visited national parks in the world by visitor density — with over 5 million visitors per year compressed into a relatively small area. The park contains Bukhansan fortress walls built in the early 18th century to defend Seoul from attack, which visitors can hike along — the defensive wall referenced here. Despite being entirely within a city of 10 million people, the park has resident populations of wild boar, deer, and over 1,500 plant species. The downhill mountain bike trails mentioned are located in the western sections of the park.
Last week I posted pictures of a protest for lack of government action on the ferry sinking at a festival — situation very sad and ultimately the prime minister resigned and maybe the president next. Very different than the situation in America — no one talked about it at work (except Expats) and all social events were cancelled for a period of mourning. Because of Buddha’s birthday and May Day, a 6-day weekend materialised so I had always planned on coming back this weekend, but last Friday found out that I needed to attend meetings in Denver and NYC this week so rough couple of days but I ended up home earlier than planned — so it worked out OK.
Big weekend planned — Sharon off to LA to visit Alexandra for Mom’s day leaving Annelise and I to hang out for the weekend, hit Kentlands day, and catch up with friends.
I was on a phone call when someone yelled across the floor at me — “Mr. Jarrett — Dankyung Kim first aid” — “Conference room” — so I headed over and asked what was wrong — “first aid.” As we were rushing down the hall, I asked: Did we call a doctor? — “no — why?” Is she OK? — “yes — just need you so we can sing her the song.” I got to the conference room and Miss Kim was putting cake on to plates — it was her “birth day.” Crisis averted.
And at a luncheon — an expat colleague was explaining a polite way to avoid eating something that isn’t appealing. Just say “Not my favourite.” It works because Korean meals have 10 dishes — just pass and move on to the next one. We were at a luncheon and the food was coming out — a bowl of black pasta-looking stuff was served. I guessed boiled seaweed and the expat colleague started to dig in when a Korean colleague corrected me and said it was boiled silkworm — my expat colleague immediately had the gag reflex and I calmly said “not his favourite.” We use that phrase a lot now.
A couple of pictures from bike rides around town this week. The windsurfers were a surprise.
Buddha’s Birthday (부처님 오신 날, Bucheonim Osin Nal) is a national public holiday in South Korea, celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar — typically falling in late April or May. The celebration centres on Yeon Deung Hoe (the Lotus Lantern Festival), which includes the hanging of thousands of paper lanterns at temples and along streets across the country, culminating in a lantern parade through central Seoul that draws hundreds of thousands of spectators. The lanterns visible in these photos are typically hung for several weeks before and after the holiday. Buddhism is one of the two largest religions in South Korea (along with Christianity), practised by approximately 15–20% of the population.
Started off at home with a lot of events as spring rolled into the Kentlands — it was great catching up with friends and Annelise and I laid the groundwork to dominate a local contest. The time back in the Kentlands cemented our decision to buy a condo there to be our home base regardless of where we end up on a temporary basis over the next 10 years. This is place #3 for us in the Kentlands, all that is left for us is the retirement home. Sharon and Annelise are staying back for Annelise’s senior year — tough decision but some logistics could not be overcome with all of us moving. So we are in the process of simplifying life — but of course that takes more work up front (mostly by Sharon). So if anyone wants to buy a house or a sports car that is a little too red for Annelise and Sharon let us know.
I was given some advice from an ex-Samsung employee that I met when I was home and from a couple of the younger employees — I’m not socialising enough. That is work to them and building relationships with your team is the way to get things done. So several team building dinners over the last two weeks — food highlights were trying shredded jellyfish which was pretty good (on the left below) and a sea sprite, not my favourite. The interpretation highlight was that I was asked to say some words after one of the dinners; I said the normal rah-rah stuff, then asked if I had anything else to say, and I said some more highly motivational words. Then — I was asked — anything else — to which I replied — “sorry out of material…” and one of the team said “are you going to pay for dinner?”. That is all the motivation needed.
“Sorry out of material” followed by “are you going to pay for dinner?” is a more efficient motivation system than most corporate programmes. The advice to socialise more — from both a former Samsung employee and the younger team members — reflects something genuine about Korean corporate culture where jeong (deep relational warmth) is built through shared meals and time together, not through formal processes. Getting out for team building dinners every week was, in this context, genuinely considered part of the job.
Lastly, some of the expats rallied for a hike. We got the full experience — a perfect day with 100,000 of our closest Korean professional hiking friends. It was a 2,500 ft elevation change and was at the same park that I took Sharon and Annelise. Total mayhem. But this time we went almost to the top…just too crowded for the last 100 feet. Plan was 1 hour subway out, 4 hrs on the mountain, Korean BBQ and refreshment locally, and back to Itaewon to freshen up and go out for Saturday night. After 6 tough hours we had a great BBQ but were done and after an hour on the subway home, I was in bed by 7pm. Had a team picture at the end with some of our fellow hikers.
Starting to make arrangements now that we have a plan in place. Now that Sharon and Annelise won’t be moving over in the near term, decided on a permanent apartment in the same neighbourhood and bought a better TV — it won’t be a bachelor pad, more of an offsite man cave. With the TV, all wireless, and better connection speed I pretty much can access TV as I want. So I had my first “normal” night — off work at a reasonable time, home to change, got a good workout in, picked up McDonalds, and came home and watched a couple episodes of 24. It was nice for one night — but not looking forward to normal a lot in the future — without Sharon and the girls, it just isn’t normal. This stretch is probably the longest we will have apart — so looking forward to next trip home. I have an Outback on the first floor — pretty disappointing but at least a good IPA. I found out later over 100 Outback’s in Seoul.
Samsung is very big into community responsibility — I received a notice of a volunteer opportunity and naturally I ignored it but then a couple of days before the event I was advised it was not really voluntary. The event was at an adult day care centre and two activities were listed and we were told we would be assigned to one when we get there — two choices — food distribution or bathing. The other expat and I were a bit freaked out — so we made sure that we got food service. It was during work hours, which was a first for me, and it was very rewarding. The people were probably the happiest group of people I have ever come across and the centre serviced able-bodied people that lived on their own, so they were in pretty good shape. There was one table that had about 8 old guys, wearing various ROKMC (Republic of Korean Marine Corps) hats and probably had been friends since the 1950s. The other group that did the bathing was mostly older — because the country was so poor, when they grew up there was no nurses so it was normal for children to bath their grandparents when they were old. They all spoke afterward of how it was so moving for them. Not something you would ever see at a workplace in the U.S.
The table of eight old men in Republic of Korean Marine Corps hats who had probably been friends since the 1950s is one of the quieter details in the whole two-year run of posts. The Korean War ended in 1953 when they would have been young men. By 2014 they were in their 70s and 80s, still meeting, still wearing the hats. Samsung staff serving them lunch at a day care centre, with expats helping hand out trays — it is a good picture of how quickly South Korea moved from one of the poorest countries in the world to an economic powerhouse, and what that transition looks like across one lifetime.
Late change in travel plans — so I was off to the U.S. quicker than expected so this week’s update is on baseball in Korea. I was supposed to see Paul McCartney this week but he was ill and had to cancel — that would have created some conflict having to miss that at the last minute. Hopefully he will re-schedule but I already got a refund so it doesn’t look good. So instead of seeing Paul McCartney Wednesday I ended up seeing my buddy LVL in Houston.
Back to baseball — if baseball were this exciting in the USA, maybe I and many others would like it. Korean baseball is different than American:
• Teams are sponsored by companies such as Samsung, LG, and Kia
• Teams share stadiums
• Teams have multiple home fields within an area
• Leads to most games having crowds split 50/50 for each team
• People really really care — more like a college football game environment
We went to a game at a stadium built for Olympic baseball in 1988. It was a decent stadium but nothing compared to the US stadiums but very good access to public transportation and the surrounding area was Jamsil which has restaurants/bars/clubs as far as you can see. The same food was a combination of Burger King, KFC, local Korean fast food places, and 7/11’s with the same pricing as outside the stadium. Tickets were affordable. You could bring in food in plastic bags or boxes of chicken. Almost everybody was wearing the colour of one of the teams. We saw the Doosan Bears host the Hanwha Eagles (yes — nicknames are in English). We picked Doosan to cheer on since they were the home team and we were not sure which side we were assigned to and figured out later our ticket had orange trim which meant we were in the Hanwha section. But we were on the edge so my Doosan Bears thunder sticks were not too out of place.
With regard to beer, there was a limit to how much you could take into the game (as much as you could carry in plastic bags), $3 drafts, 12-packs at the 7/11, and a guy walking around serving drafts with a mini-keg on his back. A lot of merriment but no fights, no falling down drunk people, and the interaction between the fans of the two teams was positive.
As for the game, quite exciting and I tried to post a video on the Hanwha fans doing a chant, down 7-0 in the second inning…this went on for 4 hours but it wouldn’t upload. Hanwha won 12-8 eventually.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) was founded in 1982 and is one of the most popular sports leagues in Asia. As described here, all ten teams are sponsored by major Korean corporations: Samsung Lions, Lotte Giants, LG Twins, Doosan Bears, Kia Tigers, and others. The corporate sponsorship model means teams represent companies rather than cities, creating the split-crowd dynamic at games. KBO stadiums allow fans to bring in outside food and alcohol — a significant cultural difference from MLB — which contributes to the festival atmosphere. The cheerleader sections, organised chants, and thunder sticks are a standard part of the experience. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic when KBO was one of the first leagues to resume play, the league attracted a global television audience for the first time and gained significant international recognition.
I asked some Samsung employees the following week how allegiances work — if they grew up in Seoul rooting for Doosan or LG but then they worked for Samsung (who has a team Samsung Lions in Daegu — 2 hours from Seoul) who do they root for? Answer was always hometown team…unless of course you are new to Korea like me and then you must be Samsung Lions fan. With regard to soccer though it is expected that one roots for Chelsea as the value of the Samsung brand increases when Chelsea is in the Champions League and in the running for the EPL title.
“If baseball were this exciting in the USA, maybe I and many others would like it.”