Talk about almost missing a flight

My last two days were supposed to be relaxed, with only 1-2 things to deal with. It turned out to be ANYTHING but. I had lunch with a friend, had to run around to pay bills (before the movers could move things from my apartment). Finally, after not finding a person I was supposed to meet (they were giving me a check for some of my stuff I had sold), I hustled back to my apartment and headed to the airport.

Now I learned something at the airport, or several things, and not many of them were pleasant...The line on Asiana was SUPER long, and being Silver status on United does nothing for you (and they were really rude about it in fact, especially given that Korean Airlines does offer privileged boarding status for Silver members). When I finally got the front of the line, they would not accept my ticket, since my Alien Registration card had expired (I should have asked for a single entry after my previous flight in about 8 days earlier). I had to go to immigration, which had a line, and make it back in the span of about 15 minutes. At a dead sprint across the airport, I managed to get the stamp I needed (and give up my poor registration card), and ran back to the nearest counter. Made it, but just barely...Needless to say I won't be flying Asiana again at any point soon ;)

Busy last Sunday

So I had several things to accomplish on my final weekend, starting with picking up a scroll that was going to be used for the wedding guest book (with the logo that Michelle's cousin drew). It was super cool to go there, he served us really good tea in this elaborate tea ceremony (he had three containers that the tea was transferred between!) The scroll itself was enormous, I have no idea where we will hang it, but all details for later).

Then it was back to the apartment to try and give some stuff to my friend Sunghee (who was the translator for the scroll and tea ceremony (she has been such an invaluable help over the past couple of years!). She walked out of the apartment with everything from a picture to a mammoth bag of toilet paper.

Then the day ended with my last basketball game, and I scored the last bucket, a reverse lay-up. At that point I needed to pull a Kostanza, “thank you, I’m outta here!” What a way to end!!

Bittersweet farewell

It seems so strange to slowly move out, and realize that you have no idea if/when you will see some of these people again. I had an interesting moment though involving a going-away party. This is a poll I would love to ask a bunch of people. I know that in general for Koreans that the most senior person pays for everything, but for many going away parties, I feel like the foreigner pays. I wonder if that is because you are no longer part of the group, or if it is making the most of a situation. But I did appreciate all of the last minute lunches and what people did for me.

Blistering hot, beautiful palace

Went to Changgyeonggung today, a palace with a 90 minute tour (a world heritage site, which I have heard means very little even though it sounds impressive). Very nice sights, cool buildings, some stuff overlooking lakes, and temples in a forest in the middle of Seoul. I can't believe it took me so long to get here, but glad I did! Just wish it hadn't been about 100 degrees and humid ;)

Meeting members of the new class, good people, and happy that they are starting on a new adventure (mine will be adventures, just different, and different location). Would be nice to overlap with them more, but perhaps better that the grumpy old guy leaves sooner ;) I remember two years ago pretty well, funny to hear it from their shoes though!

Short-term versus Long-term

A question I have, even if I know the answer. Why is there such a focus on short-term here in Korea? (not that the US is much better, but still) Executive decisions are made on a quarterly basis with often too little regard for long-term sustainability (ie cutting marketing budgets if sales drop even a fraction). But the interesting one for me is a lack of understanding of ramifications. Granted this could be due to the military like focus and that everyone is a cog in a wheel (and therefore doesn't think of these consequences). But as I leave (on a sour note or two), it makes me wonder, there isn't much thought about former members being brand ambassadors, or potential partners, or even willing to work with Samsung in a different role (ie not Korea). I hope these things change, but perhaps this is just American idealism...

Why I don't like Korean negotiation

So I had an issue with my contract, my return city was the wrong one. And I had mentioned it before, but made the mistake of mentioning it again, and I just have a feeling that they don't even look at the original contract (probably just a fixed budget, which is pretty high) to move people back home. But of course in traditional Korean style it is a point used against you (well, we helped you fix this portion). What is interesting is that you would expect to realize that others might know this ploy (and it sets a bad precedent, and maybe people more likely to not trust you later if they have heard about this example). But the other element that I wonder about (and i have heard too many times about Korean negotiation is that nothing is fixed - even if you have settled on points 1-4, when you get to point 5, the previous points might be brought up again). And you wonder why there is a bad reputation of Koreans in Asia involving negotiations...I digress, but I will say, it is not the way you want to end your time. But lesson learned I guess?

Half self-service

What is this exactly? I am still not quite clear on what half-self service means. It was at one of the local hamburger restaurants. And the funniest thing? For having "self-service" the restaurant had a total of maybe 10 tables, and about 6 waiters. Something doesn't seem right with this math ;)