Yoboseyo!

Finally a post after brief hiatus.The last 2 months were very hectic to say the least.I could find very little time to post anything on the blog.Sometimes I used to find that time was not the real issue, but it was the energy levels.Work was taking so much away, that by the end of the day, the only thing that I could manage to do was snuggle back into bed.

Now that I'm through in giving a nice excuse to myself, about why I didn't blog, let me try to recap on what happened over the last 2 months or so.

Ever since I came back from the OBL at Pegasus, the work pressure seemed to increase all of a sudden.We were having some bad days in our project.And to sort out some things, 4 of us from our team had to travel to Suwon in South Korea to get some things completed.For the uninitiated, Suwon is where the Headquarters of Samsung Electronics is situated.

The rest of this post will mostly contain my experiences in South Korea.My thoughts on what I felt being there.

We reached Seoul Incheon Airport via Singapore.Suwon's about a 90 minutes drive by airport shuttle from Incheon.And these 90 minutes were enough for me to have a fair idea about the progress and development that the country has made.

The highways looked just as good as the freeways in the US, if not better.One could find a profound US influence in that country.The way the highways are designed, numbered and the way the city roads are planned and laid out, are just small examples of that.The big cities have an extremely high population density, meaning that I didnt miss being away from a crowded Indian city like Bangalore even for a moment.

The next day, I had to go to the Samsung Electronics complex to report for work.What I saw there simply left me stunned.And it stayed like that for a few more days.The security personnel and the receptionists at the visitor centre resembled that at the defence establishments such as ISRO,DRDO, etc in India.The only difference was, here the receptionists were all babes, er very well dressed pretty ladies who were more than eager to help us.And the security guys also were just as courteous, to say the least.

This complex was huge,atleast a few hundred times bigger than what I imagined it to be.By my conservative estimates, close to 25000 people or more work in this complex, which has shopping plazas,a football stadium,a sports complex, 4 helipads and a number of buildings, both big and small.I could compare this campus with that of Infosys campus in Bangalore.I was also reliably told by a friend of mine, that the 3 large corporations of South Korea i.e Samsung,Hyundai and LG totally contribute close to 50% of South Korea's GDP.

During the weekdays, the only thing that I got time to do is, work.In addition some work related issues from back home also added to the pressure.Putting in 12 hours of time in the office is a routine thing here.This is not only in Samsung, but in the rest of South Korea as well.Its a nation of workaholics, I think.One day, we met a school student,who gave all of us a shock when he told that his normal school timings are between 8AM and 10 PM, 6 days a week!

I guess this is a countrywide policy to replace creativity of a human being with the monotony and repeatability of a machine, in the name of higher productivity levels.How well this ploy is succeeding, I really dont know.I felt that the kids in India study only half that time, and are still are a lot smarter.Maybe they don't teach in school that "All work and no play make Kim a dull boy".The same schoolkid also complimented my friend, saying Indians are very good at Mathematics.I thought yeah, why not!After all we invented the zero, without which every mathematical equation in this world comes to a nought.

I stayed there for close to 4 weeks.Almost every weekend, we used to visit places of interest.Seoul was the place that impressed me the most.Its a huge metropolitan city with myriad 4 lane highways, bridges across the River Han,huge skyscrapers and ofcourse, the Seoul Metro.The Seoul Metro, also known as the subway forms the backbone of the infrastructure of not only Seoul, but also the entire Gyeong-gi province.It resembles a lot like the London Underground, but a lot more modern in that a few prehistoric stations in London Underground are devoid of an airconditioning system even to this day.Metro lines crisscross the city to form a complex infrastructure network, most of which is underground about 200 metres below the ground level.

KLI-63,Yeongsan station,Woncheon Water Resort,Suwon fort, Jebudo,Seoul Grand Park, Sports Complex, these were a few of the places that I got to see over the weekends.This was all possible, thanks to a highly energetic gang led by Chethan and Bhavya.I guess that having such a group was the single biggest reason why a visit to all these places was a very enjoyable one.It was tiring too.I still remember how achy the legs used to get due to all the walking done while sightseeing.If I was alone, or in a different group, I would be more than content to lazily doze off in the guest house and seeing nothing much more than the closed window panes of the room.

KLI-63 is the tallest building in the Korean Peninsula, standing 63 floors tall.A capsule elevator takes us up onto the 61st floor from where one can have a bird's eye view of Seoul city.The fog on that day spoilt a bit of the view, I must say, but still was an awesome sight to see.

Yeongan station is a Metro station that comprises of an electronics shopping mall,food court, a sponsored concert area, amongst many other things inside the complex.Needless to say, such a fun filled place is never short of buzz, excitement and of course, massive crowds too.

Jebudo was another place worthy of mention that we visited.This is an island situated about an hour's bus journey from Suwon station.The claim to fame of this place is that the road connecting the island and the mainland just disappears under water during a high tide.The ride till the island was nothing short of a roller coaster ride.We had to hire 2 taxis to take us to the island before the high tide set in.The taxi drivers were driving at nearly 100 kmph on a road just as wide to allow 1 car to pass.And all this in the middle of a paddy field full of twists, turns and bumps.We took a long walk around the island, which is famous for beaches, birdwatching - both winged and non winged varieties, jet boat rides, banana boat rides, and of course, a hundred or so eating places.

The visit to Seoul Grand Park was a good one, albeit a tiresome one due to the amount of walking involved in it.The most notable things that I got to see was the Seal and Dolphin show, and of course the Indian Peacock.Even though its the national bird of India, I never got to see one in so much leisure.

We also got to visit Sports Complex, popularly known as Seoul Olympic Stadium, which played host to the 1988 Olympics.Having seen utmost 1-2 stadiums in Bangalore, I was simply amazed by the enormity of this complex.There were atleast 8 stadiums in this complex, with atleast 2 of them being bigger than Eden Gardens in Kolkata.Availability of such facilities, no doubt will foster an environment which can earn gold medals in sporting events.I believe every major city in Korea has similar facilities for development of sports of all kinds.

We, as Indians find it difficult to survive in a country mainly due to food and language problems.The food part was taken care of, on most days as we were staying in an Indian Guest House, maintained by extremely friendly Nepalese people.There was 1 restaurant for every 10 shops around the place the guest house was situated, but it takes some courage to stand the wierd smell of Korean food, let alone enter a restaurant and eat something there.Practically everything that crawls is captured, cleaned, cooked and then devoured.

In all, it was a memorable trip, more so because our team was able to successfully complete what we were sent to do in the office.I found the people to be very peaceful and calm sorts, and to some extent hospitable too.I am not sure about how good or bad their social life is, but it looks largely westernised. But somehow I felt the quality of life is not the same lavish and relaxed kind that one sees in most developed countries in Europe and US.I heard that the cost of living is pretty high here, and living a luxurious lifestyle is not that easily afforded by the common man.There seemed to be a hustle and bustle associated with the place.To me, Korea looks like a country always in a hurry and a nation that has just developed.

Now, some things about the Koreans which struck me the most.

One, was the the commitment to their work.I don't want to comment about the productive output part by only working hard, but in the long run it has worked for them.

Two, was the peaceful nature of people.Hardly did I find people shouting, yelling or showing any kinds of angry outbursts at other people.Controlled aggression is what seems to be their approach at doing things.

Three, in work and family matters, they maintain a strict heirarchy, which is never bypassed.I always saw any Korean counterpart of mine in office talking to his/her supervisor with utmost fear.

But the thing that impressed me the most, is the fantastic way in which the Korean ladies dress up and maintain themselves.Most of them were dressed up more perfectly than mannequins in an Indian saree showroom.In my entire stay there, I could count the number of obese Korean ladies using the fingers of one hand.However, I stop short to say that they are beautiful.In this, the Indian ladies beat them hands down.The Korean ladies wear dresses that look good on them, and also viceversa.This kept the eyes cool, even though the mercury was rising in a typical Korean summer comprising of extremely humid and warm days interspersed with days of nonstop rains.

In all it was a great trip.I got to see a lot of places, meet different people and learn a few things from the people there.