Saying goodbye

Walking back to collect our bags at the SKKU I-House to then hop on our ride to the Incheon Airport, I asked what observations our hosts had made during our stay, especially since we were their first group of grad students to host. They said they found us to be talented, smart, timely and easy to host. They were thinking of how to make the next visit even better!

My impressions of Seoul can be summed up in the following: welcoming hosts, determined, advancing, achieving, and most of all -just good people. Saying goodbye is never easy, so I will say "hasta pronto" until we meet again.

Required, elective VS Base, deepening

Oh, the impact of word choice and semantics.

Confucianism is a system of values, thoughts and philosophies based on humanism - that humans are teachable, improveable, with the tenets of ren (humaneness for others in the community), yi (moral disposition to do good) and li (norms of behavior).

These boots were made for walking ....

Last night after pony kegs and extreme fried chicken in various sauces (horseraddish, pepper, and regular), our group trotted down the street for a night of karaoke. We danced the macarena as we headed down the Atlanta highway before checking into hotel California.

Incentives

What does it take to be good, to be better, to be the best? Here they give their faculty a bonus when an article gets published in a reputable journal!

Being a country with few natural resources, it's people and students are the resource who are identified, developed and tapped into. Side nota: SKKU students score in the top 3% of national entrance exams.

Talent and training go hand in hand.

A little dragon

Global leaders are to be ...? Independent, community-minded, creative, diverse, competent, thoughtful, valued, global and balanced? These are characteristics of SKKU graduates for leadership. The people of Korea are actively working to continue their ascent as one of the four little dragons (economic miracles) of Asia.

Spirit of change

Korea is changing ... And changing fast. When asked, they say that like it that way too. In the last 60 years they have progressed from a developing country into a giving country from nuclear power, technology, and agriculture. Korea's rich history goes all the way back to King Sejong, the great. He was a ruler who wanted a literate and a cultured citizenry, so much that he created a new easy to read, write and speak language!

This morning we were greeted by SKKU VP Chah. He hoped that our week here would hold many opportunities to make discoveries, both personal and scientific. Yes! Bring it on, more of that spirit of change that Korea has embraced so wholeheartedly.

Whats for dinner? Jellyfish and meatballs!

New tastes that will remind me of Seoul:

 

• Sesame seed soup -- looked, smelled and tasted like Mexican mole, go figure
• Jellyfish noodles -- this was actually very yummy
• Barley tea
• Hot pot soup -- oooh so good!
• Beef meatballs with orange ginger topping

 

All consumed with stainless steel chopsticks!

Heart and Seoul

Getting from one side of the world to another really isn't that difficult. First, one boards a sold-out shuttle bus full of spring breakers heading out of town. The journey continues by taking a four hour flight from Indianapolis to Los Angeles. All do-able, right?

The difficult part of the trip might probably be the 13 hour flight from Los Angeles into Seoul. But with a screen-full of movies, the time literally flies by! Sidebar: How we ended up flying over Russia and Japan is still a mystery to me. But we did and made it safely into Seoul's Incheon International Airport. If you never have been to this airport, you should try to. In a word, this place is beautiful. It is an ultra modern, easy to navigate, cell-phone renting, glass gleeming, and 7-11 hosting port of entry.



First day here and I already know that I am about to have an amazing week getting to know the heart and soul of Seoul.

Memories in the Making

One can go back to a particular point in time by smelling a certain aroma, tasting a certain food, or seeing a picture of a special appetizer, entree or dessert. Here are two photos of a recent meal shared with the IU delegation of AGEP students who are going to Seoul this month.

Let's see how close the Bloomington version is to the original!