Last days

I am someone who needs closures. That's why I write this last Seoul update from Kiev.
Since Jan 8th I was busy with office hand-over, moving&shipping arrangements and saying goodbyes.
For a third time I hand over my position to a local person. I continue with my track record of selecting and training "locals" as successors. In two previous locations the local successions worked well and I am confident this one will be successful too. My successor has been in banking for about 17 years. Has sharp analytical mind. He's straightforward and most importantly has better access to local information than any foreigner. Surprisingly my successor shared with me some of his concerns with respect to taking over RM position. Given that he takes over a position from a woman it is extremely important he (as a man) performs well - if not better. What makes it worse for him is not only that I am a foreigner and a female - I am also single, with no kids and living with a doggie. All these attributes make me an outcast in Korean society. Given my "you cannot get lower" standing in society if he does not perform well, he will be in trouble. I truly wish he succeeds and he can count on my support from Kiev - if he asks for it.

During my last weeks everyone was extremely nice to me in the office. On Jan 28th I had a nice office farewell. Warm - if not entirely true - words were said and I got nice presents. You can see office party photos at http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/Farewell
I had my private farewell on Jan 23rd. Darrell organized it perfectly. It was very nice to have friends around and made them promise to keep in touch and visit me in Kiev soon. For photos of that party go to http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/FarewellParty23Jan08?authkey=K9_jSlBCG1A

There was another party on Saturday night and pics are available on

http://picasaweb.google.nl/gordie26/AboveAndBuddhaS02
Sunday morning I spent with Chaitanya and Chester. I got 50mm lens from Chaitanya as a present and made few nice photos of Chester. The rest of my last Sunday I spent with Ylona. We had a delicious samgepsa for lunch then drove around Bukakhsan. I enjoyed fantastic view from her house.
View's from Ylona's home.
Later in the afternoon we watched Australian Open and cheered for Tsonga. I watched only until 3rd set as I could not bear watching Tsonga losing. I joined Darrel and Johnhwa for a dinner at Sortino's. We had few bottles of wine and many rounds of martini mojitos. We were last guests to leave.
Being with close friends and knowing I leave them behind made me regretful.
However two incidents on Tuesday - first with the rental broker and second at the hotel - made me feel very good about leaving.
On Tuesday evening - my last in Seoul - Andre and Jimmy arranged an Indonesian dinner for my friends (Jill and Saul, Ylona, Jennifer) and me. Jimmy's Indonesian food was fantastic. The only hiccup was I forgot to mention Jennifer is vegetarian so Jimmy had to make an impromptu meal.
During the dinner Korea and Korea related things dominated our discussions. It was Andre versus Jennifer and Gordana team and I think it was a tie. I had great night. We stayed until 2.30 am .
Next morning I packed my suitcases. Decided to take Bongo in the hand luggage. Said goodbyes over phone to Faye, Ylona and Karen and checked out. Got on the bus. Checked in on Inchoen. A girl on the check in counter assigned me the wrong seat. I showed her the email confirming my seat booking made two weeks ago. (I am very particular about my plane seat arrangement.) Then she wanted to check my luggage straight to Kiev although I stay one night in A'dam...

At the immigration counter I happily handed my residence card.
In the lounge someone tapped me on my shoulder. This was - to my enormous surprise -Andre!!! He was going for a business trip too! It was great to spend last minutes in Korea with him. We made plans for visits in Kiev, A'dam and whatever other place.

During the takeoff I had my mid fingers in the air. The Dutch guy sitting next to me regretted for asking me why and after my passionate "why I hate Korea" monologue remained silent for the rest of 11 hours flight.
Photos of Siberia

Bongo and I arrived happily to Amsterdam. And I started the Ukrainian chapter.

New Year start

Happy New Year! Hope you all had great NY Eve party!
I spent it quietly this year with Uri and Ana Maria. I landed on Schipol around 18.00 and had hard time staying awake. Had a glass of lovely champagne with Ana Maria and Uri and went straight to the dreamland.



Next morning I went to my new place to hang curtains I brought from Seoul, I also took one rug and some paintings for the flat.

The apartment has a lot of light and a nice view.

The views I have from my apartment are

great!


In the evening of Jan 1st I had a visit from Ylona and Eleni. With empty fridge and no drinks I was not a good hostess, but Ylona lives just 100m from my house and we moved for some wine to her place.
On Jan 2nd we moved from things from AM second house to mine. Movers were fantastic. Four boys moved the entire house by 1 pm. I got my bedroom, living room, study, dining table and a second big fridge.
Jan 3rd and 4th I spent shopping. Bought a sofa and a table (see photo).

TV and stereo, laptop and PDP/TV. Decided on curtains for living room and bedroom and framed three paintings.


I was several times at Ikea and at Gelderplain. I shopped big and I loved it. What a great new year start! I met Laura - a Brazilian cleaning lady who is very nice and excellent cleaner. Met with Cees - the painter who has to build-in wardrobes and make some other changes in the flat.
It was a short visit, but I accomplished a lot thanks to AM guidance.

I hardly wait to see a place in three weeks as on my way to Kiev I'll stop in A'dam.

I also went to see my first flat. I could not go in (it's rented) but have some photos from outside. My small flat is in the first building from the right with three windows on the 2nd floor.

This week

Monday: Except being at work I do not recall anything else.
Tuesday: Have been on a test drive of KIA Motors’ new SUV – Mohave. Great experience.








The feature I was most impressed is every time the car is put into a reverse a small screen appears in left down corner of a rear mirror showing what’s in the back. Fantastic for parking!
For some more Korean winter landscape photos click:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/Dec18th07?authkey=HQD4WBLrAQI

The same evening had a farewell for Jay first at Buddhas Belly and than at JJ's. Jay leaves for KL on Sunday. She is leaving suddenly and this was kind of ad hoc farewell. But we had a fun night.


Wednesday was election day. I did some housework. Went to the office for few hours (it was holiday) but had to go to finish few things. Before going to the sauna wanted to eat as after 6 pm I was to fast due to medical check up next day. Went with Aicha to new Sortinos. It was around 5 pm. They had "open" signed I entered with a friend and asked if we could eat. The Korean waitress took us to the table. I sat and that she told us we cannot eat as the kitchen is closed. I asked her so why she took us to the table. Her answer was " you can have bread and water". I am supposed to fast but for bread and water I would go to a restaurant.
Aicha and me ended with delicious falafels at Ali Baba. The sauna with a scrub was great. I felt so relaxed and my skin felt smooth.
Thursday: Went to SNUH at Gangam Finance Center to have check up. I was quite impressed by staff there. Altogether I am healthy but have to lose some weight. Had lunch with Karen and Diana. Really nice and relaxing lunch. Karen was leaving in the evening for UK. Diana stays here as her family comes over holidays. Got presents from both but I really thought will have only lunch so – as I true peasant - I even did not bring a card. Got a very nice Christmas present from Karen – a lovely stylish bag from Cambodia.
In the evening had a birthday party for Dessy and Raffaele.
Friday: Spoke with Faye who was at Incheon on her way to NZ. She will visit me and stay with me on Jan 12th. Spent afternoon with Dr. Choi at ye Clinic. Not going into details.
Lazy Saturday – sorting out the wardrobe, watching TV and skyping with friends.

2007 Card

Make a photobook - it's easy!

Sunday

Ylona took Eleni and girls for skating at Hyatt Ice Rink. The cafe there serves hot chocolate with marshmallows in huge soup bowls. That's enough for me to join.
We watched girls skating.
Had hot chocolate as a starter and french fries with mayo for a main course. It was beautiful sunny day and girls skated for about three hours. Enough for Ylona and me to go over all this week events.
Later I went to Sortinos. Met Sonia and had a nice chat over a nice limoncello.

"Opegwon"

Some of you know I wanted to use some Korean photos as cards which would have my contact details once I move to Kiev.
With your help I selected few and decided to go to few printing shops in Chungmungro to order cards. After a great start this morning my spirits were bright and strong. I was ready for adventure. I did not expect going to print shops will be easy but I was determined to have cards ordered.
I accomplished nothing. I wasted three hours of my time and got frustrated. Went to about 15 shops including Kinko's. Not one person spoke a word of English!!! During the process I even called a Korean colleague to help with translation. This was also waste of time. So I decided that making cards was a stupid idea and that spending three hours of my time is enough waste of my resources.
After print shops and cards debacle - in an attempt to salvage going to the town - I went to Insadong to buy hanji paper. Hanji paper is one of things I like in Korea. I went to the shop I usually go and given holiday season choose a lots of paper. Once the lady shop owner calculated what I should pay the bill came to KRW 52,000 (about USD56). I asked for a discount and she looked at me and said “Discount?” Mumbled something in Korean and than I recognized “opegwon” word. "Opegwon" is KRW 500(USD 0.53). I repeated “Opegwon”? Then the lady took a calculator and indeed typed “500”. I do not expect 10% discount (although this would be nice) but she could round it up to KRW 50,000. Obviously she did not want to sell to me and considered me a stupid foreigner. I left the shop and kept KRW 52,000 in my pocket. I'll manage without hanji paper.
On a day like this time until Jan 30th passes to slow.

December update

I am already one week in back in Seoul. Two weeks of Europe seem like a distant dream.
I liked Kiev and I am looking forward to go there Feb 1st. People in the office are young and driven. My department exists on org chart only. That means I have a luxury of creating my own team. So far I always “inherited” department and in the beginning there was always a period of adjustments on both side.

I did not have any time for sightseeing in Kiev but I saw a church almost every hundred meters. Never saw a city with so many churches.
From Kiev I flew to Amsterdam. I had three hours of sunshine in one entire week.
I enjoyed strolling canals. It's so nice to be in a city with a history. It's such a treat to walk along 16th century houses.

There were lots of Russian tourist in the city. Ten years ago one could hear mostly English and Spanish.


This time second most heard language on the street was russian. Well - Peter the Great liked A'dam too. The story goes lovely A'dam inspired Peter the Great to build St. Petersburg.

I saw apartment I bought in August for a first time. It’s good I like it. It looked bright and light even on a sad rainy day - and these prevail in the Netherlands. Cees - the painter did marvelous job painting. With Uri and Ana Maria I made some small plans about flat arrangements.

At HO spent four days in meetings. Still managed to see some friends which was great.
Back in Seoul started moving arrangements. In the office except for lots of work I had some things with the office restroom. On Monday I had "ajuma" accident. I pushed slightly opened doors and there was a cleaning ajuma sitting with her pants down holding a phone in the hand. I turned but the woman went after me. I have no idea if she was fast enough to put pants up. I run back to my office. Closed my office door. Urge to go to the restroom disappeared for some time.
Than on Wednesday in the restroom I found a Korean magazine. There was an article on beauty with "10 reason's I am beautiful". I could not resist so I took a page from the magazine and scanned it.
It reflects Korean state of mind. I had friends for dinner and we just laughed as we have no chance being beautiful if we are not Korean.



Had Year end party on Friday evening. It was my first and last year end party in Korea. Everyone told me it's the best one. So I choose well.


You can also see a funny Season's sculpture which is in front of my office building. I have no idea what the sculpture is about. Perhaps in land of Samsung robots bring presents. At least the sculpture is different from usual Xmas trees, deer’s, etc...

The major event last week was the oil spill. How a barge got loose and hit the tanker still puzzles me. On some Korean blogs they are pointing out a Samsung conspiracy theory which is that Samsung caused intentionally this oil spill in order to divert attention from a scandal about bribing prosecutors. Sounds unbelievable but this is what Koreans write on their blogs. For photos how the spill is cleaned check
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2007/dec/10/oilspills.wildlife?picture=331510224

A day before ....

I am flying tomorrow to Kiev. I had KLM flights booked last week. Seoul – A’dam – Kiev and back.
Today around noon the secretary informed me KLM cancelled a Seoul-A'dam flight for tomorrow. No explanations given by KLM. The agency suggested I fly via Paris and take a plane at 6.50 am for Kiev. All hotels around the CDG airport were fully booked. I was to stay at Novotel in Roissy. This means I have to wake up at 4 am to get 6.50 flight. I do not think so.
I proposed to the travel agent to look into flights to Kiev via Vienna, Frankfurt and Moscow.
I fly via Frankfurt. Than the agency asked me to first request KLM endorsement of my flight changes and than go to Lufthansa counter for check in. I did not respond enthusiasticaly to that suggestion so now I have a ticket and have to go to LH counters directly. Hmmm....
Had a great night with Aicha. She returned from her honeymoon in Indonesia. She has lovely photos of places she and her husband were together. Tonight two of us had a photo with three bottles of wine at Okitchen! We had great food and even better time together.
Than I came home and wanted to pack. But I could not find my suitcase. I remembered I left some clothes in the corridor for Fema with a note that this is for her (I started to clean my wadrobe). Opposite to that was my suitcase and a case with wrapped paintings. Immediately I understood that Fema thought not only clothes but the suitcase with two rugs packed for my new A’dam place and paintings are for her. I called her. Indeed she took rugs and paintings home but fortunately left the suitcase in the garbage room. Lucky me - my housekeeper does not like a perfectly functuning sturdy Samsonite suitcase! Went to the grabage room to pick it up and pack.
After I packed I opened my emails. Found a message from the mover in A’dam. The message is: “Our local contact phoned you today but you were busy. If you want to schedule appointments for 2nd week of Dec contact them”.
Indeed Asian Tigers contacted me on my mobile today afternoon while I was in the meeting. The lady requested me to send them an email. I have a policy of answering mobile calls but if something is not urgent and I am in the meeting I am not going to dwell into a conversation. I did not receive an email from Asian Tigers following their mobile call. And yes - I was busy today as I am flying tomorrow to Kiev and A'dam and I will be out of the office for two weeks. There were a lot of things to do in the office. To write an email - as suggested by Asian Tigers in order to set an appointment for survey - while they just call me on my mobile - was not on my today's "to do list". How this travel started God knows what awaits me next two weeks.