Exploring more of Korea~

Picture Right: It's a Saturday afternoon and I am sitting outside by the tennis courts on campus, watching the boys play. It is Germany vs. Korea today. My fellow classmates have decided to play a friendly competitive game for some HITE. (Korean Beer) And of course being American, I "pretend" to be neutral. :)

Picture Left: Earlier this week, I visited KRX, the Korean Stock Exchange in downtown. I totally expected Wall Street, where you have men and women in dark gray suits on the floor yelling at each other. But unlike the NYSE, KRX has been automated since 1997. So I arrived in an empty floor that was once like the NYSE. 

Picture Right: And mid-week, I went and explored Dongdaemun for some much needed retail therapy with my friend Cora. In the picture to the right, I am resting by Cheonggyecheon Stream  (in Dongdaemum) after a 5 hour shopping spree.

Picture Left: On Friday, we are in a bus going to dinner and a club in Kang-nam, which is considered the "Hollywood of Korea." 

It is week 3 of my classes and it's very similar to Pepperdine in that many hours are spent on group work and case analysis. (Good ole' Harvard Business Cases!) But I am amazed in that I am getting much more European perspective from my fellow exchange students. I had presumed I would be getting a lot of Asian business influence from my Korean peers. But in my cross cultural class for instance, I am gaining much knowledge from the Europeans. A German exchange student had mentioned in class that Americans are self indulgent and too busy all the time. Hmmmm, I wish I had a solid come back but I know nothing about the Germans except bratwurst and War World I (a touchy topic I would NEVER discuss anyway). So while studying in Korea, I have decided to widen my knowledge and read up on European history and economy. Europeons are well versed on current American economy, political news and history. And I am ashamed to say that I know very little about Europe in general. But what a great experience for me as I begin to come out of my little LA bubble!