Internship Week 2

Gosh, this is ridiculous, I feel like a grown up with a real job: no time to blog! I finished my second week of my internship, which was just as busy as the first. This week, I worked with the marketing department, which was quite a contrast to the week prior.

I spent my days in the office calling prospective customers from various countries inquiring if they would be interested in our product. Before making these calls I had a crash course on Security DVR technology and what makes STL's products unique. I have realized that this technology revolution we have experienced is greater than I imagined. The capabilities of these security devices makes me wonder who is watching me as I walk down the street or through a shopping center....

I also corrected the English in the products instruction manuals. It was quite a tedious task but it was something that I could contribute considerably for the company.

Friday, I went on the Manufacturing departments Membership Training (MT). Basically, it's a weekend long trip for all the employees to spend time together outside of work. It is to build a friendship relationship between coworkers. I have heard many other Korean companies have MT's as well, so I was curious to see what this whole MT thing is about.

We left for Taean, which is on the west coast of Korea on the East Sea. We played Paintball, rode ATV's along the beach and rice paddies, and rode a Banana boat on the East Sea. I found that I was at quite a disadvantage seeing that all of the Korean men were trained for two years in how to use a gun. They annihilated me with their military aim before I could even target an opponent. The ATV ride was absolutely gorgeous. To ride among rice paddies with the smell of the salt air of the nearby ocean, followed by making figure eights on the sand was a great memory. For those who have not seen a Banana boat, it's a long inner tube that can hold about eight people at one time. We raced around several of the small islands close to the coast as everyone was screaming with both fear and delight. It was great to see my coworkers spend time together outside of the workplace and share a more informal time together.

After these activities, we went to the Pension we would stay at for the night. The pension was right on the coast overlooking the sea. We ate Samgyeopsal for dinner outside right on the coast. As the evening continued, me and Uncle Josh went to buy some fireworks from the nearby store to shoot off at the beach. It was a lot of fun, especially considering that it was 4th of July weekend.

Hyesun and Omma are back from Europe, so we have been busy catching up this weekend. They came back a week early because Omma was homesick. Hyesun will start her new job next week, very exciting!

Today, I met my friend Zhenghong in Seoul to hang out together before she leaves. She is returning to Beijing next week to finish her studies (she attends the same school as Xiaochen). She is quite an interesting person: she is Korean Chinese, meaning ethnically she is Korean, at some point her family moved to China. She speaks Korean, Chinese, and English quite fluently. Her grandparents live here in Korea, while her parents live in Brazil. She hopes to work in diplomacy with the Chinese government, so someday she and I may be working alongside one another representing our respective countries (wouldn't that be interesting!). We went to see a movie and then chatted over some coffee at a local coffee shop. I am going to miss her terribly. Even though there was a bit of a language barrier, we would have some really interesting discussions about politics, social issues, and our opinions on the changing dynamics on the global stage. I told her that this is not "goodbye" but a "see you later" because I am certain, at some point in our lives, our paths will cross again. Whether it is in three years when we have both graduated or in fifteen years when we each have established our careers, I know we will share coffees together again discussing the same topics.