Pagina's

15 november 2002

Korea November 2002

Thursday, November 15, 2002
Below, you read can fragments of a discussion between a lecturer from my home university and me. The academic level of the International Division (ID) similar to that of IBS. In the first few weeks, it was possible to either choose courses with International students or with regular Yonsei students. On the one hand the ID program (taught entirely in English, but I am taking Korean class for 6 credits) is designed for exchange students who also want to explore East Asia and in particular South Korea.

During our introduction, we were even told that it is fine to travel around sometime. As long as you attend 1/3 of the lectures of each course, write all necessary papers/do the mid- and final terms, you will most likely pass the course.
On the other hand - however - to write truly academic essays/papers and get a high grade for it (A+) is rather difficult for a practice-oriented student like me. Furthermore, there are no case studies over here - which means for me I have to read books and perform research most of the time. However, regular business students here told me that they do case studies all the time.

Now to your final question about my identity - the most difficult question. 'Technically' I am Dutch - I have Dutch nationality. However, I feel at home here in Korea (here are my roots), but I also feel at home in The Netherlands. To put it differently, living here (temporarily) in Korea is as confusing as it is intriguing.

Sunday, November 9, 2002
This weekend we went to Pyung Taek, which is the LG (Lucky Goldstar) Electronics learning center - for a workshop/field trip/MT (Membership Training). We went by bus to the learning center - which took one and a half hour. During the bus trip we had an interesting discussion whether Nokia, Samsung or LG - on the long term - will dominate the world market for mobile phones. This learning center of LG Electronics is one of the largest in the country. It consists of 4 buildings, with even a golf driving range and sauna. We stayed there for 2 days, although we slept very little that night... In the afternoon we did a Harvard Business School case study. It was very interesting to do this with Korean students. In the night we relaxed - ate and drank together.

Friday, November 7, 2002
Today I was delighted to receive an offer to do my internship at LG.Philips LCD (world number 1 LCD company - flatscreens)!
Also, we - business students - had a presentation and discussion at LG's Twin Tower, the LG headquarters. It was organized by Yonsei's GMT, Global Management Track.