Santa Clara University

Just another day in Korea....

Had dinner last evening (Monday, August 27) with Mr. Seoung-kook Kim, MBA '93, who arranged a traditional Korean meal in a restaurant above one of the business district buildings. Mr. Kim was formerly head of a rice wine bottler/distributor (which he took public), and is now president and CEO of a battery company.

Many restaurants are found above office complexes, and the higher the floor, the nicer the restaurant. As we entered our private dining room, a glass atrium planted with bamboo and with silk drapes framing the view, we realized that the low table was positioned over a large space into which our legs could rest, apparently designed for westerners unused to lengthy dining on the floor.

And lengthy the meal was, with course after course of delightful dishes created for the eye as well as the palate: a rainbow of delicately sliced purple cabbage, shredded carrot, light green herbs, about eight in all, surrounding a large, bright pink radish thinly sliced to serve as a kind of crepe; a whipped, warm white soup of pine nut dust; rare sirloin sizzling on heated rocks; small colorful patties—pumpkin, spinach and pine nuts, and sole in egg batter; kimchi baked like a soufflé, and on.

Throughout the meal, we were served a wonderful rice wine (which we learned was from Mr. Kim’s former company). Wine is never to be poured for oneself, so we spent the evening serving one another as our tiny glasses emptied.

Finally when the fruit came out, we realized we might be done. We were each given a bowl of lovely pinkish purple clear broth with a half pear in the middle, accompanied by rice balls dusted with green tea or cinnamon. I can’t remember the other sweet things.

It was after 10 PM when we left the restaurant and Mr. Kim had one more treat for us. He took us to the tower, a needle-like building atop the highest mountain in the city. We took a gondola up, then climbed more stairs, and then up in the elevator to the very top. We weren’t moving very fast—the magnificent meal and the remarkable heat, even after sundown, slowed us down.

The tower gave us amazing 360 degree views of the city. Dean Posner commented that the city looks as if it’s on an island surrounded by a river, but it is really not the case. Although 29 bridges connect Seoul proper with the outskirts of the city (mostly south of the business district), the river doesn’t entirely separate the city from the rest of the land mass. In the midst of the city are two palaces, old 13^th century walls from ruling dynasties, and 20- to 40-story ‘homes’ which are apartments that multiply as far as the eye can see, but interspersed with green denseness and small mountains.

Mr. Kim has been most thoughtful and very welcoming. He attended our executive seminars yesterday, and he’ll return for our alumni reception today at 3:30 PM. We are so grateful for his connection to us. We have been honored by his attention.

Today our student groups will take us on excursions from 8:30 AM to 2 PM, so I’m sure there will be more later!

Leanna

August 26:Sunday night

3:44 AM

After a non-eventful 11-hour flight, took an incredible 2-1/2 hour drive from the airport (traffic is terrific, and it was rush hour as well). Seoul is a beautiful, clean, green city, with juxtaposition of old and new -- the 'circle' comes around a temple palace, taking up some serious acreage in the middle of the city. All cars merging at once, all beautiful shiny new cars, without any accidents to be seen--and many that seemed about to happen!

The weather is beautiful, and our host, Mr. Kim, says the rain is done now, so we can expect plenty of sunshine and great weather.

We drove up to our hotel--and I do mean 'up'--we learned the hotel on "South Mountain" is one of the most beautiful in all of Seoul, with amazing views, and exquisite accommodations.

Will catch up on some sleep and report more later,

Leanna

We will visit the National Museum of Korea for insight into the roots of Korean culture and its unique articulation of traditional Asian themes such as Confucianism and Buddhism.  We will then travel by subway to Insa-Dong, a street of traditional and modern Korean arts to see how these themes are expressed in modern Korean high culture.

Seoul Group B Activity Schedule - August 28, 2007

Travel to NHN Corp. via subway*	9:00am - 10:30am
NHN corporate visit	10:30am - 12:00pm
Lunch at nearby restaurant	12:00pm - 1:00pm
Return to Shilla via subway*	1:00pm - 2:00pm

* Subway tickets will be purchased before our departure.

August 28, 2007 - Seoul Group B plans to visit NHN Corporation. NHN is an Internet content service operator headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and was established in 1998. Its flagship product is the Naver portal, which is one of the most popular Internet portals and search engines in South Korea. As of October 6, 2006, NHN is the largest component of the KOSDAQ (6.5%).

Naver was launched in June 1999 and is the top web portal in South Korea. Using its own proprietary search engine, Naver was the first portal to provide integrated search service in Korea. It has since remained in the lead in the development of Korean search services. It also provides a wide range of Internet services, including a news service with comprehensive coverage from more than 90 media sources, an e-mail service, and an academic thesis search service.