KOREA Week XX

Monday, September 14, 2009 at 4:45pm

Week twenty. Woo-hoo!

I have recently met some new friends in Sanbon and have been hanging out with them. Most of the other teachers here are younger, perhaps mid-twenties, and so it is rare to find a group of Westerners that is of a more mature age. It's also funny to meet new arrivals here in town, as I am reminded of the amazement and bewilderment I felt when I first arrived some four and a half months ago. Introducing someone to favorite restaurants and late night NoraeBang is especially fun, as is the Mandoo truck, a popular late night fixture in town center and nourishing meal for around 2,500 Won. Delicious!

Week II guitar classes are going well. This is despite the obvious language barrier that exists between me and my Korean instructor. Also, the class is filled with a bunch of rowdy Korean teenagers, who, at first, were amazed at the 30 year old foreigner sharing their class and laughed very hard at my arrival. It's okay, I'm used to it. The guitar I purchased last week in Itaewon is now tuned, and I am practicing as best I can outside the class. If any of my guitar playing friends who may be reading this blog want to offer any suggestions, I am all ears.

Many new restaurants have opened recently in Sanbon. What is most amazing, to me, is the turnaround time they require to remodel the space and suddenly appear open for business. Lately, I have been strolling through town, and suddenly there is a new restaurant I have never noticed before. It's almost as if they appear overnight. In fact, one late night I did notice a construction crew working diligently on a space, only to find the restaurant open for business approximately two days later. No joke.

One of these new restaurants is a delicious samgyeopsal (thinly sliced pork) and galbi (thinly sliced beef) establishment that James and I visited one evening between classes. For their grand opening, they provided free bottles of soju, which was a real treat before late night class. The restaurant was so delicious, I took Alvin there later that same week. It was during this second visit, that we almost set the restaurant on fire. Because most samgyeopsal restaurants feature a gas grill on every table, the risk for a fire, I suppose, is increased. Or so, that is what I would like to believe.

In fact, the oil from our grill did overheat and cause a flare-up, and also, in fact, we twice alerted our teenage waiter that the flames were getting higher and the grill was getting significantly hotter. Both calls for action, I would like to point out, he did ignore. So, by the time it was noticed by someone other that the pimple faced kid whose responsibility it should have been to look after us, the flames were slightly out of control. In fact, it did take nearly the entire restaurant staff to attempt to extinguish the flames, and thankfully, prevent our pubescent waiter from dowsing the fire with more water. That, in fact, would have been disastrous.

Long story short, Alvin and I received free bottles of Cass beer for the inconvenience of the fire at our table. And, I am now well recognized and given special treatment every time I return to dine there. Later this same week, and on my third visit to the restaurant, there was a television crew filming an interview, so once again, free soju was provided to those fortunate enough to be a part of this. Since the interview was entirely in Korean, I can only guess how James and I looked in the eyes of the camera and the millions of Korean viewers. I am still searching for the footage, and if I am fortunate enough to locate it, I will surely post it for all to see.

We have been reading many automotive articles in business class and discussing the competitive advantage of Hyundai Kia Automotive Group. It's a fascinating subject for me, as I have learned many things about one of Korea's largest companies and a source of national pride. Hyundai is actually a chaebol, or a family-run Korean conglomerate, owning a multitude of companies ranging from construction equipment, to elevators, land development, finance, department stores, mining, and petroleum. Other noteworthy chaebols include Samsung and LG.

More interesting facts about Hyundai include:

Hyundai Motor Company has grown to become the world's 5th largest automotive company, and employs some 75,000 people globally; both rather impressive figures considering the company was founded in 1967.

Hyundai Kia Automotive Group was the only automaker to post significant profits and increased market share, not only on a worldwide basis, but especially in the crippled U.S. market. According to some reports, U.S. sales rose 47% for Hyundai and 60% for Kia between 2008 and 2009, and their worldwide sales continues to increase from the previous year. Amazing! I have also read reports which suggest it's the second largest automaker in India, and it's increasingly popular in European markets.

Hyundai's popular 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty and two year buyback guarantee is a major reason for their U.S. success, as is the recent launch of many new and redesigned models. Improved quality reflected by numerous awards, including Consumer reports and J.D. Power and Associates, is also an attribute.

The flagship Hyundai Genesis was named North American Car of the Year and won a combined twenty industry awards. Priced at around $35,000 U.S.D., it is designed to compete with more expensive BMW and Lexus models, which is exactly what it's styling reminds me of; something of a cross between the BMW 5 or 7 series and the Lexus LS at approximately half the cost.

The newly redesigned Sonata sedan and Tucson SUV are not only good looking, but are designed and priced to go head to head with product rivals from Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.

The Equus line, Hyundai's premier luxury line and similar to that of Lexus to Toyota, Acura to Honda, or Infiniti to Nissan, is scheduled to go on sale in the U.S. sometime in 2010 or 2011 and should be major competition for those aforementioned carmakers.

Strangely, and despite their worldwide success, Hyundai's market share in Korea is actually slipping. For years, they were one of a handful of automakers sold in Korea, the most popular of which included; GM Daewoo, Renault Samsung (which is uniquely similar to the Nissan model line because of it's affiliation with French company Renault), and Ssangyang Motors. Ford, Chrysler, Peugeot, Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, and Mercedes are all sold here but remain a minority amongst the more popular and less expensive Korean brands.

Even more strange; popular Japanese brands such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan have only been recently introduced to the Korean marketplace. Lexus was first introduced in 2001, Honda was introduced in 2007, Toyota and Nissan both in 2009, and Mazda does not appear to exist in Korea.

Other exciting news this week:

Last weekend, I saw a Korean man in Seoul wearing a Put-in-Bay Lake Erie t-shirt. I was unable to stop and talk with him, but nonetheless, it reminded me of home and made me feel good. It's funny how something so simple can make someone feel good. You can be, literally, half-way across the world and see something or meet someone from close to your home, and it can make, pardon the pun, all the difference in the world.

On Friday, there were no classes so I visited a university located in Daejeon, approximately two hours south of Seoul or only one hour by high speed KTX train. I read about the school in the Korea Herald, and they offer a two year accredited MBA program for only $25,000 U.S.D. Incredible, especially when you consider the tuition fee includes room and board. At this time, it's only a consideration in my eyes, but one cannot dispute the value. Daejeon is actually the fifth-largest city in South Korea with over 1 million residents, and is referred to as the "Silicon Valley of Korea" as many technology and R&D firms are located here. Check out their website: The SolBridge International School of Business (http://www.solbridge.ac.kr/). More info to soon follow on this subject.

The remainder of this past weekend was spent cleaning my apartment, reading, taking many naps, improving my dart game, and otherwise laying low. This coming week is only a four day week, so I will most likely use the three day weekend to travel somewhere. Details to follow next week.