In November 2011, I got a chance to visit Seoul, South Korea. This article is a collection of my notes during the trip…

After a long, long flight, I finally arrived at Incheon Airport. Brian, a sales manager of our agent company, picked me up. It took me another hour to reach my hotel, Novotel Ambassador, in the business center of Seoul. It was almost 24 hours from when I left my home in Houston to the moment I stepped into my hotel room… What a long journey! We can double the CPU speed every couple of years, but we can only wish that for air travel.

Korea, the Land of the Morning Calm: That is what I felt when I looked at the its city from air and walked on the streets. Putting the name with the person could lead to mixed feelings. In the case of “Seoul”, it’s a pleasant surprise: artistically designed skyscrapers, clean and wide streets, lined up with Bonsai-shaped pine trees, not to mention the mysterious Korean characters in front of trendy stores, a mingle of the state-of-the-art and tradition.

Seoul, the capital with more than 10.5 million people, is the most wired city on the planet, with about 95% of households connected to broadband. Contrary to my imagination, it is not a heavy industry city. Korean people call their capital a soft city of arts and design. I even saw the sign “Soul of Asia” on streets.

During the meetings with potential clients, we exchanged business cards. The exchange turned out to be quite an experience. I brought my business cards in Chinese, which most Korean can read and even pronounce. I also asked our hosts to write their names in Chinese on the cards.  What fascinated me was that the Chinese versions of their names were so well thought with profound meanings of life, philosophy, nature, etc. Brian’s first name means “East wise”. His colleague has a first name of “Handsome hero”.

The technical exchange in the 1^st day went well. The dinner with our host in a small Korean restaurant was even better: tuna sashimi, soju (Korean version of vodka) and local beer (CASS). Toward the end of meal, Brian told us that there would be a special drink. “It is very good to your health.” He said mysteriously. Soon, the waiter came with a kettle and poured a thick pinkish liquid into our shot glasses. Seeing us puzzled, Brian finally revealed the nature of this special liquid: soju mixed with tuna eyes… It did not have much strange taste, except a little bit fishy, but did let us wonder how many fish eyes were in our glasses.

In the following days, we flew to Geoje Island, took train to Ulsan, and on the weekend, I joined a tour to 38^th parallel north,  which separates the North and South Korea. You can see one of the following photos showing the entrance to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Those long hours in the trips were not wasted as our friends told us many things unknown to us.

Our topics during the trips, just as the changing scenes outside the windows, jumped from one to another, ranging from how South Korea develops systems that could turn an ordinary girl or boy into a super star within a few years, to how this country created 3 largest shipbuilding companies in the world (Hyundai Heavy Industries # 1, DSME #2, Samsung Heavy Industries # 3) and their distinctive management styles.

We specifically talked about that writing on a building at the shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries: “When we become successful, so will our country; if our country becomes successful, so will we.” This reflected Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung’s vision: “I am interested in contributing to making a glorious nation and proud people.”

I have not made any sale on our drilling software from this trip yet, but I regarded the trip a fruitful journey. I am grateful to my new friends who made our voyage a happy one; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom, and they are among those who make Seoul prosperous!