Time for a little bit of personal thoughts.
May be I should edit this section in French? Not that it would make my life easier but writing in French would certainly provide me with enough comfort and self-confidence to express myself more ... gracefully?
On the other hand, who really cares about my language proficiency? Moreover, I have to specify that I studied Spanish before English, just because it was the only way at that time to go to a better school. Funny to think how school zoning can change your destiny. But later on, it also allowed me to work in Peru, Colombia, Honduras etc. so I will not complain about my parents' decision. I never visited the U.S or Great-Britain and the first time I really practiced my English was in India and then in Uganda. Both are former British colonies but I am not sure I caught the right accent there. Now I have been living in a country (Korea) where English has become my default language. My jaw does not like it but I am now in a position to dream in English (without subtitles).
When I do not pay attention to my accent (and even if I do), people easily guess that I am French. It hurts a little but then again, we all have accents. A Korean guy once told me that my English accent was awful while I thought his own pronunciation was horrible to me (and to most native English speakers). I actually think there is not good or bad accent but rather good and bad pronunciations. After all, language is a practical tool that should be used mainly for communication purposes. Let's also consider there are probably more non-native English speakers in the world than native ones. Of course, having a rich vocabulary and a perfect grammar does not hurt.
Being global (meaning speaking English in fact, no ?) is not a piece of cake mais c'est la vie ... Frankly speaking (how many times do I hear that expression, especially from people who are not so frank?), being challenged should be the best motivation for progress and not the contrary. I therefore consider I have some room for improvement.
February was a short (as usual) yet intense month
In Korea, February started with nearly one week of public holidays due to the celebration of the Lunar New Year (called 설날 ou Seollal in Korea). If you want to read an interesting article about Seollal, I suggest you check this article How Koreans Celebrate Seollal, Lunar New Year.
On the occasion of Seollal, a Korean friend of mine - I actually consider her as my Korean sister-, a very good French speaker - invited me and my husband to spend a few days at her parent's home in Maseok city (about 50 km from Seoul). The perspective of living with a genuine Korean family was both exhilarating and scaring for some cultural (language barrier mainly) reasons. In the end, our homestay turned out to be an unforgettable experience. We learnt how to communicate through the food, preparing mandus (dumplings), trying a restaurant specialized in acorn food, cooking and eating together a coq-au-vin (French chicken stew) prepared with local ingredients, stuffing ourselves with Seollal delicacies including galbi, kim (seaweed), Korean pears (pês), Jeju oranges and rice cakes.
 |
| Preparing mandus the day before Seollal |
 |
| Mandus before and after |
 |
| Seollal ceremony : the table of ancesters |
 |
| Eating ancesters' leftovers |
 |
| Acorn meal |
 |
| Apocalypse now: supermarket during Seollal at 7 pm |
 |
| Sharing coq-au-vin with our Korean family |
Interesting article of Korea Times about homestay in Korea
The art of networking in Seoul
February was a month full of networking opportunities, in the real and in the virtual world.
Twitter, Netvibes, Linkedin, Facebook, Hotmail, Gmail, Blogger, Google ... How could I live without this before? And how can I live with this now? I got an Ipod Touch a few days ago (still resisting to I Phone) and I am just wondering if this was a really good idea. The Internet has transformed and even enlightened my life but it seems I have developed an addiction to e-connections and living in the most connected city does not help. However, Seoul also offers many opportunities to mingle in real life.
Even if networking seems to be a national sport in Korea, the local approach has long been quite passive or pre-determined by the precepts of Confucianism. Why bother to build networks while your family name, age, birthplace, university, company, gender, position and title, etc., are doing the work for you? Hence the importance of business cards and indiscreet questions that will allow people to identify you as a member or not of their community. But globalization and new technologies have been the new rules. In Korea as anywhere else, networking has to be interactive, innovative, selective ... in one word, it has to be valuable. And I should say the best way to receive is to give so be generous!
How about global networking in Seoul in February ?
Linked Seoul - Networking in Seoul - Get connected!
A very well thought network whith periodic meetings in nice venues.
Membership is varied and includes many different nationalities, professions and industries.
Admnistrator of network Devin Rupert is putting a lot of energy into providing taiylored-to-the-need services and information.
Networking is quite easy even if you are new.
As mentioned on the website, "InterNations is an expatriates community for people living and working abroad as well as all ʺglobal mindsʺ. Expats are welcome to join our network of like-minded people within a community of trust and confidence, connecting expatriates with other expats in their new place of residence. Every month, top-class InterNations events take place in numerous communities world-wide, giving expatriates the chance to meet other expats in an exclusive and international environment."
In fact, I just attended one Internations event in January and I missed the February one.
Event was a little crowded, noisy and dark so it was therefore difficult to talk to people.
However, I could meet some new people, mostly introduced through guests I already knew.
There was a real willingness to welcome people and to make them feel comfortable and I look forward to the next event.
Being member of the Steering Committee of the Diplomatic Happy Hour (DHH), I will just encourage you to visit the DHH's page on the Facebook.
No many events but a chance to meet diplomats but not only in a casual atmosphere.
Hyatt Wine Club
I attented the kickoff event and thought it was well organized yet overpriced (I have worked as F&B Marketing Manager in Seoul so I just think this is not commercially sustainable to charge such a big price).
If you have money to spend, I suggest you participate in In Vino Veritas wine club events. Wines are always carefully selected and since they are not sponsored you can be sure they will not deceive you.
Monthly events on the 2nd Mondays: gastronomic dinner + tasting of around 6 wines.
New guests have the opportunity to introduce themselves in front of all guests, in English or Korean.
  | ||
| With Arnaud Abadi, Terroirs Selection (one of the sponsors) and Marcus Von Engel, Accenture, President of In Vino Veritas Wine Club
|
Career Women in Korea - CWIK
As mentioned in Korea4expats, "CWIK brings together Korean and Expat women, who are working in Korea to share information and network. CWIK holds a dinner meeting with a guest speaker the 3rd Wednesday evening of the month at the New Seoul Hotel (next to the Press Club and behind City Hall).
If you are interested in participating, please contact Boardmember Injae Seo (injae1000@gmail.com ) or Chair person Kumjoo Huh (kumjoo0207@gmail.com )
This month, I attended CWIK meeting for the first time. The topic was "Ten Tips for the Female Boss" by outstanding guest speaker Michael Breen (Chairman, Insight Communications Consultants; Author and Columnist).
There were about 10 guests, which made the communication (in English) easy and pleasant. I will attend the next event for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment