(Seoul, Korea) Rushing

Girls in Seoul are very sensitive about their appearances. You see mirrors at every subway exits and in every corner. In the subway, I once saw a girl rushing urgently and wondered where she was going. When she reached the mirror at the platform, she halted and adjusted her hair. It would have been terrible if someone caught her with her fringe slightly awry. Another time, the train was just about the leave the station. The doors were closing when a lady suddenly leaped out. She must have forgotten something! Instead, she ran to the mirror at the platform and fiddled with her clothes.

(Seoul, Korea) Have to be perfect

And they look incredibly good of course, under all that makeup. An American I met at the hostel, Dan, told me how his neighbor refused to pick up the letters outside before undergoing a 30 minutes make-up regime.

Plastic surgery helps too. A friend told me that after high school, her parents wanted her to get plastic surgery. She did not want it, and she half-jokingly added that her parents were disappointed with her decision. Many of my friends view plastic surgery as something natural to give to their children. To them, plastic surgery is like private tutoring, a way to give their children an advantage in a fiercely competitive society. While I empathize with that rationale, I cannot help but feel sad that people would feel so pressured to go under the knife.

(Rome, Italy) Where hence the individual?

Before the semester ended, I was awarded the Wharton Undergraduate Research Award for excellence in research. It was given to five winners nominated by the faculty and I was the only non-senior. What does this mean? I don’t know. Most awards and fellowships are truly strange rituals: they sound truly impressive, but no one outside a select group, or in this case, perhaps just the winners and the faculty, knows about them.

Awards and fellowships validate our sense of self-importance rather than accomplish anything. If there is anything remotely important, it would be in the work I did preceding the award. I researched the impact of a new policy in China on corporate citizenship, drew some conclusions, and used them to try—in what small ways I can—to create positive change in society. Awards say nothing of this process. It simply summarizes the effort, often in ways that crushes the individualism of the effort. Perhaps that is the purpose of awards: they seek people that match an idealized form of excellence – a mold.

(Venice, Italy) Educating youths

I had an opportunity to teach at Daewon Foreign Language High School (DFLHS) in Seoul. DFLHS is one of two top Korean high schools with such an enviable record of sending students to top American universities that the New York Times reported on it. My short stint has given me some insights into the extensive similarities, and mild differences, between DFLHS and top Singaporean Junior Colleges.

(Rome, Italy) Building Global Leaders

I taught at the Global Leaders Program, which prepares selected students specifically for top foreign universities, and had an amazing time at the school. The students were fun and as energetic as they could be for students attending classes from 7am to 11pm. I had the opportunity to do a skit, where I learned that poor acting on a grammar theme is a bad idea. I also presented on life at Penn, which seems more fun looking back than when I was living it. I managed to answer students’ citation questions from midnight to 2am on some days. Thanks to Seoul’s wireless grid, I could do it sitting outside of a convenience store, while drinking beer in celebration of my Mexican friend’s last day in Seoul. A lot the creativity in the teaching routine stemmed from my tireless co-teacher, Jinhee, an engineer from Princeton with a zeal to make each class as fun as possible.

So how does DFLHS students compare against Hwa Chong or Raffles students, who also study at many of the same universities? I think the best comparison would be from my observation of both student groups at my university. There have not been many DFLHS students at Penn in recent years, but Minjok Leadership Academy Students (DFLHS’s closest rival) abound. Both student groups from Singapore and Korea work hard at Penn. Students from both groups in general obtain good grades.

(Rome, Italy) Comparing peer groups

However, in talking to faculty and through my own observations, there tends to be more academic “superstars” among Singaporean students. This is of course a subjective term, and what I am referencing are the crazy students who graduate with two degrees in 3 years or 4 majors in 4 years. This is not to mean that Singaporean students are better, in general or individually, but that they tend to have more people excelling spectacularly. Furthermore, academics are just one measure of success, and the collection of degrees is an even more imperfect measure of academic success.

I suspect that the strength of the Singaporean pool stems from its larger prospective student pools. While entry into DFLHS is relatively egalitarian as it depends on an entrance exam (as far as I could tell), the dependence on English grades as a major differentiator tilts the balance significantly towards high income families who can afford expensive and high quality English tutoring for their children. Singapore has a similar problem with a different cause: richer students tend to come from English-speaking families, which gives them an advantage. However, in Korea, where English is not a lingua franca, getting good English grades requires a Herculean effort normally aided by immensely expensive tutoring (I have friends earning US$100 an hour for English tutoring).

Hence, DFLHS students come from a smaller prospective pool. The students from DFLHS are incredibly smart, but there are equally smart students who fail to make it to the school because of the English obstacle. Thus, while the Korean population is larger, the students who are prospective candidates to such top high schools are actually less than in Singapore. In turn, the students who go on to top American universities come from a smaller pool than in Singapore.

(Rome, Italy) Providing individual attention

However, I believe that the education at DFLHS fared better at some areas than my high school. I enjoyed how my high school ended at 2pm everyday and gave me so much space to explore and define myself (partly because I skipped school for almost half a year). However, aside from the long hours, I think DFLHS does an amazing job at educating students: students here seem to be much more proficient at writing research papers and teachers seem less pressured to meet absurd targets. I am teaching MLA citation rules to 10th graders here, something I had to pick up on my own after leaving high school. The teachers here, or at least in the GLP program, do not seem to have to meet “targets,” such as A Level grades, that could make or break a school’s reputation in Singapore. I think it takes pressure off teachers and allow them to focus on what is important for students instead. Classes here, at 25 students each, are also a lot smaller and allows for more individual attention. I remember how I slept through most of my classes simply because no teacher cared when I was in middle- and high-school.

I think some of these flaws in the Singaporean education system were being corrected when I left, so feel free to update me on the changes in the comments section.

(Seoul, South Korea) Protests continue to rock Seoul

I recently took up a new job as a remote analyst for strategic intelligence firm Exclusive Analysis. I will assist in monitoring political risks from North and South Korea. What convinced me to take up the job included my personal interest in the two countries- hence my Korean language studies in Seoul-and the culture of the firm. While I only managed to get a feel for it through my conversation with the interviewer, the place strikes me as being supportive of thoroughly debating issues and impartial in their analysis. The downside is that I will probably be reducing the number of entries I have on North Korea to maintain the proprietary nature of any information I come across.

(Seoul, South Korea) Crossing the border?

I recently met a friend who worked in Kaesong until the North Korean government expelled all South Korean government staff. It was interesting seeing the change in him because of his involvement in the project: he used to be a rabid GNP supporter but now believes that the GNP policy towards North Korea (essentially ignoring it) is disastrous. Some of his opinions include:

1. North Koreans are smart and rational negotiators: they know that the US is the only important player and that South Korea and Japan will have to accept whatever outcome the US chooses. They have a long-term game plan and they stick to it. This mirrors what the Clinton-era negotiator with North Korea told me when I met him in Shanghai.

2. So what do they want? The elite essentially live well and are aware of the situation in the South. My friend does not believe that this group wants reunification. The group includes the Ministry of Trade (and related organs), the Army, and other top Party officials.

3. But my friend believes that the lack of engagement under Lee Myung Bak is worsening thing. He believes that closer relations are possible. However, the Lee administration, by declaring the goal of raising North Korean GDP to $3000 in return for denuclearization, humiliated the North Korean elite and drove them away from whatever positive attitudes they might have had towards closer links with the South.

4. Elite students now want to be part of the Ministry of Trade rather than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This mirrors what my friend from Kim Il Sung University told me about her ambitions. Perhaps this reflects the increasing power that money and access to foreign goods bring in North Korea.

5. Kaesong is a bleeding money for the South Korean firms involved in it. Risk of expulsion is high and restrictions add to costs. The project’s viability is also threatened by politics from the South – the new administration has decided that Kaesong is not a priority. For the North, Kaesong is not a big foreign currency generator for the regime. Instead, tourism is much more profitable (e.g. Kaesong and Geumgangsan). Hence, both sides could easily sink the project.

(Seoul, South Korea)

I went to watch the North Korea-South Korea football game in Seoul over the weekend. The South Korean team was on the offensive for most of the game, but the game ended in a draw. I did not see any North Korean supporters around, although there were South Koreans waving reunification flags. Unfortunately, those flags were far less popular than the various Korea soccer team paraphernalia. Perhaps it says something about what South Koreans feel about reunification. Lynn, a law school student staying at the same hostel as I was, asked me if “taehanminguk,” the South Korean cheer, referred to South Korea only or both North and South Korea.

(Vatican City, Italy)

I have another article on Harmonious Society and corporate social responsibility up on CSR China. The article is based on findings from my research under the late Professor Thomas Dunfee, and expresses my belief in using research to drive change.

Most people would not admit to believing in prophesies. Such fanciful visions of the future belong to the realm of imagination, and not to the scrutiny of rationality. However, when it comes to the development of corporate social responsibility in China, prophets and believers abound.

They have seen the vision of the China’s “Harmonious Society” policy driving the widespread adoption of CSR in China — I call this prophesy Harmonious CSR (hCSR). I like to believe in hCSR too. Unfortunately, like prophesy, the causal link between Harmonious Society and CSR is tenuous.

(Seoul, Korea) Couples at the Chonggye…

I have been in a few discussions on Korean politics when my discussion partner would become exasperated at countering my arguments and simply say “you don’t understand because you are not Korean.” Otherwise, this comment might pop out as a rebuttal when I point out something about Korean culture which I do not particularly enjoy.

All cultures have their flaws and idiosyncrasies, and an earnest cultural discussion cannot occur when people act defensively at an earnest comment. While being more immersed in Korean culture might lend me some empathy for certain cultural aspects, this is not the purpose of the retort. Instead, the person employing this tactic normally seeks to close off all debate by marginalizing the views of the “foreigner” as being unimportant or superficial.

I have some sympathy for this view. I remember meeting a graduate school student in Beijing who spent every night at clubs. He claimed to understand China from his time abroad and made statements such as “Chinese are such crazy partiers. They love to club so much.” He did not appreciate my observation that in a city of 16 million, it only takes a miniscule minority to fill up the few clubs Beijing had. Most of my Chinese friends have absolutely no interest in clubbing, and my graduate school friend had drawn his insights from a self-selected population.

(Seoul, Korea) The protests continue

However, the difference between the “you are not Korean” rebuttal and my example is that the former seeks to stop all further inquiry with the statement. It does not seek to put the cultural or political element in context. And for statements like “I do not like the strong stereotypes Koreans have of certain foreigners,” I would contend that I am better able to understand such cultural elements than the people I discuss the issue with. Sometimes, being an outsider allows you to see the hilarities and absurdities of a situation better than someone who is emotionally beholden to the situation. Other times, it makes you blind to the importance of certain values that people in a certain culture hold. The way to discern between the two is rigorous discussion and analysis.

(Seoul, Korea) Protesting in style…LV-style

I told Charles, an American (Caucasian) who lived here for a third of his life and spoke fluent Korean, about this. His immediate comment was “is that person a Korean American?” I thought about it and realized that everyone who gave me that comment was Korean-American (or lived a significant portion of their lives in America). I realized that many of my friends who lived in Korea their entire life tend to agree with my critiques when the same comment elicits defensiveness in some of my Korean-American friends. Cultural interaction does not always breed receptivity: sometimes it reinforces a desperate hold on one’s assumed cultural heritage as a survival mechanism in an unfamiliar environment.

(Versailles, France) Marie Antoinette’s Estate

I stopped at Milan enroute from Rome to Paris as French strikers had shut down the French railway system. After resuming my journey, my train broke down just after passing Turin. I woke up and found myself on a near empty train. Two French girls kindly informed me that the train had broken down and I had to get off. I talked to them as we waited at the platform for the next train and found out that they lived in one of the most expensive arrondisement in Paris, near the Eiffel Tower. Unlike the stereotypes of haughty aristocratic princesses, they were friendly and helpful people.

(Paris, France) At Montmatre

I also met an Italian musician who was helping them carry their luggage off the train. He was travelling to Paris to perform. Before leaving for the summer holidays, I wrote about the Camorra, an organized criminal organization based in Naples, for a management paper. The Camorra is under a lot of attention because of a famous book written by Robert Saviano. It turns out that the musician I met was from Naples and was good friends with Robert. My friend believed that the Camorra will remain an integral part of Naples, simply because they are so entrenched in the local culture. He observed that before Italy became Italy, Italian states were separate principalities with their own language and culture. In a way, the Camorra is able to continue existing because it is seen as a preserver of regionalist pride.

(Paris, France) Notre Dame
While in Versailles, I was waiting in line and started talking to a lady in front of me. She was from the former Yugoslavia, moved to Germany and now lives in the United States. She was fondly reminiscing to me her life when Yugoslavia was under Tito and had a communist system. For her, it represented a period of national unity, social stability and economic security that is now lost in the violent dissolution of her former country. For me, it was interesting as I have not met that many people who lived a greater part of their life under a communist system, and a sobering reminder that for some of these people, that was a past that is still remembered fondly.

At Venice, Anisha and I stayed at a place in the middle of a huge plot of farmland two islands away from Venice. From the map they gave us, the hostel definitely looked nearer. It was pouring when we arrived, and we felt miserable dragging our luggage from the train station, through the pouring rain, to where the boat taxi was 4 km away; it was even worse discovering that the boat taxi’s next stop was the train station we alighted at.

Anisha, being the eager backpacker, left one day later. I stayed an extra day only to find it raining again. This time, the rain stopped the boat taxi from entering the waterways close to the train station. It stopped three stops away from the train station. To make things worse, Venice was flooding. With only 30 minutes to my train’s departure, I took off my shoes, carried my luggage, and ran barefooted all the way, through at times knee-high water, to the station.
Anisha and I bought 24 hour boat ride tickets (Euro 16 each) which we never validated. Hence, it could be re-used. 5 minutes before the train left, I jumped off and ran out to find a couple I could sell the tickets to. Two minutes later, I had recouped Euro 20 and was on my way to Rome to meet Anisha and Tatiana.

(Seoul, South Korea)

I had a long conversation over dinner with a friend about the protests currently rocking Seoul. Ostensibly, this protest is about the free-trade agreement (FTA) and the Korean concession to allow beef imports from cows over 30 years of age. However, having been to a few protests, it appears that many other issues are at play. For example, yesterday’s protests focused on two girls who were knocked down by US military vehicles a few years back.

These disparate issues are more symbolic than concrete. Protesters appear to focus on these specific incidents and issues partly in opposition to the issues, but also as a focal point for broader concerns. The two broad themes I identified in the protests involve a disapproval of Lee Myung Bak (unaffectionately named 2MB for the purported size of his brain according to his opponents), competing economic interests, and a complex form of Anti-Americanism.

(Seoul, South Korea) How LMB is supposed to look

I suspect that part of the disapproval of LMB stems from buyer’s regret. Before the election, I remembered many Koreans I talked to associating LMB with cronyism. However, it was a choice between him and an even more uninspiring opposition candidate. His victory was seen less as a popular mandate and more a choice of a lesser evil. Furthermore, while I applaud some of LMB’s decisiveness (and some of his policies), I feel that he made major mistakes early on in his presidency by ignoring the processes of politics – a lack of consulting and convincing – and by wasting his political capital on unimportant and unwinnable policies (anyone remembers how he wanted everyone to learn English as a first language)?

(Seoul, South Korea)

As for Korea’s anti-Americanism, I suspect that the phenomenon is much more complex than captured in the single word. South Korea, more so than in many parts of the world, has a strong admiration for and fascination with America. They are obsessed with American schools, pop culture, and brands. The streets are lined with Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins, and Krispy Kreme. At the protest outside of City Hall, Nike caps were being sold (with colors to match the protestors’ headbands too). However, at the same time, this close relationship is punctuated by a sense of dependency fueled in part by the presence of US military bases on Korean soil.

(Seoul, South Korea)

Another interesting facet about the protests is how, like in some Asian countries (e.g. Singapore, Malaysia…etc.), the online media is contrasted against the traditional print media in mobilizing popular opinion. South Korea relies on the web for a lot of things. News and gossip travel quickly online. While my Korean has yet to reach the level of reading local newspapers, my discussions with friends indicates that traditional print media, which are often dependent on chaebol advertising, tends to be more conservative. The print media is probably more supportive of LMB. This is contrasted against the online media, which played a significant role in mobilizing and channeling protestors’ energy: rumors travelled quickly about how American cows were unsuitable for Korean diet long before the print media even discussed the concessions made on beef imports in the FTA. When I wanted to photograph the protestors’ march, my host looked at blogs to determine the location of the next major protest.

(Seoul, South Korea)