20110331 My Grandfather's Memorial Service

     Yesterday my family had a memorial service for my grandfather. When I was 6 years old, my grandfather was dead, so I just have a little memory on him, but in my memory he was always taking care of me and my brother. In my memory, whenever he went out, he always by some snack for me and my brother so we always waited for him to bring us a snack. In addition I cannot forget that he brought a big snack box to me and my brother as a chirstmas gift. I cannot rememeber, but according to my parents, he always take me in a stroller and then take a walk around my town. He was a principal in a elementary school, so after he got retired, he always scrapped the newpaper to understand news in society. In my memory he was a very kind and intelligent person. Every 25th Feb in lunar calendar, we had a memorial service for my grandfather.

      This is a Korean traditional way to memorial our ancestors. In Korea, we call it as Jesa(제사). As I mentioned above, the memorial service is held on the day of the ancestor's death every year. Actually, this is performed until upwards of four generations of ancestors in the eldest descendat's house (basically it is inherited by a son). and every relative is gathering in his house and perform this service together. This is also a chance to gather all the family in one place and talk together.

      For performing this service, we prepare various foods for it such as wine, soup, beef, fish, vegetables, fruits and rice cake and so on. Traditionally it is performed after midnight, but nowaday it changed so, most people do this service during the evening. After setting all foods on a ancestral rites table, we perform this service with a traditional process. We take a ritual bow twice to our ancestor. In Korean traditiona we do a ritulal bow twice at a time only to dead people. 

     After finishing all processes of this service, people eat the foods and wine that are used in memorial service because we believe that we can receive the blessings bestowe upon the family through eating foods that are used at memorial service.

     Although today, in most Korean families, ancestor ritual become simplified, it still remain an important part of our culture and we are faithfully observed. With this service, annually, my family memorial our grandfather and ask him for blessing my family.

20110324 My Lovely Home and Community :)

Today, let me introduce you my community and home.

I live in Amsa-dong, which is located in Gandong-gu, the east-side of Seoul. Amsa means a rock-temple because there were 9 temples during the Shinra Dynasty. I live in an apartment building called 'Prior Palace'.

My neighborhood is very quiet, peaceful and eco-friendly. It is a good district for living, because there are a lot of beautiful and refreshing parks in my community.

First, there are a lot of playgrounds that children can use. Not only for kids, it is also a good place that people take a rest and exercise at night or evening.

 Second, my home is nearby Han-river. It just takes about twenty min. on foot. Sometimes I go there with my dog for exercising and refreshment. There is a beautiful road with many flowers and a natural ecology protection area. Also, people can play a lot of sports such as baseball, tennis, soccer, basket ball and dodge ball and so on. Sometime we can see some sports club play their games in Han-river Park. During the summer people gather to the outdoor swimming pool. There is also a big bicycle park in Gwannaru-discrict of Han-river. People can ride a bicycle on the road for bicycle and children can play with the bicycle ride.

Third, there is a mountain called Goduck-Mt near my home. It only takes a 10 min. on foot. On the top of this mountain people can see a nice view of Seoul with Han-river.

Next, there a famous historic remain in my neighborhood called Amsa pre-historic site. In this park, people can see a pre-historic life-style lively. There are various programs to let people introduce this pre-historic site. It is a good place not only for experience of pre-historic life style but also for having picnic with friends and family.

In spite of these good things about my community there are some problems to solve.

First, near my apartment, it is not good for public transportation. My apartment is in the middle of two stations called Amsa, line number 8, pink line and Myong-il. line number 5, purple line. These stations are a little bit far from the main districts of Seoul. I use Myong-il station to get to Sungshin Women’s Univ. There are not enough theaters or cultural entertainments to enjoy, so people should use a public transportation to see a movie or enjoy the cultural entertainments. Also, in front of my apartment, there are only two buses. I hope that there are more public transportations to connect with other districts in Seoul easily.

Second, my community is lack of sense of community. My apartment consists of 22 apartment builds and each one has 25^th or 20^th stories. Therefore, it is not easy to know each other because there are so many people to live in.

Except, these problems, my community is good for living especially, my apartment.

My apartment has a good underground parking lot. It is enough to park every car in underground parking lot. Because we don’t have a parking lot on the ground, we have a small park in apartment. There are some small fountains and places for jogging and exercising.

I live in the apartment building number 111 and my house is on the 21 floor. My home is very good for living because of its height. During the summer, my family doesn’t use an air-conditioner a lot because it is very cool only with opening the window. There are 3 rooms in my home. one is for my parents, other two rooms for me and my younger brother. But now my brother is in the air-force army, so my home becomes a little bit quieter than before. I use my room with my little dog named bokkil.

One of my duties in my home is that I should wash dishes after eating meals. and I should clean my room. Also, I should take care of my dog for her meals, exercises and bathe. Except these things I didn’t do a lot of house chores in my home. Usually my mom does that, so I help her for house chores.

20110316 Global Trade Expert :)

    On last Friday, 11th Mar, I had a graduation ceremony of my internship for Korean International Trade Association(KITA). In last suumer, I applied for the 6 months overseas internship that are run by KITA. This program is called Global Trade Expert(GTE). In this program, I had a training session in Korea for 6 weeks in last Aug. 2010, and then I worked at INNOCEAN Worldwide Europe(IWE), one of the top advertisng company for Hyundai and Kia Motors in Korea, in Germany from Sep.2010 to Feb. 2011. It was a great opportunity for me to experience the global business and differenct cultures.

     On 7^th July 2010, 97 university students gathered at the COEX convention and exhibition centre in Seoul for the Global Trade Expert  incubating program. The GTEP is an overseas internship program run by the Korea International Trade Association and the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. Following an initial six week training period covering the fundamentals of international trade, participants have the opportunity to work in various countries as interns for 6 months. Along with 20 other interns, I went to Germany and I had been given internships at Innocean Worldwide Europe in Frankfurt: myself (Young-shin(Rachel) Song) and my colleagues Haerim (Elly) Lee and Yousun (Sunny) Koh.

  

     When I heard that I would go to Frankfurt in Germany, I was so excited about working in Europe. Frankly speaking, when I heard the company name, Innocean, I didn’t know a lot about it except that Innocean is an advertising company for Hyundai and Kia Motors. So I looked for information about Innocean and I soon became more interested in the company and was looking forward to working in Innocean Europe.

     On 25^th August 2010, after flying for about 12 hours, I arrived in Germany with other friends who are going to work in Frankfurt. When I landed it seemed unbelievable that I was actually in Germany. Although I was jet-lagged for a few days, I was fully energized with excitement!

     When I arrived at the IWE office for the first time, I was surprised at the interior: everything was orange, with innovative designs! And every member of staff at IWE looked so dedicated, but also kind: this above all has made us very pleased to have this opportunity to work at IWE.

     Innocean means Ocean of Innovation and its slogan is a “Discover beyond [     ]”. With this vision, Innocean is  growing in Europe. Although I was only there for 6 months, I dived into the Ocean of Innovation with endless ambition and potential. I could swim in the Ocean of Innovation to discover beyond myself.

         Can you find me in this pic ?? :) 

20110307 New Start

Today is my first time to do blogging in English.

Actually, I have my own blog in Korean, but I am used to do it in English.

It will be a little bit difficult, but I think that it would be fun and exciting ! :) Yay!

My 2011 spring semester just started !

In addition, this semester will be my last semseter in my Univ., so it makes me a little nervous about getting a job for my future before graduating my Univ..

Although I will be busy for searching my job, I am looking forward to having an interesting and energetic my last semester in my Univ..

Go for it, Young-shin !