Seoul and street noodles

You can't go to any Asian city without experiencing the street food at night. So of course, after a wonderful baseball game and a bit of walking around, we stumbled upon this somewhat quiet area with a couple of food vendors.

 

We picked the one with the most people and sat down. The nice thing was, we didn't have to order - she only served one dish - Noodles. Which was great for both of us, because we didn't speak a word of Korean and she didn't speak a word of English. It was all hand gestures and that was fine with us.

Here's the sweet lady making fresh noodles for our order:

Then she gave us some homemade kimchi (very spicy!) but very good.

 

Our noodles. So delicious. Fresh noodles do make a difference.

 

 Here's Matt smiling through the spiciness. Quick - down it with beer!

 

 

And it was only $11 total! Can't beat that!

AWESOME...

Baseball in Seoul

Matt and I went to Seoul, South Korea a couple of weekends ago.

We went to a baseball game between the LG Twins and the Nexen Heroes:

Here's the crazy crowd outside before the game started. There were empty Jagermeister bottles and empty beer cans EVERYWHERE. It was right beside the Olympic stadium (The 1988 Summer Olympics were held in Seoul).

NOTE: do not have Burger King there.....

Inside the stadium, it was great. We sat 10 rows from the field between the 3rd base and yellow post. The field is a little smaller than the ones in US or Canada, so we were able to see everything. It was so cheap. The seats were about $12 each, and draft beers were about $3 each. And we were able to bring in food and drinks.

Here are our seats. It was an open stadium and we had great weather. The game started at 6:30pm:

 

Japanese and Korean baseball games are FUN. It is loud, the crowd chants (Koreans also sing) and everyone gets really into it. It is also PACKED. Here are pics across the field, toward the 1st base.

Note: 1st base is where the home fans sit while the visitor fans sit at the 3rd base. Who knew?!

 

The Nexen cheerleaders:

 

The game:

 

They actually stretch on the field during the 6th inning intermission:

 

Crowd got super rowdy after the game tied:

 

We took several videos of people chanting and singer. It's a spectacle.



 

Here's us enjoying the game with our beer of choice for the night CASS:

Here's the best beer pourer I have ever met. See no foam, just pure golden beer.

 

 

The home team LG Twins won the game. Woohoo.

 

 

 Note to anyone visiting Seoul - you have to go see a baseball game. It's nothing like back home.

School - Promotional Video

Of course, after my successful speech, I was a celebrity on campus. So much so, the marketing director at NUCB asked me if I would be in their upcoming promotional video for the Global Leadership MBa program (the program I'm actually attending right now) for NUCB.

Not wanted to disappoint, I said yes.

Here's me being interviewed by an actual news reporter (I think she's from MSNBC in Japan):

And here's the final product:

The classroom portions were shot in my Global Economy class.

 

 

Enjoy!

Opening Ceremony at NUCB

Many people have been asking me about how school has been going for me, and why I haven't been posting any news about school, so here's my first of (hopefully) many posts.

In Japan, at the beginning of every school year (which starts on April 1st), there is an Opening Ceremony. Basically a gathering of students, their parents, and the entire faculty and staff to wish everyone a good school year. I was honored to be asked to write and give a speech, on behalf of all the international students, in front of the 2000 people that attended this year.

It's actually quite a spectacle. The school invited an opera singer to sing the national anthem as well as a few other songs during the ceremony. There's a 30+ brass band playing as she performed. Here are some pictures of the auditorium of where the ceremony was held:

This is the front of the auditorium and the President of NUCB, along with all the professors sit there facing the crowd.

 

Here's the opera singer. Doesn't her dress look grand?

 



 

 

This is a view taken probably near the middle of the auditorium. The sea of black suits on the ground level are all students, Japanese and international who are attending NUCB this year. On the second-story on both sides and the back sits the parents and the administrative faculty members. Lots of people eh?!

 

 

Unfortunately, I do not have many pictures of the event, just what was provided to me, as it was forbidden to take pictures during the ceremony. But it wasn't anything too surprising - after the national anthems, the President and the guest speaker who was the former CEO of AACSB, gave speeches. Then the highlight of the ceremony, my speech!

 

I actually had to attend a dress rehearsal that morning to make sure I didn't screw up too badly. There was a lot of bowing involved. It is not just walking up to the microphone and giving a speech. There's a whole ceremony involved. First, I needed to learn my cue to stand up (which was after this whole flag ceremony), then walk to the center aisle where the red carpet was, wait for the other student who was also going to give a speech (on behalf of the Japanese students) to do the same, slowly walk down the aisle:



 

 

Then I had to stop where the lady with the hat was and gently touch the hat before proceeding to the microphone. I don't really understand the significance of the hat, nor why I had to gently touch it. Since it was important enough to be included into the ceremony, I gently touched the hat:

 

Before giving my speech, I had to bow to the President. Here's me actually giving out the speech!

After my speech, I had to bow again. Then I stand while the other guy gave his speech. Then we bow together. Afterwards, we walk up to the stage toward the President to give him our copies of the speeches. But not before bowing to him first and then bowing to him afterwards!

 

See my awesome bowing? I had to practice the angle of the bow so it's not too much (which means I'm sorry) or too little (which does not give enough respect). It's a skill.

 



 

 In conclusion, it turned out really well. Everyone was impressed and came to congratulate me on a job well done. The President's wife came up to me afterwards and said I did a marvelous job, and that I spoke very clearly.

Pat on the back for me!

 

Beijing - Tiananmen Square

We couldn't leave Beijing without seeing Tiananmen Square. It was a much bigger square than I thought. It was also very open, no shade, on a very hot day!

 

 

 

 Hot day means serious measures: ice cream bar AND coke combo is a must.

Peking Duck at Quanjude

Quanjude Restaurant is the most famous Peking duck restaurant in Beijing.

Now I can say: I had Peking Duck at THE most famous restaurant in Beijing. Booyah!

 

Minced duck serviced in a crispy potato wafer on a lettuce leaf: 

 

Our duck being roasted in a hot stone oven.

 

Table carving of our roast duck!

 

The Peking Duck experience:

 

 

Verdict: Delicious

(But actually same quality level as Toronto)