Random Notes: 12/2008

12/23/2008

Education Fever

Entering college is hard in Japan, but it is even harder in South Korea. I recently discussed the topic with my Korean friend. His son goes to five supplementary private schools a week, and it cost him more than $1,000 a month. His family is not special. Actually, he told me that his son goes to less private schools than others - some children go to more than 10 private classes a week.

In South Korea, a person's career opportunity largely depend on which university they graduate. It is every parent's dream their child goes to Seoul National University. In Japan, we also have fierce competition to get into good colleges, and many students go to cram schools to prepare for the exams, but the competition is not as hard as in South Korea.

In my case I didn't go to cram school at all, but managed to enter my university. My Korean friend told me that does not happen in Korea. It is prerequisite to go to preparatory schools and study from morning to midnight to win the ticket for their dream school. I respect my Korean friends who survived such a tough competition. I'm not sure I could have survived if I was born in South Korea though..

This video shows university entrance exam fever in South Korea

12/20/2008

Seoul trip

I went Seoul from Dec 15th to 18th for business meetings.

KANGNAM-GU area. This is a relatively new business district in Seoul. Many IT companies have their office around the area. Work, work, and work!

送信者 Seoul 2008 Dec

Whenever I go travel, I try to enjoy hanging around city, talking with local people, and eating good foods!
On the first day, my colleagues brought me to a traditional Korean dinner, which was really good. On the second day, I had dinner with my Korean classmates from business school. I really had a good time with them.

These are the pictures around Myong-dong and Insa-dong area in downtown. Full of energy, beautiful scenery, and mixture of traditional and modern culture.