On Monday morning I was feeling nervous due to the pressure of work and I was worried about getting there, as I had to take the bus. What if I got off at the wrong bus stop again? What if I got lost in Hongdae? What if I was late for work? Fortunately the parents of the family I'm staying with helped me find the route to the office and which bus to take. The dad took me to the bus stop and waited for the bus with me. Then I got on the bus and off I went!
I managed to get off at the correct bus stop and then I had to find my way around the Habjeongyeok subway station, which was quite confusing to say the least. After asking a few people where I could find Exit 2, I managed to find my way out of the station and walked the rest of the way to work. It was also challenging, but fortunately I had the Korean Naver map to help me find my way. I ended up in some shabbier area with old flats and streets without pavements, so people and cars just walked and drove along the same roads. I couldn't find the right building the office was in, so I asked two Korean women sitting outside a convenience shop to help me. I called the office, told them I didn't know where I was and then one of the Korean women talked on the phone on my behalf. It turned out that I was right outside the office all along! It was on the 4th floor above the convenience shop! I was relieved to have finally found it. Here's a picture of the building the office is in, so you can see why I was a bit confused:
Anyway, after thanking the women, I went inside and climbed up the stairs to the 4th floor. One of the workers opened the door for me and I was immediately faced with yet another language barrier. However, we managed to understand each other in the end (thanks to some translation app) and I went down to the shop to buy some lunch, as I had arrived at the office an hour early. The lady in the shop could speak English and helped me prepare a portion of bland noodles (very exciting, I know).
On my first day at the office I got to meet all of the staff: my boss, three other regular workers and another intern. I was surprised by how small the office and company actually was, but I didn't mind. It was nice and peaceful to work there and my boss was very friendly. The other workers were nice too, although I didn't get to talk to them that much. I was also suprised that I had to take my shoes off (I knew this was a normal custom in the Korean households and at some restaurants, but I wasn't expecting to do so at the office) and instead I wore these:
Comfortable and surprisingly warm slippers!
I had different tasks each day. On Monday and Tuesday I typed the company's contacts' business card information onto an Excel file. It wasn't very exciting, but challenging, as the keyboard was in Korean. Most of the contacts had the most bizarre email addresses! For example here are some interesting ones: wartsnalls@...., eggroll@...., Eggmann@...., octorber@...(yes, octorber, not October). Why would anyone have such unprofessional email addresses on their business cards? It was amusing, but concerning from a professional point of view.
On Wednesday I started translating the company's brochure. I also had lunch with my colleagues at a nearby Chinese restaurant. I ate 짜장면 (jjajangmyeon), which is a Korean-Chinese style noodle dish in a black soybean sauce including pork, vegetables and mushrooms:
After some translating, I had the pleasure of watching several video clips, which were part of a project called Pocket Boyfriend. The clips were about five different young men in different types of dating scenarios and to my surprise the guys acting the parts were the members of a relatively new Kpop group called MyName (I've never listened to their music before). My job was to watch the clips and choose which member was the most suitable from a foreigner's perspective. I wrote a short report about each member after watching all of the clips and then stated who I liked the most and why. This information all went towards some romance guidance book that the company I worked for were helping to publish. If you're interested in seeing the video clips, you can check them out on Youtube by typing in "pocket boyfriend". The clips were funny and some very strange, so I suggest you check them out just to see how different dating culture is in Korea compared to Finland. I chose Chaejin as the best boyfriend candidate, who would you choose? ;)
On Thursday I filled in a questionnaire about the Finnish education system, especially concerning the high school and university systems. My boss had met up with a person from Gyeonggido's Education Office and as they're interested in Finnish education, she decided to ask me about it. It was a bit difficult to write about it, as I haven't experienced the traditional Finnish high school system and I haven't applied to uni yet. However, I wrote as much as I could based on what I've experienced, heard from others and what I know. After filling in the questionnaire, one of my colleagues took me out to lunch and to the Han River, where we filmed a few clips in which I answered some of the questions from the questionnaire. It was a hot, sunny day :) Here are some pics:
On Friday, which was my last day at the office, I researched different foreign education systems, such as the British, French, German and American education systems, amongst many others. I felt a bit sad to leave, as I'd enjoyed working there and both my boss and colleagues were really nice. However, my boss wants to see me again in October for an interview with a uni student, so there is something to look forward to :)
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