Day Seven- Off to Japan and then Home Sweet Home Alabama

Above is some of the beauty of Japan
Below we were met with snow in Chicago


I completely enjoyed each and every moment that I spent in South Korea but it was time for our group to stop over in Japan for a day and then back home to the US.

Day Six- A view of the future of Incheon

Incheon Free Economic Zone- IFEZ

Some three years ago the pictures that you view now would have been impossible as the area was being reclaimed. The reclaiming of land requires filling in the water to make more land. We had the privilege to tour the future of New Songdo City Development.

Looking Back at our fifth day in Korea

As you can see we were not able to maintain our blogs while we were in Korea so now that we are back in our beloved US, it is time to finish our story. On my last post we were returning to Seoul and the Lotte World Hotel. Our first day back in Seoul, we went to the DMZ where peace and tension exist together.

The USO Panmunjom tour is one of the best ways to understand the situation, the tensions, and the reality of the North and South Korea division. From the time you start to prepare for the trip until your last view of the barbed wire fence that lines the "Freedom Road" or "Unification Road" (the highway connecting Seoul to Panmunjom), your understanding of the recent history of Korea will take on a new dimension.
In preparing for the trip, we were reminded that there was a dress code to follow. Also, very important, be sure to bring your passport or military ID the day of the tour.
We arrived at Camp Bonifas, whose motto "In Front of Them All" provides some idea as to its position in relation to the border. We sat through a 20 minute slide presentation briefing, highlighting the history and present situation at the DMZ. The tour of Panmunjom itself is guided by United Nations Command military personnel who will take you through such sites as the MAC (Military Armistice Commission) building, the Pagoda at Freedom House, and Checkpoint 3, which is near the scene of the 1976 Ax Murder Incident. You'll also see the Bridge of No Return, the only bridge connecting North and South Korea. You'll also be able to see the giant flagpole at the North Korean Propaganda Village. Through-out the tour, the various anecdotes regarding the rivalry between North and South Korea (such as this flagpole) will alleviate the seriousness of the sites. It will also, however, reinforce the grim reality of the country.

Fourth Day and Feeling much better

On our fourth day in Korea, we toured the Hyundai Motors Plant and the Hyundai Heavy ship builders plant which is the largest ship builder in the world. These plants are located in Ulsan and as you can imagine this town is Hyundai town, it has a Hyundai Department stores and most jobs in the area are involved with Hyundai in one way or another. The Hyundai auto plant is an older plant and it makes it difficult to make comparisons to the Hyundai plant located in Montgomery, Al., because the plant at home has a great deal of automation and the plant in Korea has more personal hands on work. We were exposed to the plans for the future of Hyundai Heavy Industries and I am extremely impressed with the vision of the people in Korea. We were able to shop at the Hyundai Department Store before leaving to return to Seoul which turned out to be about a five hour drive away. We checked back into the Lotte World Hotel for our final days in Korea.

Our third full day- sick but determined

After arriving from the hospital to the hotel, I was told that I was suppose to stay at the hotel all day by myself. Um I don't think so, I did not come to Korea to lay up in the hotel while this opportunity is out there for me. So guess what, I pleaded with Dean Vaughn to at least allow me to ride on the bus and he agreed. So off to POSCO, one of the largest steel manufacturing plants in the world. The company motto is "Resources are limited, Creativity is unlimited". Dr. Sang Man Lee explained to me that the Korean people live by this motto, they use each and every human resource possible to make their country successful, and history speaks for itself. After a bus tour through the plant, we were escorted into their boardroom where a presentation was given. Dean Vaughn was seated in the president seat and the remainder of us gathered closely to him. Directly in front of us was a scale model of the entire plant area. Once the presentation ended, the curtains in from of us that formed a circle began to slowly open exposing us to a view of the plant. AWESOME is the word.
After departing from POSCO, we went for, believe it or not, pizza, the student said thank you, thank you, and thank you. Korean traditional is good but after a time you miss what is familiar to you.
Next, we were off to the Seokgulam Grotto and Bulguksa Temple. This required driving up the mountain with over 30 curves. Once we arrived at the parking area, we had to climb to the temple. As I walked along the path to the temple, a feeling of serenity came across me. My ill feelings of the morning vanished. This was a feeling that can not be put into words, but if it happened to me again, I would not fight it. Dr. Lee walked with me and share many different ideas and customs of his country. He shared with me his pride and his devotion to his country. These moments I will cherish for the rest of my life and reflect on them during times of query.

Second Full Day in Korea

Again, breakfast at the hotel was great.
Today is a very special day between Alabama State University and Chung-Ang University, we attended the Signing Ceremony of Agreement. After the agreement was signed, we then went by bus to the Chung-Ang University located in An Sung. There we had the opportunity to interact with student in a classroom setting. Everyone seemed very pleased with the outcome of this experience. From the university we traveled some 4 hours to Gyeong Ju and the Hilton Hotel located there. As we traveled, I began feeling ill. So upon arrival at the hotel, Cindy wanted to take me to the doctor but stubborn that I am I refused. But guess what early the next morning I was feeling so bad that I allowed Cindy and Soya, our tour guides, to take me to the hospital. Contrary to what you may think, when we walked into the hospital, a brief history about myself was done and on to be treated. No wait time at all. The nurses and doctor we wonderful to me. They made sure that I understood what they were doing and this made me feel comfortable even though I could not understand most of the conversations. The typical stuff was done: blood work, X-rays, etc.
After taking IV fluids for about 2 hours, I was released with a prescription for 4 different types of medicines. I am not exactly sure what they are but they are working.

Our first full day in Korea

Today was an interesting day! Breakfast at the hotel was amazing, they offer just about any food that you can imagine and the presentation, all I can say is WOW! We began the day with a visit to the Gyeong Bok Palace - the palace for members of the last Korean Dynasty. Next we toured the city and were afforded the opportunity to walk almost to the front gate of the Blue House which is equivalent to the White House in the United States. After a Korean lunch of Bi Bim Bop, we walk through the streets of Seoul, getting a feel for their culture. We then went to a performance of Jump which is a martial arts/ comedy performance. We walked along side of a waterway and found the Korean children to be very interested in our group. Thy try to talk to us and especially love it when we take their pictures. Finally "Western-style" food at the restaurant called the Bellagio. The Korean interpretation of "Western" food is not my idea of "Western" food but I enjoyed it anyway. Fred had a time eating all the raw fish he could find; he said he really liked it.
After returning to the hotel, Dr. Hingorani, Mrs Hingorani, Dr. Huang and I decided to take a ride on the subway back to downtown Seoul to do some more shopping. What took us almost 2 hours to do by bus was about 30 minutes by rail. Once again just the experience of interacting with the Korean people was wonderful.

Picture in front of the Blue House

Rumor has it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That a group of students from Alabama State University is in Seoul, South Korea, preparing to embark on their first day of adventures.......... Well contrary to what rumors are, we got stuck in San Francisco, California, due to problems with the aircraft that we were to fly on from here. United Airlines, United Airlines, let me tell you a true story about United Airlines. We arrived in San Francisco, on time from Atlanta, Georgia, to find out that our outgoing flight to Seoul was delayed. OK, no problem, we just decided to relax at the airport and await the flight, now this was 10:00 am. We waited, and waited, and waited, and waited.........and finally around 4:00pm. some six hours later an announcement came across the loud speaker that our flight was cancelled until tomorrow. Oh well, things happen and I would prefer to be safe on the ground than to be in danger in the air, so now our nightmare begins. Naturally the airlines made arrangements to house and feed us till the flight departs tomorrow, yeah right. We finally go a voucher for our hotel and a meal vouchers after waiting in line for a couple of hours or more then we were instructed to catch a shuttle bus to the hotel and that our food vouchers were good anywhere we choose to us them. So we go outside to await our shuttle for transportation to the hotel. We wait and we wait and we wait and we wait and no shuttle to our hotel. So what to do??? We go back to the ticket counter at United Airlines for help and they were of no assistance at all, as a matter of fact, they were down right rude to all of us. Once they issued the vouchers we were on our own. We tried to ask the supervisor for help and he just got what I would call hostile towards us as a group. Now we spent $20,000.00 on airline tickets and are being treated like dogs by these people at UNITED Airlines, let me repeat myself UNITED Airlines treated its customers horribly. After much disarray we finally got to the hotel to check in and then it was off to get something to eat. We have vouchers from UNITED airlines good at any vendor, so we asked the hotel manager where to eat and they contacted the Best Western to accommodate our needs for dinner. We catch the shuttle to the Best Western for dinner and when we get there are told by the management that unless we were staying overnight with them they could not take United vouchers. Dean Vaughn decided that we would have dinner there any way and take it up with the airline in the morning. So that is what we did.

FINAL APPROACH TO INCHEON AIRPORT AND SAFE ARRIVAL

It is now a new day and we are getting ready to go back to the airport so I will finish this discussion later today. Well, I am finally back. We caught our flight at around 8:30 this morning, destination Incheon Airport. Although the flight was very long, 12 hours, we are now in Korea. What a difference a few hours makes. Upon arrival at the airport naturally we had to go through immigration and then we greeted by Dr. Sang Man Lee and our tour guide Cindy. We were escorted to our 27 passenger limo bus and began the trip from Incheon to Seoul. The highway was

eight lanes wide and bumper to bumper traffic

most of the way to the Lotte World Hotel.

I have taken numerous picture and hope to get them up as soon as possible so you can see everything for yourself.

All of us were very tired with the time change, it was around 1:00 pm but there were plans for us to do today so we only had only enough time to check into the hotel, clean up and off to dinner at the Korean House. The Korean House serves traditional Korean food and we were served the presidents meal. The food was very different from the foods that we are used to but it was very good. At the completion of dinner we attended a performance, also at the Korean House. Traditional music, dance and costumes. I was extremely tired but inspite of that this performance was beautiful. We had the opportunity to have pictures with the performers at the conclusion of the performance.

Now on the bus and back to the Lotte for sleep: much needed i may add.

Newsflash

We are going to be interviewed by the Montgomery Advertiser on Wednesday, March 12, 2008, prior to leaving for Korea. I hope everyone reads the article in the newspaper to understand the importance of our trip and the bonds that our university is forming with Korea and China.

Globalizing the curriculum to prepare students for the "real world" and give them a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

3.....2.....1.......Away we Go.......

I really did not think that I would write again until we arrived in Seoul, South Korea but I felt like I should stop for a moment and take the time to give a very special thank you to Dr. Kamal Hingorani, Dr. Sang Man Lee and Dr. Percy Vaughn for making this opportunity possible. These men work so hard for the students at Alabama State University's College of Business Administration and they deserve recognition for all their efforts. Pictured above is Dr. Vaughn (Dean, COBA)on the left and Dr Lee (Eminent Scholar)on the right.

7 Days and Counting Down

Time goes by so quickly. This time next week we will be in flight to Korea. I am so excited. We had our last group meeting today and discussed topics from what to wear to what an opportunity this is for each and every one of us. Our journey will begin next Thursday morning at 1:00 a.m. at which time we will board a bus to Atlanta, Ga. for our first flight which leaves at 7:35 a.m. Guess you are wondering why so early? First, our time in Alabama is 1 hour different from Georgia and we must arrive at the airport by 5:00 a.m. in order to get everyone checked in for the flight. Our first stop will be in San Francisco, California and we should arrive there around 10:00 a.m. west coast time. We have about a 41/2 hour layover before boarding our flight to Seoul at 2:30. Some 14 hours (also a day later) we will arrive in Seoul, South Korea at 7:30 p.m. I hope to get a bit of sleep over these hours of travel and be ready to encounter whatever Seoul has to offer. Each student member of our entourage will keep a daily blog journal upon arrival in Seoul and I am in hopes that you will read each blog and enjoy this trip with us. I will keep you posted if we have any other news to report prior to our leaving on March 13, if not see you in Seoul.

Countdown to Korea

A group of seven student and six faculty will be leaving for Korea on March 13, 2008. We are all very excited about this opportunity to travel overseas and tour South Korea and Japan. We will spend a total of ten days on our journey. The first nine days will be spent in South Korea and then we will spend one day in Japan. We will be keeping everyone up to date daily on our activities after we arrive in Seoul.

In preparation for our trip, we have been asked to reflect on the activities leading up to our departure to South Korea. This program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education's Business and International Education grant. A selected group of students applied for this opportunity last semester and following selection, we are required to participate in classes to receive a minor in International Business. After the selection was made, our group has been participating in numerous activities which have included attending all seminars associated with the East Asian Institute, touring of different automotive plants, the plants of their suppliers, and attending language classes. Information about the East Asian Institute can be found at the College Of Business Administration (COBA) website listed to the right.

In January, we toured the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama and the ZF plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Mercedes plant uses the push system of production which means they only produce a vehicle after an order has been placed. They have an open culture and all employees are called team members. They do not tolerate absenteeism because they offer on-site doctors as well as daycare for their employees children. They are just in time, just in sequence producers. The ZF plant is a smaller version of Mercedes, they produce their product, axles, for the Mercedes plant. They must make sure that their product arrives at the Mercedes plant on time and in sequence.

In February, we hosted a group of high school student from Camden High School. They visited our university and then toured the Hyundai plant here in Montgomery. Brenda Autry, an instructor from Camden will accompany us on our trip to South Korea.

Finally we have been attending classes on language and culture in Korea in preparation for our trip. Each of us have set up a blogspot in order to keep a daily journal of our experiences in Korea so stay tuned and we hope that you will join us in our journey to South Korea by viewing our daily updates.