You may be surprised to find out that basketball is pretty popular in Korea. Granted its not on the same level as soccer, baseball, or golf, but its up there. There are a few differences in the style and play of the game though.
Style is different because they treat it much more like a team sport. So more passing and a greater focus on fundamentals than the sheer athletic ability seen in the American game. They will also take longer and make the extra pass if it can set up a better shot.
Play is a bit different too, like I said they focus more on dribbling, so their shooting (and finishing around the rim) isn't all that great. This forces them into jump shots which hinders their ability to get rebounds. In many ways the play the complete opposite of my strengths, which is good I suppose. I've been trying to play their game their way, to make myself a better, more balanced player and its been going well so far.
The good is that they try pretty hard most all the time, the bad however is that the talent really isn't there. I'm not saying that I'm good, by any means, but I haven't lost a game of one-on-one here yet. I've played a lot of different ages (high school through adults) and varieties of courts (mostly paved and dirt outdoor courts) and I really haven't had a problem yet. I know that you're thinking "well duh, you can just back them into the paint and shoot layups all day" but I've been avoiding doing that. I've been trying to beat people off of dribbles and on jump shots, and its been working pretty well. Its hard to describe, because I may not be faster than they are, but I'm faster on the court. I'm able to see the shot or rebound before they are, allowing me to get there first. I would guess that that came from not playing as much as Americans do as kids. Perhaps they're better in the baseball and soccer. We'll find out whenever my baseball glove shows up (its stuck in customs).
Jun 28, 2009
Jun 23, 2009
Wheels in Korea
I forgot that I had taken these pictures, but this is the car that I'm driving while I'm here. Its called Hyundai Tuscani, but its basically the Hyundai Tiburon that was released in the United States for a few years. My version (pics below) looks about the same as the car at the link, except that its grey. I was thinking that it would look more like the Tiburon that was released in the states, however it's a bit different styling. The lines are a little bit longer but that reflects many of the styling changes that have taken place since that model was released. Look at how the Ford Focus has changed over the years... 2001 ... 2008 .... 2010 (thankfully they got rid of that goofy chrome grill...)
I've learned that its considered the "Korean sports car" since buying it, even if it really isn't all that sporty.... The vehicle has the 2.7L V6 engine, which puts out about 170 horsepower, which wouldn't be too bad, except for the car's weight and the automatic transmission. Because of these it's 0-60 time is about the same (8 seconds) as my ZX2 in the states.
The car is pretty nice though. Its got all of the creature comforts though: power sunroof, 6-disk cd changer in the dash, radio/cd controls on the wheels, AC (that you can set to a temp), etc. All of the things that my car in the states doesn't have. Overall its a good car, but I doubt that I would buy one with my own money. If the interior of the new Hyundai Genesis Coupe is anything similar to this I will probably take it for a test drive whenever I look for a new car. I have a bit more respect for Hyundai vehicles than I did when I came over, but not much more.
Driving in Korea isn't too bad either. They drive on the same side of the road as us. The biggest change is that they are more aggressive behind the wheel. They will tailgate and beep at you if you're in their way. And a turning signal means they are turning, not they are looking to turn, so you have to be ready for that. If you don't use it, they will assume you're going straight too, so watch for that. They do follow many of the same laws though. The biggest differences are that they will run red lights if no one is around and you cannot make a left turn on a green light, you have to have a green arrow to go.
They really don't speed though, maybe a few km/hr over, but not a lot. Definitely nothing like the United States. They are probably more aggressive because of there really aren't that many traffic cops on the roads. They work mostly in crosswalks making sure that its safe for pedestrians. They monitor speeding with cameras, which are most everywhere. However if you have an in-car GPS (like most people do) it will ding to let you know where the camera's are, so you can pop the brakes and not get ticketed. I don't know why they mark them, but they do.
Other than the car, nothing too much to report. My VISA process is still a mess, but hopefully that can get sorted out this week and I will know what's going on with it. I'll try to update that whenever I know more information.
I've learned that its considered the "Korean sports car" since buying it, even if it really isn't all that sporty.... The vehicle has the 2.7L V6 engine, which puts out about 170 horsepower, which wouldn't be too bad, except for the car's weight and the automatic transmission. Because of these it's 0-60 time is about the same (8 seconds) as my ZX2 in the states.
The car is pretty nice though. Its got all of the creature comforts though: power sunroof, 6-disk cd changer in the dash, radio/cd controls on the wheels, AC (that you can set to a temp), etc. All of the things that my car in the states doesn't have. Overall its a good car, but I doubt that I would buy one with my own money. If the interior of the new Hyundai Genesis Coupe is anything similar to this I will probably take it for a test drive whenever I look for a new car. I have a bit more respect for Hyundai vehicles than I did when I came over, but not much more.
Driving in Korea isn't too bad either. They drive on the same side of the road as us. The biggest change is that they are more aggressive behind the wheel. They will tailgate and beep at you if you're in their way. And a turning signal means they are turning, not they are looking to turn, so you have to be ready for that. If you don't use it, they will assume you're going straight too, so watch for that. They do follow many of the same laws though. The biggest differences are that they will run red lights if no one is around and you cannot make a left turn on a green light, you have to have a green arrow to go.
They really don't speed though, maybe a few km/hr over, but not a lot. Definitely nothing like the United States. They are probably more aggressive because of there really aren't that many traffic cops on the roads. They work mostly in crosswalks making sure that its safe for pedestrians. They monitor speeding with cameras, which are most everywhere. However if you have an in-car GPS (like most people do) it will ding to let you know where the camera's are, so you can pop the brakes and not get ticketed. I don't know why they mark them, but they do.
Other than the car, nothing too much to report. My VISA process is still a mess, but hopefully that can get sorted out this week and I will know what's going on with it. I'll try to update that whenever I know more information.
Jun 16, 2009
Update and VISA
So I found out yesterday that the paperwork for my VISA just arrived at the law firm that is going to handle it for me. I'm mildly perturbed that it took this long for it to get there, especially since it was issued 4/21, I didn't receive or get to sign it until 5/28, and it just got there 6/15... Someone in HR is really doing a bang up job. Anyways ...
I got a call from the law firm telling me that now I have to apply for a VISA issuance number (VICN) and once I have that number I have to leave the country and visit a Korean Embassy in some other country to "apply" for my VISA. This really wouldn't be that big of an issue and I would probably do it around when my passport runs out (90 days) except that my VISA is tied to everything relating to this trip. eg. my pay scale, moving stipend, and all of the items that I tried to move here. I'm not as worried about the financial end of it, but all of my shipped items are currently tied up in customs, and stuck there until I get my VISA passed through. So I'm stuck living out of two suitcases and anything else that I bought up to this point. Slightly annoying...
More so annoying that this one person, who could have passed my paperwork through to me to sign (say by the end of april) and then gotten it out to the law firm (say by the first week of may) could have prevented all of these problems. Annoying, frustrating, and just tired of this international BS.... At least I get to take a trip somewhere on Uncle George Westinghouse now that they messed up. I'm currently trying to work out a trip to San Francisco or Hawaii as a "halfway point" instead of coming home. Oh well, more ariline miles too... I may be around 100,000 by the end of the year now...
I got a call from the law firm telling me that now I have to apply for a VISA issuance number (VICN) and once I have that number I have to leave the country and visit a Korean Embassy in some other country to "apply" for my VISA. This really wouldn't be that big of an issue and I would probably do it around when my passport runs out (90 days) except that my VISA is tied to everything relating to this trip. eg. my pay scale, moving stipend, and all of the items that I tried to move here. I'm not as worried about the financial end of it, but all of my shipped items are currently tied up in customs, and stuck there until I get my VISA passed through. So I'm stuck living out of two suitcases and anything else that I bought up to this point. Slightly annoying...
More so annoying that this one person, who could have passed my paperwork through to me to sign (say by the end of april) and then gotten it out to the law firm (say by the first week of may) could have prevented all of these problems. Annoying, frustrating, and just tired of this international BS.... At least I get to take a trip somewhere on Uncle George Westinghouse now that they messed up. I'm currently trying to work out a trip to San Francisco or Hawaii as a "halfway point" instead of coming home. Oh well, more ariline miles too... I may be around 100,000 by the end of the year now...
Costco ... in Korea?
Yep, there is actually a Costco in Korea. Its about an hour and a half away from where I live and its strangely similar to the ones that are in the US. I've included a few pictures below so that you can see, assuming you've been in a US one. It was a good trip, I spent about 100,000 Korean Won ($80 USD) getting food stuffs. They had a lot of american foods that you can't find in other places (like bacon) so it seemed like a good idea to stock up while I was here. The people that I went with ended up spending about 400,000 Won, but they got some other items (printer, household goods, etc) and will be here a lot longer than I will be.
Also interesting, Costco sells beer. I didn't know that it did this, however I live in PA where you have to go to "special government operated facilities" to buy it. I snagged a picture of a few of their classier imports. I still have a hard time seeing Budweiser as an import beer....
Lastly there is a food court too, same as the US ones. The food is actually exactly the same as the US based ones too (we got a 16" pizza). You can kind of see "ads" for the items in the back right side of the picture. The only difference was that the menu's were in Korean first and English second. It was nice to go there, but it felt like it was a "bizarro world" sort of effect. Everything was similar, but just that little bit off.
Also interesting, Costco sells beer. I didn't know that it did this, however I live in PA where you have to go to "special government operated facilities" to buy it. I snagged a picture of a few of their classier imports. I still have a hard time seeing Budweiser as an import beer....
Lastly there is a food court too, same as the US ones. The food is actually exactly the same as the US based ones too (we got a 16" pizza). You can kind of see "ads" for the items in the back right side of the picture. The only difference was that the menu's were in Korean first and English second. It was nice to go there, but it felt like it was a "bizarro world" sort of effect. Everything was similar, but just that little bit off.
Jun 10, 2009
workity, work, work
Not too much has been going on besides work. I've been out on about 4 surveillances now so I am starting to get a feel for how they work and what all I need to look for. Especially for the Mechanical Tests (seems to be what I'll be doing most of the time). The tests themselves are pretty straight forward (Tensile, Drop Weight, and Impact) which is good. The guys in the lab are total professionals too, they know exactly what they're doing, how to do it, and what the code and Doosan requires of them for the test. That has helped make those observations easier. The only downside is that they don't speak English ... at all. So if I have questions I have to get someone who can translate to ask for me.
I have found that you can still have debates without fully understanding each other. We have had a few questions and issues about the way that something has been measured. So there has been a bit of a debate about geometry going on. I've found it really interesting how much you can communicate through math that you can't verbalize. It could be that we're engineers talking with engineers about numbers, but there's something that's kind of cool about it. That project has taken up a lot of the rest of my time this week too.
Life outside of work has been alright. I've mostly been sleeping and playing games on my iPod Touch (used to be an iPhone, you know when I could get cell service). I've also gotten a Korean cell phone, started working towards arranging language lessons, should have/get a car tomorrow, and am mostly set up at Doosan. Its all starting to come together, it just took about 2 weeks to get everything sorted out. The only thing that I'm waiting on is my official work Visa. I'm able to work in the country for 90 days without one, but I need it for all of my work benefits to kick in.
For anyone's who's wondering a PNC account will work in Korea (which is awesome) but the ATM charge is about $3.50 per withdrawal. Not too bad for pulling money out a few thousand miles away. I'm also up to 35,000 frequent flyer miles too.... I should have about 75,000 by the time that I get back home in November (you collect about 12000 miles each way). Maybe I'll take a few trips around the states when I get back.
I have found that you can still have debates without fully understanding each other. We have had a few questions and issues about the way that something has been measured. So there has been a bit of a debate about geometry going on. I've found it really interesting how much you can communicate through math that you can't verbalize. It could be that we're engineers talking with engineers about numbers, but there's something that's kind of cool about it. That project has taken up a lot of the rest of my time this week too.
Life outside of work has been alright. I've mostly been sleeping and playing games on my iPod Touch (used to be an iPhone, you know when I could get cell service). I've also gotten a Korean cell phone, started working towards arranging language lessons, should have/get a car tomorrow, and am mostly set up at Doosan. Its all starting to come together, it just took about 2 weeks to get everything sorted out. The only thing that I'm waiting on is my official work Visa. I'm able to work in the country for 90 days without one, but I need it for all of my work benefits to kick in.
For anyone's who's wondering a PNC account will work in Korea (which is awesome) but the ATM charge is about $3.50 per withdrawal. Not too bad for pulling money out a few thousand miles away. I'm also up to 35,000 frequent flyer miles too.... I should have about 75,000 by the time that I get back home in November (you collect about 12000 miles each way). Maybe I'll take a few trips around the states when I get back.
Jun 6, 2009
moved in and busy
First off let me apoligize for the severe lack of updates over the last week. For all two or three of you that still check my blog, your patience is incredible. I'm going to make a more conscious effort to update this blog on a more regular basis. I'm hoping to do one status update each week and then one to two interesting observation type updates. That's the plan anyways, so we'll see how it goes.
Since the last update, I've moved into my apartment and been to work for three days now. Work has been good so far. I'm still getting accustomed to the work that I'll be doing and the layout of the facility, but I hope to have it all sorted out by the end of this coming week. Doosan Heavy is a very large facility employing a few thousand people in the Changwon area. I'll be working primarily in the nuclear shop, which is the smallest shop in the plant. The other good thing about working in there is that most of the employees speak (or understand) english.
Friday I worked a pretty late day (8pm) because I went out to visit one of Doosan's sub-suppliers for our project. This sub-supplier is performing some drilling and cleaning activities for a few of the components in the steam generator. It was a very interesting and educating trip, despite the long hours. The sub-supplier was located in Pusan which is the second largest city in Korea. Its located about 40 minutes to the northwest of Changwon. We didn't really get to see a lot of the city, but maybe next time.
Below are a few pictures of my apartment, in its current state:
Since the last update, I've moved into my apartment and been to work for three days now. Work has been good so far. I'm still getting accustomed to the work that I'll be doing and the layout of the facility, but I hope to have it all sorted out by the end of this coming week. Doosan Heavy is a very large facility employing a few thousand people in the Changwon area. I'll be working primarily in the nuclear shop, which is the smallest shop in the plant. The other good thing about working in there is that most of the employees speak (or understand) english.
Friday I worked a pretty late day (8pm) because I went out to visit one of Doosan's sub-suppliers for our project. This sub-supplier is performing some drilling and cleaning activities for a few of the components in the steam generator. It was a very interesting and educating trip, despite the long hours. The sub-supplier was located in Pusan which is the second largest city in Korea. Its located about 40 minutes to the northwest of Changwon. We didn't really get to see a lot of the city, but maybe next time.
Below are a few pictures of my apartment, in its current state:
Jun 2, 2009
In it to win it
So I'm back in Korea for the long haul now. I got into the hotel around 10pm Monday night after leaving Pittsburgh around 9am Sunday morning... such a long trip. This trip felt longer than the one last time too. I'm not sure if its because I knew what I was in for this time, I didn't sleep as much, or I went PIT-Atlanta-Seoul-Pusan instead of PIT-Detroit-Tokyo-Pusan. The main benefit of the first trip is that I felt like I was going the right direction the whole time.
As you can see above I flew into Seoul first, so I had to go through customs there before flying onto Pusan. Customs wasn't too bad, it was pretty well organized and easy to get through. The harder part was finding where to check-in to my next flight. I'm sure that the Seoul airport is well laid out and easy to navigate, if you know the language, but I found myself running around a lot trying to find the right counter and security checkpoints. If I didn't have three hours there it would have been pretty close. On the whole it was a nice airport, but I think that I will take the Northwest flights in the future. Especially on the return trip, since Japan doesn't seem to be worried about swine flu coming from South Korea (no reported cases yet).
Yesterday (tuesday) I spent all day moving into my new apartment and getting that sorted out. Most everything had been moved in before I got there and the landlord/relator had arranged for everything to be turned on and hooked up for me. That was a great help, less things for me to worry about. When I was moving in I noticed one of the cabinets was broken, but that should be taken care of sometime this week.
I also picked up most of the stuff that I will need to live in the appartment yesterday, however I missed a few things so its looking like I'll go back today or tomorrow to pick them up. Thankfully the Lotte Mart (walmart type store) is connected to my building, so its easy to get everything and get it up to my appartment. Especially since I don't have a car yet. That should be next week sometime.
I am realizing that I need to have a cell phone right away though. It seems like most all Koreans carry at least one and that is their primary mode of contact (vs email), so I may have to get on that tonight too.
I haven't been too jet lagged from this trip, however I did sleep from about 4-10:30pm yesterday. I guess that I was more tired than I thought that I was. Hopefully I can stay awake as long as possible today and try to reset my sleep schedule to a more normal time. If not there's always staying awake and talking to people in the interwebz at 4am. Pictures of the apartment will be up sometime after I have more stuff in it. Its pretty bare right now, so maybe by the end of the week or so.
As you can see above I flew into Seoul first, so I had to go through customs there before flying onto Pusan. Customs wasn't too bad, it was pretty well organized and easy to get through. The harder part was finding where to check-in to my next flight. I'm sure that the Seoul airport is well laid out and easy to navigate, if you know the language, but I found myself running around a lot trying to find the right counter and security checkpoints. If I didn't have three hours there it would have been pretty close. On the whole it was a nice airport, but I think that I will take the Northwest flights in the future. Especially on the return trip, since Japan doesn't seem to be worried about swine flu coming from South Korea (no reported cases yet).
Yesterday (tuesday) I spent all day moving into my new apartment and getting that sorted out. Most everything had been moved in before I got there and the landlord/relator had arranged for everything to be turned on and hooked up for me. That was a great help, less things for me to worry about. When I was moving in I noticed one of the cabinets was broken, but that should be taken care of sometime this week.
I also picked up most of the stuff that I will need to live in the appartment yesterday, however I missed a few things so its looking like I'll go back today or tomorrow to pick them up. Thankfully the Lotte Mart (walmart type store) is connected to my building, so its easy to get everything and get it up to my appartment. Especially since I don't have a car yet. That should be next week sometime.
I am realizing that I need to have a cell phone right away though. It seems like most all Koreans carry at least one and that is their primary mode of contact (vs email), so I may have to get on that tonight too.
I haven't been too jet lagged from this trip, however I did sleep from about 4-10:30pm yesterday. I guess that I was more tired than I thought that I was. Hopefully I can stay awake as long as possible today and try to reset my sleep schedule to a more normal time. If not there's always staying awake and talking to people in the interwebz at 4am. Pictures of the apartment will be up sometime after I have more stuff in it. Its pretty bare right now, so maybe by the end of the week or so.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
