Global Community

Getting ahead while at lunch

By Agnes Yu Career development is always worthwhile but often likely to get neglected on your list of priorities. Making it easy, accessible and most importantly, enjoyable is the recently launched “Lunch and Learn” series by LinkedSeoul. Targeting the international business community in Seoul, LinkedSeoul provides networking opportunities in various formats. For anyone who wishes to upgrade or polish their business skills these new monthly lectures during lunchtime will be valuable from a variety of vantages. At the event, a guest speaker shares lessons learned from personal experiences. Attendees can gain insight and inspiration from hearing directly about an individual’s story, based on working in Korea and find out how the person got as far as they did professionally. The first Lunch and Learn took place in a boardroom on the 41st floor of the Gangnam Finance Center on Feb. 8 between noon and 2 p.m. Ron Cahoon, the president of SFA Consulting, spoke about helping Korean companies win multimillion dollar conference bids. Cahoon first came to Korea on a FedEx plane arr

Group protests at Myanmar Embassy

By John Redmond On a cold winter Sunday morning, a group of some 30 ethnic people from Myanmar and human rights activists met at the Myanmar embassy in Seoul to hold a pro-democracy and ethnic freedom of rights demonstration. The protest was to mark “Union Day,” Feb. 12, which started in Panglong Town, Shan State, Myanmar in 1947. Union Day is the birthday of the Myanmar nation. On this day, 23 representatives from four territories, which comprise the Shan state, the Kachin hill, the Chin hill and mainland Burma, signed an agreement in Panglong to form the Union of Myanmar. To honor this historical agreement, Myanmar people celebrated the day as Union Day across the nation on Feb. 12 every year. This day is the most important day in modern Myanmar’s history. These four territories are also representative of almost the entire territory of the current Myanmar region as drawn in the country’s map. Not only did the Panglong agreement pave the way for the formation of the Myanmar nation, it also enabled the country to gain independence from the British emperor. Significa

Mannam to raise funds for Guryong Village

By John Redmond Members of the Mannam Volunteer Association are raising funds to purchase coal briquettes and will later deliver them to residents of Guryong Village on Feb. 18 between 1 – 4 p.m. Under the banner of “Warmth for Winter” the program is focusing on Guryong Village residents who were displaced from their homes to “beautify” Seoul for the 1988 Olympics. They currently live in an unauthorized shantytown near the affluent Tower Palace of Gangnam. There are about 1,200 families residing there who are unable to receive any government welfare due to their unrecognized territory. On Jan. 29, a fire destroyed homes of more than 17 families. “Mannam is raising funds to purchase coal briquettes and will deliver them to the needy families in Guryong Village so they can stay warm for the winter. Expats are being asked to help remind these families and the rest of Korea what is most important _ humility in loving and serving others, gratitude for all that we have, and shedding light where ever we go. Anyone can take part in this initiative in one of two ways,”

(575) Arriving at a restaurant

(574) Realtor (IV)

(573) Realtor (III)

(572) Realtor (II)

‘Thomas and Friends’ Exhibition to end

By John Redmond An exhibition, a kind of theme park based on the British TV animation show series “Thomas and Friends,” at AT Center, will end on Feb. 12. Visitors to the exhibition will get a chance to take the beloved train and tour the elaborate replica of the village in the animation series. The exhibition is open from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and tickets cost 16,000 – 12,000 won. To get to AT Center, go to Yangjae Citizens’ Forest station, new Sinbundang line, Station D09, exit 8. Note this is a brand new station so it is not listed on older maps. For more information call 1544-5063 or 02-1330 for help and information in English. The website http://www.thomastour.com is in Korean only.

Expat theater group stages Albee’s ‘Wolf’

By John Redmond Expat theater group Probationary Theatre Company is staging "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf" at the White Box Theatre until Feb. 12. The classic award winning drama by Edward Albee is directed by Quinn Olbrich. This harrowing and hilarious story portrays two couples getting to know one another at the start of the new semester. Set on the campus of a small New England college, the play focuses on the volatile relationship of associate history professor George and his hard-drinking wife Martha, the daughter of the college president. It’s a party that turns into a battle of wits as the old protagonists throw every verbal and mental attack they have at one another. Show time are Friday 8 p.m., Saturday 7 p.m. and Sunday 3 p.m. Tickets cost 15,000 won and can be booked at www.probationarytheatre.com/bookings.html. The White Box Theatre is located a three minute walk from exit 2 of Hyochang Park Station (line 6). More information, including a map to the venue can be found on the website.

Baekdu-daegan photo exhibition to open

70 images from Hike Korea to be on display Feb. 17-22 By John Redmond A presentation of photos of mountains of the Baekdu-daegan from both North and South Korea will be exhibited at the Gyeongbokgung Station Gallery in Seoul from Feb.17 to 22. Sponsored by Korea Forest Service, 70 images from Roger Shepherd of Hike Korea will be on display with some 25 works traveling to New Zealand for a month to be exhibited there. Shepherd is from New Zealand and from an early age began traveling to certain parts of the world, spending eight years in Africa as a wildlife ranger and safari guide. After visiting Korea in 2006, he came across the large geographical feature called the Baekdu-daegan. He began walking this 735km ridge and immediately embraced its magic and strong sense of nationalism. “Halfway through that walk, I suddenly realized that I needed to be documenting this walk which had now become a form of pilgrimage,” he states on the Hike Korea website. “I stopped walking and planned an expedition of the Baekdu-daegan for 2007. With my colleague and good fr