Management Training

we wound up going to "management training" weekend in the mountains this past weekend. What it had to do with managment I'm not really sure. I guess they were trying to build teamwork and spirit and all those things that employers usually like. Basically it just boiled down to a lot of drinking and staying up all night on Friday.

Typical of general Korean planning initiatives, the theory was to go hiking on Saturday morning, AFTER the evening festivities. As you may imagine, enthusiasm was somewhat tepid by ten o'clock on Saturday. Friday also happens to be all of the foreign teachers' hardest day, with teaching straight through from 2.30 to 8.00, which I can't emphasize enough, is enough to incinerate the hardiest minds. Then straight out for and an hour and half trip in the van, up the windy twisty roads, and then for mountains of galbi, kimchi, and constantly offered soju, from the director, which is rude to turn down.

They also had watermelon, mountains of watermelon, so it seemed a bit like a canadian BBQ. Koreans tend not to under-do the food though, so we were rather over stuffed, since it usually falls on the male foreigners to finish off the piles.

At that point we were conscripted into some sort of Korean gambling game, whose rules remain a complete mystery to me still. SOmething about throwing sticks in the air, and the way the exes turn...

We were staying in a sort of mountain chalet, and there was literally no way to sleep for anyone, since the gambling game continued in a raucous way, and the supposed sleeping room had the lights and TV on. Neither do Koreans seem to believe in lowering their voices for potential sleepers. I think it all has to do with the increased communality of their society, which has much more togetherness than Canadian. In the end the foreigners all just went to sleep around 6, when the less hardy koreans were fading off to bed.

A few hours later I, woke up and joined in with the noodle and kimchi breakfast, although they had helpfully brought some eggs for us as well. The director still wanted to hike, but large numbers of people weren't really into it, so we stayed around splashed in a river. When he and the couple of people who did go, finally came back, we bundled off to the city for another meal. After a couple of people were sick (I'm looking at you Jason), we cut out one planned stop at the giant refrigerator, and cut straight for the meal. After that it was getting on for 5:00 in the afternoon, and we were all dead tired, and ready for bed. All very educational though. Even the Irish girl was tired!