The KU professors asked us about our classes, our adjustments to Korea and what we think of KU. They primarily asked us if we had any problems with our courses being in English. They even said, "If you don't like Korean food, there's a McDonalds down the street from campus." Surprisingly, that bad joke made us laugh pretty hard because it was pretty unexpected and lightened the mood. But not all the way. It was 8 foreigners and 3 extremely qualified engineers asking us whether or not we were happy. We were telling the truth, when we said we were happy, and we had very few questions. KUBA covered a whole lot and got us set up really well. This led to a lot of prolonged silences, which were pretty awkward. What really got us talking was internships.
The associate dean said that lots of big Korean companies did on-campus recruiting throughout the year. I had noticed this from all the big banners advertising the recruitment, but only that day did I see where they actually did the recruitment: the large campus recruitment room in Hana Square (the huge engineer tunnel). The room, which I had discovered while looking for the bathroom that morning, has a long desk around the perimeter of the room with dividers so the desk is separated into about 8 one-on-one windows. The company people sit on one side, the students sit on the other. It was Hyundai's day in house and they were giving out little model cars. He then said he'd do what he could to see if he could put us in touch with these Korean companies and see if they were interested in hiring or interviewing us. International work experience would be some pretty huge news for anyone, let alone 8 undergrads.
After that he told us that he looked forward to dinner with us and OUR dean Friday night. Wait, OUR dean? Dean Dolling? Yup. We had no idea he was coming to town. Apparently the dean and a few professors were coming to visit KU and also have dinner with us on Friday night. This got me excited because I'd met him before, but nobody else had. They were all missing out. Dean Dolling's the man. He's a Welsh mechanical engineer with a wit so dry it could be 92 degrees out and you wouldn't even be uncomfortable because it's actually the humidity that gets you. That dry. They told us to dress "casual," but I brought a blazer and tie and was expecting to meet some pretty important people at this thing. I was gonna look good.
Oh my God, these people were so much more important than I thought they were going to be and I am so glad I brought fancy clothes.. For starters, the event was located in a room called the Skyview Lounge. We get there to find that it has been renamed the Crimson Lounge after the school's color. Still, it was on the 12th floor of the tallest building on campus, so we knew something fancy was going to be on the other side of those elevator doors once 12 lit up. When the door opened there was a greeter with name tags all laid out, one for each person arriving. I took mine and walked down the corridor to the main room. The view is what first caught my eye. We could see a lot of Seoul and the surrounding mountains from the room. It was glass on nearly every side. The view was breathtaking as the sun slowly set around the city. Its large apartment complexes and lights were absolutely stunning.
The administrators we met on Wednesday greeted us, pointed us towards our seating charts and then exchanged small-talk. Then the KU engineers who were at GW last semester showed up! It was great to see them again and talk for a little. It turns out they were at my table, which was great news, more time to catch up.
Then the GW crew walked in. Dean Dolling was in the lead with a KU person who I will mention later, and a big group professors from both universities followed. The dean shook my hand and made fun of my tie. I didn't care, it was a bitchin' pink and blue checked tie. I then said hello to the rest of the professors and then met the illustrious Simon Lee.
Simon Lee is the man who made my study abroad possible. He did his engineering undergrad at KU and got his masters in systems engineering at GW. He's a KU and GWU alum who loves both schools so deeply that he established the endowment for our GW-KU exchange program through SEAS. He is also CEO of a massive government contracting firm with projects all across the globe. He is immensely successful and has personally donated over a million dollars for this program. If it were not for his time, money and effort, I would not be having this unforgettable experience.
Then we were all introduced to the various other dignitaries at the dinner. Many of them were departmental heads at the KU engineering school. The MAE department gave me and the other Mech-E his card and told us to email him to arrange lunch. Neat. Then we met the President Emeritus of KU. This guy presided over one of the most prestigious schools in Asia, let alone Korea, and here he was shaking my hand as if it was his pleasure to meet me, a bum whose blazer was too big and whose had woken up at 3PM that day. Was I really already A)This old? or B)This respectable? I mean yeah, I'm a sophomore in college, but I'm nowhere near respect levels of this kind. It did make me think of the places engineering could take me though. Frontier spirit now kind of means something.
As we sat down to dinner there were little menus besides our plates. This would be my first ever 8 course meal. It was also the first time I had ever seen that many forks around one plate. I just followed what the associate dean of student life did. He sat next to me, and the rest of the table was two other GW students and 4 KU students who had studied at GW through the exchange program. We all talked about how terrible J Street was, their favorite places in Seoul, and how I went to Hongdae the night before. The dean laughed at me and let out a sigh like he remembered being young and in Hongdae. They probably played some bitching 70s disco K-Pop too. The dean then talked about North Korea's posturing and then I made fun of Kim Jong-Un's haircut and he laughed really hard. That made me really happy.
We were then called up to speak bout our time at KU so far. It was very intimidating speaking to all the professors, especially with nothing prepared beforehand. I thanked Simon Lee and talked about how much I loved KU's school spirit and the way its students love the school. This place is really amazing.
Simon Lee then got up and addressed us all. He talked about how the exchange program builds bridges that cross the Pacific. He spoke about how in this globalized world it is important to branch out and become familiar with the futures of business and engineering interaction. He then said it was a great opportunity to learn Korean for GW students, and for KU students to learn English. He then said the KU students should get boyfriends or girlfriends at GW and that GW students should get girlfriends or boyfriends here at KU so we could really become, and I quote, "Masters."
One step at a time Mr. Lee, one step at a time.
The administrators we met on Wednesday greeted us, pointed us towards our seating charts and then exchanged small-talk. Then the KU engineers who were at GW last semester showed up! It was great to see them again and talk for a little. It turns out they were at my table, which was great news, more time to catch up.
Then the GW crew walked in. Dean Dolling was in the lead with a KU person who I will mention later, and a big group professors from both universities followed. The dean shook my hand and made fun of my tie. I didn't care, it was a bitchin' pink and blue checked tie. I then said hello to the rest of the professors and then met the illustrious Simon Lee.
Simon Lee is the man who made my study abroad possible. He did his engineering undergrad at KU and got his masters in systems engineering at GW. He's a KU and GWU alum who loves both schools so deeply that he established the endowment for our GW-KU exchange program through SEAS. He is also CEO of a massive government contracting firm with projects all across the globe. He is immensely successful and has personally donated over a million dollars for this program. If it were not for his time, money and effort, I would not be having this unforgettable experience.
Then we were all introduced to the various other dignitaries at the dinner. Many of them were departmental heads at the KU engineering school. The MAE department gave me and the other Mech-E his card and told us to email him to arrange lunch. Neat. Then we met the President Emeritus of KU. This guy presided over one of the most prestigious schools in Asia, let alone Korea, and here he was shaking my hand as if it was his pleasure to meet me, a bum whose blazer was too big and whose had woken up at 3PM that day. Was I really already A)This old? or B)This respectable? I mean yeah, I'm a sophomore in college, but I'm nowhere near respect levels of this kind. It did make me think of the places engineering could take me though. Frontier spirit now kind of means something.
As we sat down to dinner there were little menus besides our plates. This would be my first ever 8 course meal. It was also the first time I had ever seen that many forks around one plate. I just followed what the associate dean of student life did. He sat next to me, and the rest of the table was two other GW students and 4 KU students who had studied at GW through the exchange program. We all talked about how terrible J Street was, their favorite places in Seoul, and how I went to Hongdae the night before. The dean laughed at me and let out a sigh like he remembered being young and in Hongdae. They probably played some bitching 70s disco K-Pop too. The dean then talked about North Korea's posturing and then I made fun of Kim Jong-Un's haircut and he laughed really hard. That made me really happy.
We were then called up to speak bout our time at KU so far. It was very intimidating speaking to all the professors, especially with nothing prepared beforehand. I thanked Simon Lee and talked about how much I loved KU's school spirit and the way its students love the school. This place is really amazing.
Simon Lee then got up and addressed us all. He talked about how the exchange program builds bridges that cross the Pacific. He spoke about how in this globalized world it is important to branch out and become familiar with the futures of business and engineering interaction. He then said it was a great opportunity to learn Korean for GW students, and for KU students to learn English. He then said the KU students should get boyfriends or girlfriends at GW and that GW students should get girlfriends or boyfriends here at KU so we could really become, and I quote, "Masters."
One step at a time Mr. Lee, one step at a time.
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