My first weekend in Seoul. Saturday was a day of furniture shopping which you’d think would have been fun, but was stressful beyond all belief. Korea is a country currently in a little economic bump in the road. The rich are getting richer and the poorer are losing out… thus eliminating the all too powerful middleclass. That combined with Korean pride, a huge luxury market has sprung up and i honestly can’t explain how it supports itself. On my shopping excursion, the price tags on some pretty generic items:

32inch LG TV (not plasma) – $1,300

4×6 rug (one color) – $2,000

One fairly standard soft – $4,000 * on sale

a simple desk – $900

Not i didn’t get all of these, but for those of you who know me, I’m not a frugal now extravant person, but this was crazy money. If you could only see the items – you’d be shocked.

The second half of the weekend involved me flying the hour long trip to Busan, located at the southeast portion of Korea. It’s on the coast and smells of salt water (and occasionally fish). My first Nike Korea event, a 3×3 basketball tournament with about 2,000 kids – HOOP JAM [1.2.3] From a nike perspective, I must admit – well run, good brand presence and pretty fun. Those of you who know me would imagine – I have some problems with the basic overarching strategy, but that will come in time :). The biggest callout was the lack of fundamental skills most of these kids had. From gradeschool through college, a majority of these ballers had no handle, passed like a blindman and created movement like a gentle spring breeze. What was even more embarrassing was the slam dunk contest. Two guys had some serious ups but the rest were just content to get it in the hoop – ugh! FYI: WINNER – white guy from queens! But the biggest positive takeaway from this initial forray into Korean ballers. THEY HAVE HEART! kids were diving for balls, scambling for rebounds and diving out of bounds, even after 3 or 4 games that day. HEART!

The Han River. A Famous Bridge. The Tombo of a Past King (which i can see from my office and new home).

Well. Reality has reared it’s daunting head. I’ve arrived in Seoul and now the hard part begins. Life overseas. Brand CPR. New places, new faces and new beginnings. And a little birdie told me they speak a different language here – who would have thought it would be such a big deal. The office is fairly typical for an office building, reminding me a lot of the 1515 MTV Building in Times Square – just with a little less soul and shy about 30 floors. My office has a great view of the city [LEFT/RIGHT]and I can almost see my house. They are building a new building next door which will be done in a year or two so i’ll be sure to keep you posted on it’s progress. SISTER-BUILDING-#1.

To recap my trip over and the first couple of days, this is the email i sent the crew…

—–Original Message—–

From: Chow, Marvin [mailto:Marvin.Chow@nike.com]

Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 11:35 PM

To: thecrew@USA

Subject: Where Am I?

20 minutes from SF we’re coming around the east bay and getting ready for a smooth landing when i notice an unusual shadow in the noon-day sun, trailing just off the left side of our plane. Just as I was thinking how oddly our shadow was placed, another United plane glided right down next to us. It was truly an amazing site that I had never experienced. This slightly smaller plane, tracked right along next to us for the last 10 minutes of our flight and it felt like it was just 30 or 40 feet away (though i’m sure it was an FAA safe distance). Keeping speed, descending when we did and touching the ground at the same time, our two planes experienced a form of amateur acrobatics – the likes of which, I’ve never been a part of. Cheesy as it sounds, it struck me as a unique occurrence that I felt I had to share. Consider it one of those little things that tend to leave your life just as fast as they came in. But, in all reality, that was the last and only beautiful thing about my trip to Seoul.

The devastating part was that among all the beauty of these two steel birds parallel landing, was that our bird was 60 minutes delayed, causing me to miss my direct SF-to-Seoul Connection… but after some kind words, the Connections desk managed to set me up. With only 2 hours to kill and 2 more connections to looks forward to, I walked away feeling pretty luck but i have to admit, killing time in any airport is annoying enough but doing it on the front end of a 20 hour trip is even worse… How much can one person eat? How many magazines can one person read? How much small talk can one create or endure? Ugh.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. 11 hours from SF to Tokyo with a quick stop and then another 2 hours to Seoul. The food was again surprisingly good but the movies were sadly repeats of my last trip to Seoul, just 2 weeks ago. Miracle, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, Along Came Polly and Under the Tuscan Sun (amazing cinematography). Passenger company was quiet as usual. It’s either me or just the fact that business class travelers don’t feel the need to make small talk on the front end of an 11 hour flight out of fear of being stuck in “that” conversation for too long. That’s my strategy at least.

Touching down in Seoul 5 hours later than I had expected, their was just an hour long car ride left. Exhausted and feeling pretty disgusting from the air travel and humid Seoul air, I landed at my new home away from home away from home away from home – the Intercontinental. So the short end of this long story is that I’m here – I’m safe and I’ll keep you all posted.

Half way through my first day things are ok. I’ve encountered a slew of budget issues/questions, only one Sports Marketing nightmare which resulted in a dozen or so PR fires and a general feeling of “WTF?”… plus i haven’t eaten yet! But everyone has been great and things can only go up from here! Thanks everyone for all the support and word of encouragement. I miss you all already.

peace/chow

The rager that comes with the departure from every city. The 3 part mix.

1. Warm up at Tara + Troy’s BBQ with great food, playful puppies and backyard cheer.

2. Move to Bar of choice, in this case Ringlers, for jailbait conversations that range from economic development to the importance of the plastic on a pack of butts.

3. End at the darkest, loudest hip hop club you can find and just bust ass till you can’t move anymore. Make sure you and your partner monitor appropriate alcohol levels. (Lesbian stage dancing optional).

3A. Mac + Cheese at Montage. Not for the weak at heart.

SLEEP. PACK. MOVE FROM THE COUNTRY. REPEAT.

Humanity in general can sometimes amaze me. Throughout my now global trek from NY to PDX i’ve been fortunate enough to meet some of the most amazing, interesting, kind and good-hearted people their are. After just over a year at Nike, a meaningful group of people came together (guided by Jenna-hostess-partyplanner-adventuregirl) to send me off to Korea. From faces I met on my first days in PDX to people I met just weeks before my departure to those extremely close to my heart, they not only showed up (and we all know that 90% of life is just showing up) but they drank, were merry and showed a true range of emotions about our friendships and my departure. It was a heartfelt night and one of the highlights on the MKC Portland Farewell Tour!

/ Stacy Giving Tongue

/ Me and My New and Departed PDX Peeps

/ Me + Andy. Who’s “Old English Hag” Shirt?

/ Me + Ms. Sharpie Illinois

/ The Party Planner Herself

/ MC + MK

/ Tiffany Looking Frightened of Ricky and I

/ My Sunday Morning Soccer Girl – Sue SWOOSH

/ Bad Boys 4 Life

/ The Original NIKE iD Dynamic Duo

/ The Future NIKE iD Dynamic Duo

/ Part of the PDX Crew

/ My First Portland Friend :) STEFFERS