How to Dress Professionally at Work.

Dress code based on T.P.O (time, place, and occasion) is very important, especially when you start to enter the business world.

The Importance of Film Soundtracks

Music plays an important role in movies, evoking a range of different emotions and conveying their central messages.

Korean Billiards Culture

Billiards can easily be one the most exciting leisure sports for everyone to enjoy no matter gender, age or career.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Titanic 3D: This Time, Are You Ready?

We were young in 1997. There was a film about a sinking Titanic; Michael Jackson was becoming a legend.

From then on, we went through middle school, high school, and now, we are in college. Maybe you have had relationships, or maybe you are now in a relationship. Nevertheless, you are in for a treat, because "Titanic" is coming again, this time in 3D! We all know the film, but do we understand what it is about?

It’s a movie about freedom. Oppressed by her noble family, Rose is about to marry someone whom she does not care for. The Titanic will bring her to the Statue of Liberty, but it will not bring her to freedom.

Having come from poverty, Jack spends his whole life trying to clutch the throat of fate. He struggles to seize liberty and make his dreams come true. Jack is rich in Rose’s eyes, because of his freedom to have a dream and his freedom to accomplish his own dream. And later, his freedom to choose death is adored by everyone.

It’s a movie about love. Love is so mysterious and unforeseeable that one would not be able to afford to miss it even once in life. Who knew that in winning through gambling and getting the ticket to sail on the Titanic, Jack would meet the his lady of his life and sacrifice his life to make a sincere vow to their love? Who knew that the only chance to be passionate for Rose would happen on the Titanic and destiny would leave her true lover’s life where this romance begins?

It’s a movie about salvation. While the Titanic begins to sink into the sea, violinists play "Near My God to Thee”. Priests, holding their followers’ hands, sing sacred odes, a pair of old couples hug tight without fear but with their faith for love. A young mother narrates some stories for her kids and their eyes are full of curiosity and expectancy for the future. They are all happy.

And Rose gets her salvation from Jack , who does not show up when, eventually, Rose arrives at the Statue of Liberty and eventually gets her freedom. When will you get your freedom? Now, all of these themes are coming again, with the re-release of "The Titanic" in 3D. You may have missed it once. But are you ready this time?


Ying Cheng Hao is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Railway Communication Engineering

Thursday, December 1, 2011

11.11.11

 November 11th is usually a popular day in different countries. For example, in China, we consider this day as “Single`s Day” among young people. But here in Korea, this day is called “Peppero Day” and it can be both a Single and Couple`s festival. On this day, people prepare a stick-like chocolate covered cookie named “Peppero”. Koreans buy this cookie and share it with their friends, family, etc., as a sign of their appreciation and love. 

This year, since it`s 2011, November 11th which is “11.11.11” is the most attractive number ever. With this day`s coming, two students from the SOLBRIDGE International School of Business named Bigul Chakmak and Valeriya Yun from Kazakhstan organized an event called the “Autumn Ball Dance Festival----Only One Minute For Your Wish”. This whole event started with a humble wish from them on Facebook and then got support by SOLBRIDGE Student Council. Later, it mushroomed into a formal Dance Party on Nov.11th, 2011.


During the party, girls wear dresses and boys wear official suits. Even if it`s not that formal, we still can get involved in the environment and make friends on an international scale. People dressed up and played games together. Flashing lights, nice singing, beautiful dancing, together with students` happy smiles constituted this a big and successful Ball Dancing Party. Ballroom Dancing, performances, fruits and Peppero exchanges were important for this party, but the most important part for us was the priceless memories. 


As the hosts said, their aim was to involve all international students and Expo clubs in active participation in the public life of the school and diversify SOLBRIDGE activities. Speaking of social media buzz and marketing, this is a real example of how powerful this thing is. And also, this event is also a really great example of how international students can take advantage of a popular Korean celebration.

Jing Zhang is currently a Solbridge Student majoring in International Business and Finance

Thank You And Good Bye To The Woosong Halloween Party

How was your Halloween party? At WLI, Korean children and their foreign teachers enjoyed the Halloween party on October 26 to let children know about Halloween and to celebrate the western holiday. That day was also the end of the summer classes. So there were so many interesting events. 

Many Korean children couldn't hide their excitement before the party started. And foreign teachers were busy preparing some events for the children. They were all dressed up in Halloween costumes. Finally, classes ended and then Halloween party began. Each event was organized for about 15 minutes.

Children participated in face painting first. Foreign teachers painted some Halloween characters on the children’s faces. They thought it was fun and enjoyed that. And then, they held some games called ‘trick or treat’. Every child got some candy and won games. Especially, the magic game was popular with all of the children. And they saw English Halloween video clips in the basement. There was no talking in the videos, just background sounds. After the video, they watched Halloween skits in the auditorium. The drama club held a play. Many children had fun and were excited.

William, an ESL teacher at the event said, “I face painted and also painted on student’s hands. The children and I had fun. They enjoyed themselves, and were very patient and polite.”

For some children, this shall be their first and last party at WLI. They partied hard, as much as they studied hard in class. But they were sorry to have to part with friends and teacher.

Lucy Cha and Julie Chen are currently Woosong Students in the GLOBE Department

A Resume—The First Step To Success

The following is one students view on how to write a strong resume.

In the near future, a group of college students will be graduating from school and stepping into society. They will be faced with the difficulty of hunting for jobs, delivering resumes and having interviews. This is a twist in everyone’s life and not all persons will go through these smoothly. Delivering a successful resume will be a fortunate start.

As far as everyone knows, a resume needs to contain the basic information about yourself, like name, sex, age, educational background and health condition. Then, before you start introducing your job experience, it’s necessary to attach a brief account of your abilities and specialties. The recruiter will take ten seconds to decide whether to go over your resume. So the first 1/3 will be the decisive part that determines if the recruiter takes interest in you.

Next, you should display your job experiences during the past 10 years (if you have any). The best way to arrange what you have written is in reverse order of time, so that the recruiter will know exactly what you have done most recently. Remember, the year, position and the name of the companies are all needed to be set out.

Are all these enough to compose a resume? No, they are far from attracting interest in you. It will be better to add achievements you have obtained in your position. Have you ever reached 150% every month? Have you invested or improved something to save expenses up to 1,000,000 dollars every year for the company? Have you ever made an active promotion for a new product of the company? These are your specialties which will make you unique in your position.

Thirdly, to display your special training in the relating area will be preferable. It will show your progress and you may get additional scores in your job hunt.

Last, but not least, you should pay attention to the format of your text. Details determine whether you fail or succeed. It’s not a wise decision to use cheap paper in inferior quality. A4 paper is the best choice. The size of words should be proper to be distinguished easily. The typeface or type setting needn’t be too fancy. Mistakes in spelling or grammar should never appear. It’s a basic requirement not to be stained with a spot of water or coffee. The most important thing is the reality of what you’ve written. Lying or cheating in any condition is shameful. You needn’t tell the total experience. You can just outline the advantages and avoid the disadvantages.

If you have achieved all of the above, the only thing you can do is wait. Nevertheless, you may not succeed in the first attempt. But don’t give up hope. The person who can hold on to the last will be the lucky one.

Tao Yuting is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Railway Communication Engineering

Movie Review: A Hero of the Gods “Thor”

“Thor” Was Released In South Korea In May, 2011. It Stars Chris Hemsworth As Thor.

The main characters are Loki, Jane, Thor, Odin, Thor’s friends, and Jane’s 2 friends. This is a story about the legend of Thor. Thor was banished from the planet Asgard. His brother Loki was jealous of Thor and caused trouble. Thor learned how to control himself on Earth.

The story was creative. The different worlds were connected. The bad thing was that the end of story was not totally happy. Its themes include the morals that justice will always be served. It also teaches viewers not to be jealous. This movie is classified as PG. We recommend this movie to High School students.

We give this movie 4/5 stars.

Kang Go-Un and Lee Ho-Jin are currently Woosong students in the GLOBE department. They're also members of the GLOBE sophomore movie club.

TV Show Review: The IT Crowd, Calamity Jen

The “IT crowd” is a British comedy series. The episode we reviewed was called “Calamity Jen.” The main characters are Jen, Roy and Moss who work in the IT department of a company. Jen was really interested in some red shoes sized 5 but her feet size are 8 and a half. The boss of her company declared a war on stress. Roy and Moss attended the stress class but they made the speaker stressed.

Jen’s feet became terrible. Roy stole the stress machine from the speaker. Jen was very stressed. Jen spoiled a merger. So the boss came into her office and checked her stress.

We think the sitcom is a little crazy because the characters do very strange things. It is also funny. We want to watch more episodes. We give this movie a rating of 2.5/5.

Lee Kyung-Min, Cha Su-Ji, and Min Kyung-Hyun are currently a Woosong Students  in the  GLOBE Department

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Woosong Kindergarten Starts a New History

Woosong Kindergarten, attached to Woosong University, was newly opened on September 1st, 2011. A long history and tradition are melted in the new Kindergarten with 10 years of the already existing Woosong Kindergarten and 30 years of Early Child Education at Woosong University.

The building has three stories. The first story is the international class for young children with foreign family and bi-lingual children as well. The second story is for young Korean children, and third story is the playroom.


Woosong Kindergarten is making their motto to have open space, open education is play-centered education needed for young children's growth. This ensures young children can grow their intellectual capacity, social development, and exercise capacity. Besides, the kindergarten has an architectural plan designed for young children, which is rarely seen in other kindergartens.
Most incredibly, the international class operates all of the curriculums in English.


The hours of operation are from 9AM to 2PM (half-day program), from 9AM to 6:30PM (all-day program) for working moms.


From now, the sound of laughter of cute children will make campus more brighter

I-Seul Ko is currently a Woosong Student majoring Food Service Management

TJB Speech Contest Results

The final National English Speech Contest, sponsored by TJB and SolBridge International School, was held at SolBridge on October 8th. In the finals, there were three standards of judgment and there was no audience. The valuation standard was 40% for presentations and 60% for a Question & Answer interview.

There were 22 teams in the final. 11 teams won prizes, including 1 Grand prize, 2 Gold prizes, 3 Silver prizes, and 5 Bronze prizes. The awards ceremony was held in the TJB broadcasting station. They received cash prizes and gifts. Although it was a national contest, most of the winning teams were made up of Woosong University students. 

One of the team winning a Silver prize was from my department. They are sophomores. I hope that if there is another English speech contest, they participate and get the better prize. Also, this English speech contest was a wonderful opportunity for improving speech skills and English for the students that didn’t win prizes. And not only Woosong students, but also other university students can take encourage about their English from this contest.

Eun Ah Yook is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Food Service Management

My Take: Sol-Buddies School Family Program Fall 2011

Sol-Buddies Family Program is one of the ACE projects. And the concept of this program is to let students get along in free, lax environment so that they can have time to socialize with each other. To make companionship with foreign friends and each other, introduce them and let them experience Korean culture.

Our first meeting was on 8th to 9th October to Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-do, called MT (Mighty Together), which should be very Korean universities' MT style like.

But in the morning on the 8th, most of the Woosong students did not come due to their following midterms. My friend and I were the only Woosong students who came to the MT. We never knew no one from Woosong would come.

Many SolBridge students are from Kazakhstan and Indonesia. Others are from Vietnam, Russia, Georgia, Brazil, and China and of course there were Koreans too. After quite a long ride to Gapyeong, we finally arrived there. Had lunch, got a room for each person with some break time. We had an activity called ‘Mini-Sports’. It was basically running and jumping or even dancing.

It was tiring but fun, big time! And we got a quite hour break, while we are enjoying ourselves, some of them were singing since we had a Karaoke machine outside and talking, socializing. People were getting hungry. Finally we could have a barbeque party. During the dinner, we had a talent show, took many photos, and hula hooped. Some of them were dancing to the music.

After this entertaining dinner there was a campfire, toasted marshmallows. And a gathering with drinking was ready for us after the campfire. Some people left early. And some of them had fun until 4 or 5 in the morning. For me, it sounded so much fun.

The next day we had breakfast and got together to finish our ‘Mighty Together’ trip. We handed our prepared gifts to our secret buddies. Each of us picked a name randomly last evening. It is called Manito. The person of that name each picked was their Manito, we should be nice and helping them without being noticed by anyone.

People, who didn’t bring any presents for their Manito, wrote a letter. And others who brought presents wrapped. We handed it over to each other by picking their presents or letters. So it was very enjoyable. And surprisingly I got 2 presents and a letter, the only one who got 3 at once. I was so pleased.

On the way back to Daejeon, people must have been tired, lots of them fell asleep.

At the same day when everybody is back to the Sol-Geo International Dormitory, we met through Facebook again. Our next meeting is on 30th of at the end ofOctober. We are going to hold a Halloween Party. I am sure it will be as fun as we had at MT trip. CLICK HERE for the schedule for this whole period.

Eun Young Hwang is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Hotel Tourism Management

The 19th Annual KOTESOL 2011

This year's International KOTESOL conference was held at Sook-Myung University in Seoul. It took place Oct. 15-16. This was the 19th year the conference has been held.

KOTESOL gets many student volunteers from universities throughout Korea. Many student volunteers for KOTESOL go to do some training at Sookmyung University the weekend before the big conference. At the training volunteers learn about the different jobs available to work. Also volunteers find out how to do their jobs and get their work schedules.

I got to interview one of the volunteers.

Q : What did you think about KOTESOL conference?

A : I thought it was a very interesting and new experience for me. I got to talk to friends from various countries, and we worked together. So I got make confidence and more practice communicating in English.




 As a whole it was a successful conference, but there is always room for improvement. For example may be more food choice for the conference guests or even a few more volunteers to help guests find their way around the campus.


Lee Jung Hwan is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Food Service Managment

President Lee Myung-Bak Shook Hands With Me

On October, 5th 2011, a group of Woosong students took the first route in history of the newly open railway to Yeosu Expo Station and attended the opening ceremony of the Jeolla double-track electric rail line.

At 10 a.m., the ceremony started with a melodious harmony from young school children. Then at about 11 a.m. the president walked into the ground and greeted everyone nicely. He was kinder and warmer than the pictures I’d seen on the internet. He walked toward us and I got my heartbeat racing. 
Then he stopped to shake hands with the people around him. I saw him stretching his hand toward the student beside me and my head stopped running……. 



Oh, my God, dear Mr.Lee Myung-bak reached his hand to me and I held it excitedly. I felt like walking on the air, looking at the president silently until he got seated. Then the president joined other representatives and unveiled the Yeosu-Expo Station symbol.


Information on Yeosu Expo Station:

  1. The double-track electric rail line , from the North Jeolla Peovince city of Iksan to Yeosu, stretches 180 kilometers, cutting travel time between Seoul to Yeosu by 103 minutes to three and a half hours.
  2. The double-track electric rail line enables the high-speed KTX train to run to Yeosu, the last station of the line where the World Expo will be held next year.


Lucy Wang is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Railway Management

Thursday, October 27, 2011

An Impressive Honor

Recently, six foreign students from Woosong University were invited to participate in the opening ceremony celebrating the operation of the Jeolla Railroad. Fortunately, I was included in this particular group. It was “fortunate” because we would be honored to see the President of South Korea through this opportunity. For someone like me who has never been so lucky to see such great figures, it would be an exciting experience.

First, we departed from Daejeon to Yeosu by train. It took us about 2.5 hours to arrive at the destination. After an hour’s wait, we finally saw the president step into the venue at a slow pace. Despite a blurred silhouette, I was so excited that all I could do was just hold my breath and stare at the group in unanimous formal attire. After a 30-minute speech, the most exciting moment came.

President Lee stepped down from the stage and started shaking hands with the people who stood in the front line. It was so crowded and I didn’t have any idea, until I realized that I was in the front line and was grasping the President’s hands firmly. Although it was a short time of 10 seconds, I thought I would never forget this meaningful moment of my first time meeting a great figure.

While it happened over a week ago, I will still be filled with excitement when thinking of the moment!

Tao Yuting is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Railway Communication Engineering

Help Animals in Need Today!

Have you heard about "Farm Animal"? Recently, I watched a TV show about mistreated animals. Many people were crying during this show. This particular show was about a dog living on a farm. The dog seemed to be dying, blood came flowing out of his wound, his jaw was broken, and his eyes were out of their sockets. It was a crying shame. Whats worse, the criminal is still at large.

The TV show shocked many people about the treatment of stray dogs and dog farms. Recently, many celebrities did volunteer work to help stray dogs. So there are more volunteers now. My family has two puppies also and we are deeply interested in stray dogs. Last week, we went to the Angel House in Asan. They have hundreds of cats and dogs. They live in a pretty bad environment. It makes me feel so sad. My family gave several blankets, food and boiled eggs to them.

The cats and dogs do not want to be abandoned. They just want to be loved and cared for.

If you are interested in this issue, Please visit www.fromcare.org and help these animals in terrible conditions.

Jeong-Hye Jang is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Food Service Management

My Take on Sol-Bakery

At first, when I went to Solpine Bakery, I felt that it was just a small cafe in Woosong University. But, I was fascinated by the interior decor. I thought it was fantastic. The design was very good and very clean. Woosong students help make all the bread and beverages. It was not so bad.

But, there are two problems for me about the bakery. First, the product costs are increasingly expensive. I think that students don't have a lot of money. If I'm going to pay for expensive food, I would rather go to another cafe or bakery. Their prices are similar to Solpine Bakery, but I still want to support my school

Secondly, the bread is very cold sometimes. I think the bread is more delicious when it is hot. And even sometimes the bakery's bread is very dry and hard.

The bakery was created by student's sweat and effort which is a very positive thing for our university. But I think the image of the bakery can be damaged because of just a few simple mistakes. If Solpine Bakery tries to fix these small things, I'm sure it will continue to be loved by everyone.

Lim Hye-In is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Food Service Management

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Food Service Management Academic Festival

The Department of Food Service Management held an academic festival recently on the 8th floor of the Woosong Tower to evaluate students' study performance.

On the wall, notices were posted about free coffee and the walls were decorated with balloons. The center of the lobby had an atmosphere of a café. The student union offered complimentary snacks & coffee. In the corner, the designated club of the Department, “Baccus”, provided some sample beverages (wine & cocktails). At the same time, the building was crowded with nervous high school students, because they were conducting University interviews that same day.


Next year, I hope that the FSM Academic festival will be bigger and better and there will be a variety performance with new and exceptional freshman students.

Kim So Young is currently a Woosong Student

Members Wanted for Woosong's Model UN

Members Wanted: Join us as a member of the new Woosong Model UN Club!

The purpose of the Woosong Model UN Club:

The Korea Model United Nations (KMUN) will be held next summer at Woosong University we want to prepare more fresh troops for it.

Why you should join:

1. To practice English fluency
2. To get to learn about the working system of the Model United Nations as well as United Nations
3. To get to know the status, politics, economy and culture of your nation of interest.
4. To have fun and make friends

How to join:

Just come to our periodical meeting on 6pm Wednesday or Thursday or send and email to: wsumun@gmail.com to get further information.

Come on, join us and have fun! You are indispensable!

Lucy Wang is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Railway Management

China: A Paradise Of Food

On an early morning last July, 10 students of Woosong University gathered at Gimpo Airport. They’re the winners of Woosong’s Chinese Speech Competition which was held last May, myself included. Especially I have a lots of interests about Chinese cuisine so that was a great chance for me. ‘Chinese cuisine’, ‘French cuisine’ and ‘Turkish cuisine’ is commonly listed as the worlds 3 best cuisines. Especially China is one of the food paradises. For example, someone said “Chinese people eat all food except chairs, desks and airplanes which have 4 legs or are flying things.”

We took 2 hours to Beijing International Airport and the bus drove for ages then arrived at Beijing Foreign Studies University which we lived at for 10 days. That place is familiar to me because I studied there one semester last year.


Our Beijing schedule was so tight. The Great Wall which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Forbidden City which took 3 days to explore, the Summer Palace which is Empresses summer house, Jing Mountain Park which you can see the whole Forbidden City, 798 Art district which you can see Chinese modern arts, Xiang mountain where you only can see a maple in Beijing, Peking University which has a beautiful campus rarely seen before. We saw every famous place in Beijing. Every time I go I feel that Beijing is huge.

Beijing food is also commonly listed as one of the China’s best 4 foods. Beijing duck which is sliced by professional chefs and Beijing’s traditional black bean noodles are one of the delicacies. Everywhere in Beijing city, you can find lamb skewers but it’s very cheap and if you eat with a beer that might be heaven.

After 10 days of the Beijing trip we took a train for 6 hours and arrived at Shanxi. Also Shanxi was enough to overwhelm us. We were so tired because of a long time rude but Shanxi food was also enough to recharge us up. Especially wheat is widely cultivated in Shanxi, so renowned for it’s noodle. Some historian said pasta of Italy was spread from Shanxi by the Silk Road.

Huge and grand Chinese historical remains always speculate me and China always teaches me things. I hugely appreciate Woosong university for giving all of us a chance to have a good meaningful experiences.


Seo-Yoo Seok is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Culinary Arts;

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Managing Product Life Cycles in Korea for Sustainability

A key component of sustainability is waste management, which, if properly carried out, can lead to a cleaner and less wasteful society. A major part of waste in our modern world comes from the huge number of consumer goods in the market, which become useless material after disposal. The concept of “product stewardship” deals with managing the environmental impact of a product by having everyone involved in the lifespan of the product, and plays an active role in ensuring that the product is used and disposed in a way that promotes sustainability. Initially, managing a product’s environmental impact had been centered on EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) which places the responsibility for the reuse, recycling or disposal of a product on the producer. 

Product stewardship takes the concept of EPR one step further by dividing the responsibility for the environmental impact of a product amongst manufacturers, retailers, importers, governments and consumers. The paradigm shift towards product stewardship is crucial in the sense that it reduces waste as well as overuse of resources. If consumers use and throw away products carelessly, producers end up with more to recycle than they would otherwise, which is wasteful. By involving consumers and retailers in the process, we can ensure that products are used in the most optimal way and waste is taken down to its bare minimum.

Currently, South Korea uses an EPR oriented scheme whereby obligations and mechanisms are centred on producer responsibility towards meet recycling targets. The scheme, termed the Product Recycling System, was adopted in 2003 and requires manufacturers to pay the costs for recycling their products and provides mandatory recycling targets. The products and materials covered under the scheme include electronic equipment, tyres, lubricants, batteries, fluorescent lamps, and packaging materials as well as agricultural products, marine farm products, cleansers, medicines and cosmetics. The scheme seems to have provided a good start, but the focus will need to shift eventually. Given the Korean consumers’ high drive for the consumer products marketplace and reckless usage of products, adopting product stewardship would greatly reduce waste and enhance efficient usage of resources. 

A good starting step would be to mirror other countries that are currently running product stewardship schemes, as benchmarks. Japan is probably the most advanced country in East Asia in this area and can provide a good model. Some of the strategies that can be replicated from Japan include establishing legislation related to specific products, making consumers financially responsible for disposal of their goods by using a multi-part docket system for disposal of products, and broadening product coverage to include other categories of goods. Taiwan also seems to be progressing rapidly towards product stewardship and their strategies and policies can provide useful insights. 

Regardless of which countries are used as benchmarks and which strategies are adopted, the transition to product stewardship will be worthwhile and will serve as milestone in establishing a sustainable society.

Nousheen Samuel is currently a Woosong Student studying at the SolBridge International School of Business 

My Friends, Ready to Learn Some Czech?

Ahoj” (Hi), yes, that’s the first Czech word you learn today. Are you wondering why Czech? Because our city, Daejeon, is welcomed 11 friends coming from the nation of the Czech Republic. They are following a Korean government  program for the youth and Daejeon was one of their destinations.

However, we still have a greater news. Some of our students actually got the chance to meet, discuss and debate with the delegates. Held by Debridge, SolBridge International School of Business Debate Squad, a workshop was conducted on Wed, Sept 7th in the SolBridge building. In the workshop, through demonstration debate rounds and discussion, we shared our opinions about the very current issue going on in Korea right now: the reunification of the two Koreas. 

Even though people took different sides, some may support, some may oppose but in the end, everyone got a better understanding of the situation, some thoughts to bring home and the most important is lots of new friends. That’s how debate bridges the gaps and brings people closer to each other. 

Thanks to all the Debridge members and coaches who helped to make this workshop successful, thanks to the Czech republic delegate for coming and participating. 

It’s time to say “Nashledanov” (Goodbye) to our new friends, we all hope they would enjoy their the rest of their trip in Korea and we would have a chance to meet again.

My Nguyen is currently a Woosong Student studying at the SolBridge International School of Business 

A Mothers Inspiration

“These thoughts gave me strength whenever I face a challenge and whenever I feel weak.”

I have interviewed my mother, the most important person in my life who has always been by my side and the one I admire the most. She is 47 years old and her original name was Jung-Hee Yoo but she changed her name when she started studying abroad to Sena Yoo. She is currently a Mathematics coordinator teacher for a 1st year classroom at Hyundai Foreign primary school and also a Cambridge YLE Oral examiner. She started teaching in 1985 at the age of 23 meaning that she spent nearly half of her life in teaching.
She said "well... I was a teacher for whole my life except those 3 years that I spent raising you two...(me and my little brother)". I asked, "What made you to become a teacher?" so she started explaining from her childhood. 

"My dad passed away when I was 10. That was very shocking to me at the time. My relatives used to tell me that if I do something wrong, then people would think that's because I don't have a dad and I would go wrong way. So I tried hard do be a good girl. I didn't like hearing from people that I was a bad girl due to my father's absence."

She told me that she started going church when she was 6 years old and that church was very close to her, so she spent most of her time growing up in church. She was a girl who prayed, sang hymns and tried everything what the bible, pastor and Sunday teacher said what she should do and don't. She was very quiet but very mature and serious.
She said "Well... simply I was very religious so I wanted to become a pastor. But, I failed to go to a theological university. Many people in the church said that I was very good with children and I should become a teacher. But since my father passed away, I grew in a very poor condition. None of my family or relatives thought I should go to university. 

Also I never thought that I was able to continue getting higher education. So I started as a Sunday school teacher when I became a high school student and that has pulled the trigger of me going to Pai-Chai University studying to become a teacher". 
After getting into the university and studying to become a teacher, that was not the final goal of her life. No way, that is not my mother. She dreamed of studying abroad becoming an international teacher but there was no chance since she got married. However for some reason she did not stop dreaming. She strongly believed that babies should be raised by their mother at least for the first couple of years as she learned from her childhood, she wanted to keep those important years. When I was 8 she started to enroll with her dream, she first went to Malaysia for a year and studied 3 years in total getting M/Ed. degree in England. After finishing her study she got a job at a primary school and started a new life in England. She always says to me "always pray to God, He is the life guider". 

There are few things that she emphasizes, first is live by God, second is be a human, third is to challenge yourself (don't just look tomorrow, see the future) and try not to hate anyone in your life.

Jae-Chun Seo is currently a Woosong Student in the Globe Department 

K-Pop Sucesses and Cultural Understanding: Moving Beyond the Old World for the Better

It surely is a belching of catchy melodies and moves on stages that enthrall countless Asian populations over the years. It has reached beyond the peninsula and has succeeded in augmenting the recognition of a country and is being carefully examined by potential new fans over in Europe. Popularity stemming from the efforts of the K-pop indusrty is surely a thing that cannot be overlooked and surely can be evaluated as a success in realizing how the industry, which  has grown so much. At least, it is impactful enough for my foreign friends to gather together in the morning to watch the popular show Dream Concert

Several efforts to prolong the renowned accomplishments of K-Pop are in progress. Just a few months ago, at the SolBridge International School of Business, students encountered a poster presenting a specialized Hallyu’course, offering lessons on the K-pop industry from a business perspective. Hallyu is a Korean terminology designating the ample effects of Korean cultural impact on foreign countries. In the same context, some entertainment corporations are establishing organization that are systematically growing K-pop musicians. Governmental efforts to aid such a flow are in progress as well. 

Negative attitudes by many journalists jotting very impulsive expressions in describing such success is surely a thing to be looked at while watching continued progress in K-pop. Rather than understanding in pertinent business point of view, how some of them using such terms like ‘dominance’ ‘rule’ ‘captivating’ explaining K-pop presented in Europe shows how much they lack suitable attitude in cultural diversity wise. Among several constituents that have driven the industry into the status is the successful timing and marketing strategies used at proper place. Collaboration of Western artists bearing insight on Westerners taste surely helped forming fandom. Systematic training of artists over long period of time also boosted long term success of industry. Production laid great product attracting consumers. It is not ‘reign’ or ‘dominance’ over the culture of foreign countries that represents success which can be very insulting to the public of other cultures. 

Such problematic interpretation stems at conventional perception of people understanding such nominating chance as a way to presenting patriotism. While recognition of the country can naturally be exuding to other culture afterwards of cultural experience, it is not a stage to discuss such effect. Again, it’s the considerate process that led the industry to meet the preference of the consumers rather than old school translation of such motivation as patriotism which is presented from the mind of such writers professing such terms. 

Depreciation of achievement in the industry can never be the case when empirical data clearly shows how it has been gaining great results. How the industry can further progress still needs careful scrutinizing on the potential. In understanding cultural diversity and respect towards foreign cultural atmosphere, not only people should deter using improper words but understand the situation in business view point rather than conventional interpretation which is aberration of nowadays state.

Joo-Won Lee is currently a Woosong Student studying at the SolBridge International School of Business 

We Are Dancing

The passion the Woosong University’s annual Fall festival has gradually gone away. But it is still a hot issue these days while we’re enjoying the short holiday as well as enduring the emptiness. 

While everybody in Woosong is talking about 2AM and Sistar, a small group of people are celebrating their victory. In their own eyes their performance at a recent night of the festival was legendary. They are dancers, coming from different countries. They belong to a small dancing club which is named PAcrew and they all believe that dancing colors one’s life.

They danced for 13 minutes, including Jazz, Popping, Hip and Breaking at the incredibly passionate night. They really prepared that for almost one month. They are all students, which means it is extremely difficult for them to gather together and practice. It only took 10mins to decide what would they dance, and what made that so easy is only one simple principle: Everyone should dance!

In fact, not anyone in this dancing club could dance well, more particularly, some of them are just novices. It would make them nervous to dance in public while everyone is hoping to see some kind of fabulous dancing which exactly Sistar can do. They knew how to cure it and the answer was nonstop practicing. Only in that way could they offer the spectators a decent job. But that’s not the point; the point is that a decent job for spectators is an excellent job for the dancers. They are not going to be some professional dancers who make a life by dancing; they see dancing as a way to relief stress and earn self-esteem. That’s enough for them.

The most easy and efficient way to do something well is repetition. No one can image how he or she can make it out even without a dancing room, which has a mirror. No one can image how he or she could make it out with so many difficulties just like sometimes being forbidden from using a classroom for dancing without a satisfying reason. But they made it by practicing over and over again. God knows how hard it was.

One period of work has been finished. But they are not stopping; they dance not for cheer but for their own lives.

Ying Cheng Hao is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Railway Communication Engineering 

Where is He? The Running Old Man?

I have not seen him for a while. Where is he?

I don't know his name; I don't know how old he is. Actually, the only thing I know about him is whenever I saw him he was always running around the yard, running around the Woosong area.

He was old, not very tall, in a black sports suit, ran slowly but nonstop.

After taking a nap, we got up with sleepiness, we went to school, and we saw him for the first time. I cannot remember what day that day was, I cannot remember how long it took me to realize such a crazy old man running around nonstop. Actually, the first utterance I mentioned out about him was "Hey, look, there is the crazy man AGAIN!"

What was his purpose? He was once an athlete and he just couldn't stop running? Given his unfathomable endurance, I can't doubt that. Or maybe he want to stay healthy and livelonger? Yes, everyone wants to and not everyone is able to be so persistent. Or as I said, he must be crazy. If I keep trying to figure this out, I'll go insane first.

But, he has gone now. I still cannot remember the last time I saw him. I didn't care before, but now I care. I want to solve this puzzle.

Why did he stop running around? Did he move away and begin to run in another place? Is he ill? It’s not strange for a running old man to get ill? He felt tired? He got more crazy? As I said before, he is a puzzle. I want to know, but it doesn't matter because some puzzles are meant to be left unsolved

He has his own special story. We’re strangers who watch him but we don't know who he is.

Ying Cheng Hao is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Railway Communication Engineering 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Fact or Fiction

It is a legendary film. Although my review is a little too late for those who want to watch it in the cinema. But if you really like science fictions, that’s the kind of feast you don’t want to miss.

It shares the similar premise with the old series of the Planet of the Apes. For those who have watched the old series before, I will say it isn’t remade directly and I reassure you that you will find everything is different now with similar themes.

Since I’m trying to persuade you to see this film so I won’t say much about the plot. But I do want to talk about what the movie suggests.

Maybe you are tired of supernatural stuff films? Without magic, without tremendous mechanical power, Rise of the Planet of the Apes will make you feel that “Oh, wow, this really might happen!” Try to image one day apes will rise and override humans to become slaves of another primate, which walk upright just like us.

They reproduce faster, they have more muscles, and they are smart. Maybe we are smart too, they are not smart enough, but the film tells you what will happen when they become smarter by a tiny mistake made by a naïve and intelligent scientist.

The point is that is that it is realistic to some extent! And that’s why science fictions are so fantastic!

And actually, not every result has a persuasive reason. The film does not depict how guilty humans are. The catastrophe was not determined, it was not destiny, we didn’t deserve it. But it happened. And again, that’s the reason why I like fictions, they expose you to some crazy ideas and they really force you to image and torture you day and night!

And probably, the sequels will come ... maybe not shortly, though. I’ll let you know.

But at least enjoy the beginning and get that mind of yours cranking.


Ying Cheng Hao is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Railway Communication Engineering 

Thursday, September 29, 2011

TJB-Solbridge - The National English Speech Contest

The National English Speech contest sponsored by TJB (Daejeon Broadcasting) and SolBridge International School of Business will be held soon. The entry fee for the contest is free and there are no requirments on the speech topic. Students in groups of 1 to 4 people are required to make a project document and a presentation by themselves.


In the preliminary contest, a project document, a video presentation, and a word file of some type of explanation is judged. In the final contest, a 10-minute presentation using a projector is judged which is followed by 2 to 3 questions from judges to the team. One individual and one team will receive the grand prize of ₩2,000,000 and ₩3,000,000 respectively. The next two teams will receive the second place prize of ₩1,000,000 each. Three more teams will receive ₩500,000 for third place and four additional teams will receive a gift for fourth place.


Contestants can download the official application online at http://www.tjb.co.kr from August 10th to September 23rd. The finalists will be announced on September 25th and will compete at SolBridge International School of Business on October 8th.


Through this contest, students can improve not only their English, but also build teamwork skills and enhance their ability to capture an audience's attention, and considering the prize money, it’s worth a shot.

I-Seul Ko is currently a Woosong Student

Cheers to Our Proud Athletes

The Woosong annual soccer contest is taking place this September. The winner will be decided through a tournament style system with open starting rounds, a final 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and lastly the final match. The contest will last all month and there is a one million won prize money up for grabs. The quarterfinals will be on September 7th and 8th and the final will take place on September 30th at the Woosong Festival.


This along with the Fall Festival is one the largest activities at Woosong because all departments participate in this contest. While the boys sweat and play for passion, girls are often found cheering them on. All players need the continued support of the fans.


Hopefully soon we will see the start of the girls' contests. It would be great to see the girls play with the same passion that the boys play. This way virtually all students can participate in this contest. Best of luck to all competitors!

Hye In Lim is currently a Woosong Student 

Department of Railway Vehicle System Engineering

Our department, the Department of Railway Vehicle System Engineering, teaches a depth of technology about Railroad Rolling Stock. It is a core and important part of Railway transportation systems. It has professors who are experts in railway vehicle system, driving, and safety. They teach students a lot of knowledge based on academic and working-level experience. Besides through placement, students enter upon a profession and they can work as soon as they graduate. 


The biggest pride of our department is the Woosong Diset railway academy. This is the third in the Korea, followed by Korail, and Seoul Metro. Also, this is the first institute of Korea University that was allowed by the Ministry of Land.


Also, professors provide training on the basis of experience that are both academic and operational. This institution promotes exclusive (high-priced) equipments that have simulated driving functions using training instruments, basic function stimulated training instruments and computer-assisted education training systems.


Also, it is adjoined with an urban railroad controller education training institution by means of Woosong university. At first, Woosong was the only university designated for this educational institution training a locomotive engineer and a railroad controller. With this, Woosong is unparralled and pacesetting in the field of railroad and the Department of Railway Vehicle System Engineering is playing a leading role in Woosong.


Students at Woosong Diset Railroad Academy complete lessons in about 5 years. Then, students can take a electric rolling stock class 2 license test that is given at a traffic safety corporation. In 2010, Woosong Diset Railroad Academy boasted a high pass rate at 80%.


The rail industry has a great possibility of future development. Therefore we are looking for not only the growth of rail technology but also that of the Department of Railway Vehicle System Engineering which is in the center of Korean rail technology.

Jae Ho Yoo is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Railway Vehicle System Engineering

A 2nd Subway Line Will Be Opening Soon in Daejeon

Daejeon Metropolitan City is now planning to open a second metro line in order to solve the city's major traffic problems and satisfy the citizens who don’t already benefit from the existing subway line. The second line is planned to be a looped line around the city and the stations will likely pass through Jinjam ~ Seodaejeon Neogori ~ Daedong Ogeori ~ Jungri Neogori ~ Government Complex Daejeon ~ Yuseong Neogori ~ Jinjam. It will intersect the existing metro line three times.


At first, the city planned to include Sintanjin, but recently opted out because it will already be included in the Chungcheong Train Network Project. It was also decided that the new subway would be a magnetic levitation train. Additionally, the metro line is planned to be both below and above ground (much like the Seoul Metro), which is a nice change for Daejeon metro riders so that they can enjoy the sunshine through the train’s windows. The second metro rail line will begin its construction in 2013, and is set to be completed in 2018.

Yun Jeong Jang is currently a Woosong Student 

The Dreaded SOLGEO Curfew

“I want to go out after 11pm… ”
“I can not come in if I come back later than 11pm on weekdays…”


Yes, that`s what we have now in SOLGEO-International Resident Hall, a curfew! I know that some students are always complaining about it. But, in my opinion, it is still a necessary policy that we should have in the dormitory.


This summer vacation, I did a large survey about this dormitory type of situation in Chinese University’s.


The results of the research show that around 84% of the domitories in China that I studied don`t have a curfew every night. But one thing we should mention is the dormitories for which I did the survey for are all for Chinese student housing. Actually, it is often the case that Chinese students are not that free-spiriited as westerners. So, it`s common for them to come back to dorm on-time consciously. Just because they don`t have a curfew doesn`t mean that the school doesn`t feel responsible for their safety.


They also have foreign students studying and living there, but they have a special dorm for them. And they have dedicated students or other teachers taking care of them everynight at the same time to make sure they all came back. It`s similar to a curfew.


But here, since SOLGEO is a residence hall with over 600 multi-cultural residents, every country represented has their own behavior and living habbits. We should value different cultures to avoid conflicts at the same time. So, having a curfew is much more important for us to have a unitive rule or policy for all residents so that we can better ensure all of the residents safety and It will be much more convenient for the manager to do their work. The goal for this is to use the least intrusive and the most convenient way to get the most useful results.


All in all, our safety is the primary concern for all of us. So, always be mindful of that. It`s not a useless thing designed to cause trouble for you. But it`s really a useful policy to provide for your safety. Stay safe out there.

Zhang Jing is currently a Solbridge Student majoring in International Business and Finance 

Obesity In Teenagers

When I asked teenagers, "What is your favorite food?" Most teenagers answered "Junk Food." Junk foods have low nutrition and high calories. Mr. Kang, from the KFDA (Korea Food & Drug Association) said there has been increase in Western diet. This includes obesity and heart disease as well as high-blood pressure. Its annual cost reaches almost 2 trillion won. It is a national problem. Therefore, people should eat well to be healthy. According to a recent study, one-third of Koreans are obese. 

The BMI figure indicates a person’s Body Mass Index. If one’s BMI is 25-30, that person is obese. If the BMI indicates more than 30, it's a high degree of obesity. The percentage of population with a BMI of 25 is increasing up to 30.7%. Especially, in 2008, with a high BMI (30+) increased to 4.1% compared with 2.3% in 1998. For example, Miss Jo, a current student, always eats junk food, because she lives a busy life. She finds food to eat quickly. When her BMI figure reached 28, she felt seriously obese. The second example, Miss Kim, a ten-year-old, prefers pork cutlets and ham to vegetables and fruits. She gets a lot of bullying, because of her weight. Her friends laugh at her.

Slow food is healthy food which is made by nutritious materials and digestible food. Mr. Kim lives alone. Due to his busy work, he always ate junk food in the morning. No one made him breakfast, and his dinner was always noodles. His weight was increasing day by day. So he decided to go on a diet. He ate Korean food instead of noodles and junk foods. As a result, his BMI figure became lower. Now although he is busy, he eats Korean food for his health. Here is a list of some possible healthy alternatives:


1. Black beans
Black beans contains Isoflavone which prevents breast cancer, and collagen which makes skin elastic.

2.Squid ink
Recently, foods that consist of squid ink are increasing in popularity. It is cooked in pasta snacks, and rice. Ingredients with melanin has an anti cancer agent.

3. Grapes
Eating the seeds and skin of grapes, you will feel younger. In grapes, the anti-oxidant ingredients of resveratrol helps to prevent cancer.

A report showed that the most second obese population in Asia is Korean. The number of obesity is steadily increasing. Besides these foods, there are many colorful foods. Let's keep our health by eating healthy foods.


So Lee No, Bo Hwa Song, and Eun Bi Park are currently Woosong Students majoring in Global Business English

Alumni Interview: Sung Ryong Kim

 Sungryong Kim is a former Woosong University student who studied in the Department of Digital Media in 2004. He currently owns the design company 'Design Moin.’ You can visit his company’s website http://www.moins.co.kr/.
                                                      
Q: Hello, it is an honor to interview you. So I’d like to know about your childhood dream and ambition.

A: Actually, like everyone, my childhood dreams were to be the president, a scientist, a doctor or a teacher, something like that. At that time, these were just too general and vague. I just wanted to be a very special person.

But as an adult, I woke up and smelled the coffee. These days my ambition is to make my 3-year old company, 'Design Moin’, Korea’s No. 1 or even better, the world's No. 1 design company. In order to make this happen, I have to work hard and prepare for my future one step at a time. I have chosen the design field because this is what I really want to do, to be part of the history of design. I really want to build my company to this level of greatness.

Q: Wow. I can see your passion here. So please tell us about what you do and about your company.

A: Briefly let me introduce myself and the company. I don’t think there is an age limit for learning. So I am studying for a masters in the Design Graduate School at Kookmin University, while also running my design company.

The company has an Offline and Online Business Department. We plan, design, and produce promotional materals for many Universities like KAIST, research institutes and even governmental organizations.

We have been awarded at a national design competition for 3 different fields. This year 2011, at the International Design competition, we were given prizes in 2 fields. We are currently working on a project which will be submitted at the end of this year as well. We are a very adventurous group with a strong pioneering spirit.

Q: That is just amazing that you were recognized beyond Korea’s borders. So how was your life while at Woosong?

A: I regret that it has already passed by. Now when I recall the days at Woosong, I feel sorry that I was not that active. It doesn’t mean that I didn’t study hard. But that even though I am a very sociable person, I was not enthusiastic and very involved in clubs, membership training or in relationships between seniors and myself.

Q: Yes, I think that building a network of friends and doing something very special while at university is definitely necessary. So how did you become what you are now? What have you done to become the person you are now?

A: Unlike people we call the greats, I wasn’t granted natural special skills. Compared to them, I am in the position that requires a lot of hard work and exertion. I don’t know how people will view who I am, but I am always trying to remember where I first began and to not be too arrogant. Rather, I should be humble and nice to everyone, always have a mind like ‘diligence makes the best results’ so as to not disappoint the people who helped me. I think these made me who I am today.

Q: Wow! All of your sayings are right. But it is always hard to do what you recommend, that’s a shame. So what have you learned from Woosong and how has it helped you in preparing for your future?

A: I learned from Woosong not only academic subjects, but also character and experience. They were the foundation of my first experiences in society.
It has been years since I graduated, but even now the relationship with my professors, seniors and juniors has helped me out a lot. And it is an honor to have a company named by my former Woosong professor. It is very meaningful. I want to be an important alumnus who is a good example to the school and its students.

Q: Lastly, do you have any words of wisdom for current Woosong students?

A: As the proverb says, it does a young man good to suffer some privations in the world. The endurances and adventures during the younger days are unalterable and unchangeable, considered precious property. Always do your best, improve your own abilities. I am sure you will make it. Everything around you will be just great! I hope you will be a good person who contributes to the whole of society.

Thanks for giving me this opportunity to share my experience and I wish all the best to the students of Woosong University and The Woosong Herald.

Eun Young Hwang is currently a Woosong Student majoring in Hotel Tourism Management

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