Subject: Weekend update

Date: 18-Feb-94 at 14:22

From: Roger White

Well, I had one of those odd experiences that remind me I'm in a foreign country. It happened at Lotte World. I went back Sunday to skate. It was crowded. I was on ice about an hour, bobbing and weaving through skaters so tightly packed I thought I was in line for rock concert tickets. There were Safety guards on the ice with whistles making sure the skaters kept moving--no stopping in mid stream. You want to stop, you head for an edge.

The ice was trash--skaters had chewed off a full quarter inch of ice. I was starting to wonder how much longer before the skaters broke through to the cooling pipes, when the safety guards started whistling people off the ice. It was Zamboni Time. (Zamboni appears to be the world's maker of ice cleaning machines. Every US rink has a Zamboni ice cleaner, and that's what I saw at Lotte World.)

But, before the Zamboni came out, the Lotte World marching band came out a gave a precision marching performance on the ice rink. It was a football half time show at an ice skating rink. What an odd combination! The ice was so chewed up the band members didn't have to worry about slipping, and the playing and marching were both very good.

Finally, the Zamboni came out, and it was pushed to it's limit carrying off all the scrap ice. They had to send it out to dump the ice half way through finishing the rink. As it was finishing, I looked at the long, long line of people waiting to get back on the ice... and I passed. I headed back for Suwon. I'll be back early Saturday morning with the crowding is a lot lighter.

Saturday I got a chance to swim. It was at a health club located on the 12th floor of a Suwon department store--very posh. I finally got on a scale for the first time since I've arrived in Korea. The good news is I've lost 15 Kg (33 pounds) since arriving in Korea. The bad news is I'm still at 135 Kg (297 lbs). I've still got a way to go before I'm slim and trim. But hey, I've got another few months in country.

February is turning into "Start Networking Month." Last week I made contact with the Novell infrastructure here in Korea. Today (Friday) I had lunch with several government officials from Kyonggi Province, Suwon's Province. Kyonggi has a sister province--sister state relation with the State of Utah, so I had some introductions that I got from the Provo Economic Development Council to start with. The lunch was at a really nice restuaraunt and was a "get acquainted" affair between Utah and Kyonggi representatives. My MIT degree got me invited, and all my sightseeing and conversation with Korean students gave me a lot to talk about.

Next week I start teaching at Central Officers Training Institute (COTI). This is where the mid and upper level government officials get their advanced training, including English. For the next six weeks I'll be working with 60 mid-level Korean government officials.