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A Seoul July, A Jewel of a Month
July is one of my favorite months always with two good reasons to celebrate for it brought me both a baby brother and my own first son. Just yesterday, a long time friend gave me another reason to do so. I meet him by chance at a fancy restaurant in Seoul. I haven’t seen him for quite some time so I was doubly surprised to run into him there, for he was far from both his home and business. I asked him what the special occasion was. He replied, “It’s July 1st” and I searched my mind for the days significance here in Korea. He saved me from thinking too long, explaining “It’s the start of the second half of the year.” What a great way to look at life! As one that advocates looking on the bright side, I really liked this positive outlook and decided to apply it immediately to my outlook on the second half of 2010.
These days I have noticed the increasing talk of the weather and the approaching rainy season know as, “changma”. While I hear the official weather reports on the radio while in Seoul taxis, mostly it’s from marketers encouraging you to “be prepared the changma season” as they sell rain ponchos, umbrellas and boots. It has a bit of an ominous feel to it and I can’t help thinking of the music from the movie Jaws that played when the shark was lurking nearby. But on the bright side, I look forward to the chance to add a new fancy umbrella to my collection and this year, the latest raingear for the feet are unlike any rain boots I’ve seen in the past –very trend, in all kinds of colors and designs. It’s almost like you can’t wait for the rain to begin so you can wear your new boots! And then there is the traditional food of the season– sam gye tang, a healthy soup consisting of small rice and ginseng stuffed chicken known to give you strength on a hot summer day and for those rainy days, green onion pancakes and makeolli, a traditional Korean spirit.
These days, there has been so much for me to celebrate and anticipate it makes every day exciting and new. We at STO recently welcomed a group of Malaysian tour operators to Seoul which always brings me great joy as it allows us to showcase the city to tourism professionals in a very personal way. I got my wish for dry weather and fortunately, “changma” did not arrive during their stay in Seoul which allowed them to fully enjoy their visit. While on the convention side of the house, we have also been awarded the bid to host the International Dragon Awards in 2011, a gathering of 5,000 insurance professionals from throughout the Asia Pacific Region. The executive planning committee made an advance trip to Seoul to set the meeting in motion and we had scheduled an evening dinner function to celebrate accordingly. Aside from being a joyous occasion, the evening had a very pleasant surprise for us all, as we were joined by Ms. Park Jung Sook, the actress that portrayed the Queen (Wang bi) in the well known Korean drama “Dae Jang Geum”. The drama was better known in English as “The Jewel in the Crown” and told a triumphant story, full of twists and turns, of a young girl that aspired to be a Royal Chef of the ancient Joseon Dynasty.
A true fan, I had watched the entire Dae Jang Geum drama and had a most enjoyable conversation with Ms. Park telling her how hungry it made me to watch each episode. As a travel professional, I was delighted that the drama had such an incredible impact on tourism to Korea and the focus that it placed on cuisine, especially that of Korea’s Royal specialties. And so, I am pleased to hear that Ms. Park is now a professor at Kyung Hee University where she will continue to have an impact on Korean culture, which is such a vital aspect in promoting Korea as a tourism destination.
The rest of my July looks to be exciting as well. First of all, it’s off to London, England to attend the Association Congress 2010 where I will make a presentation on Seoul. The World Cup final will be taking place at just about the same time and we all dreamed of being there. Here again, I celebrate the fact Korea has come so far while it will give us common ground in London as we can commiserate with the English about our mutual absence. Then it’s on to the annual gatherings of two major convention industry associations, Destination Marketing Association International will convene their annual convention in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida while Meeting Planners International hosts their World Education Congress in Vancouver, Canada. Several members of the KMA, the Korea MICE Association, will also journey to North America for these two important events. I look forward to the opportunity to network with them and industry professionals from around the world. Most of all, I look forward to the opportunity to once again sing the praises of Seoul as an exciting destination, rain or shine, for both business and pleasure travelers.
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