Hello wonderful @ers :)
Congratulations on stumbling on my blog, whether you did it through a Google search, surfing through the links of blogs of my other blogging @ friends or by some recommendation/reference (although that would've been through email/facebook).
Yes, I know your frustration in not being able to contact AIESEC Korea with ease. I have heard comments about the closet-ness of AIESEC Korea firsthand from all around the world - from an EB member in AIESEC Mumbai to a former Malaysian MCP. Been there, done that!!
I am happy to serve as a gateway to AIESEC Korea, even show you around Korea and host you, provided that you are here physically and I have time on my hands. I am contactable at e-mail/facebook : wonjang@hotmail.com.
Chalo :)
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Friday, 12 June 2009
Friday, 2 May 2008
Finding a balance Pt. 1 - LC Coaching
It's been a long time since I've used the AIESEC tag. Not that I haven't been involved in AIESEC during this time, I just didn't have anything to write about. Besides, I've been on the road (or should I say, air) for the last month; I had internet access almost everyday but I feel comfortable writing in my blog at home - I think all my blog posts so far have been made at home.
In life, we say often that we should find a balance - work and study, AIESEC relationships and non-AIESEC relationships, meat & vegetables, rock & pop. Here, I want to talk about finding balance within my role as LC coach.
Recently I've been classified by unseen forces (aka the PD team and a rigid interpretation of the AIESEC XP, based on "positions", not responsibilities) as an alumnus. When I applied for the AIESEC Symposium in early April I wrote down my role as Alumnus [slash] LC Coach.
Now truth-be-told, I haven't been designated by anyone as LC coach, so to write down a role without it being "conferred" might seem wrong, but I doubt with the level of involvement in my LC these days there will any problem.
In 2007, my level of involvement was quite minimal, especially in the last months of the previous (07/08) term. I deliberately chose to keep it that way and the only real concrete role I had was being an EP interviewer.
Since I had played an inconspicuous role in 2007, I decided to alternate this year by taking a bit more proactive approach. And the current LCP of my LC is more actually more willing to ask for advice and help, so that is an impetus for my constant invovlement.
Even just yesterday, I attended my LC's Wednesday LCM (known as RM [Regular Meeting] in @ Korea), to see how things were going in my LC. Then during dinner (the meeting are after classes at 6PM, dinner is afterwards) I spoke with my LCP about the things he requested me to do during my last month abroad - mainly to do with international co-operation and exchange. Not to mention I'm doing a session about my international conference experience next week.
Now ... to the main point of this post ... If you are coaching a LC, where do you draw the line between being proactive about giving help and advice, and impetuous interevention? Should it be on ask-then-give basis (which is not being proactive at all)or should I be the really nitpicking person who gives his opinion and harasses people with every little single detail? I know I'm giving two extemes, but I've got to choose somewhere along the scale.
As of now, I think I'm maintaining a balance. I'm being proactive about giving advice, but I not everything that goes through my head comes out of my mouth. This is because of two beliefs I have regarding @ - 1. Quite a few of the things we treat with confidence as facts are in fact opinions. 2. @ is a learning organization, so if you have an opinion that is "somewhat" incorrect, it's okay because you can fail and then learn. Failing is something we learn in the organization. And for me, as long as the "somewhat incorrect" thing isn't "very incorrect", it's okay to leave it, so the person who believes in it can discover for themselves. Or it might turn out to be correct altogether and I'll know something new!
Obviously, the LCP and LC's direction isn't one-to-one with what I envision, because that's what @ is all about - diverse approaches stemming from diverse people at different stages of learning and situational context.
The title is a little bit misleading. I have already found my balance. Now all I need to know is whether it is right, to constantly re-evaluate myself to see if I am taking the right approach.
In life, we say often that we should find a balance - work and study, AIESEC relationships and non-AIESEC relationships, meat & vegetables, rock & pop. Here, I want to talk about finding balance within my role as LC coach.
Recently I've been classified by unseen forces (aka the PD team and a rigid interpretation of the AIESEC XP, based on "positions", not responsibilities) as an alumnus. When I applied for the AIESEC Symposium in early April I wrote down my role as Alumnus [slash] LC Coach.
Now truth-be-told, I haven't been designated by anyone as LC coach, so to write down a role without it being "conferred" might seem wrong, but I doubt with the level of involvement in my LC these days there will any problem.
In 2007, my level of involvement was quite minimal, especially in the last months of the previous (07/08) term. I deliberately chose to keep it that way and the only real concrete role I had was being an EP interviewer.
Since I had played an inconspicuous role in 2007, I decided to alternate this year by taking a bit more proactive approach. And the current LCP of my LC is more actually more willing to ask for advice and help, so that is an impetus for my constant invovlement.
Even just yesterday, I attended my LC's Wednesday LCM (known as RM [Regular Meeting] in @ Korea), to see how things were going in my LC. Then during dinner (the meeting are after classes at 6PM, dinner is afterwards) I spoke with my LCP about the things he requested me to do during my last month abroad - mainly to do with international co-operation and exchange. Not to mention I'm doing a session about my international conference experience next week.
Now ... to the main point of this post ... If you are coaching a LC, where do you draw the line between being proactive about giving help and advice, and impetuous interevention? Should it be on ask-then-give basis (which is not being proactive at all)or should I be the really nitpicking person who gives his opinion and harasses people with every little single detail? I know I'm giving two extemes, but I've got to choose somewhere along the scale.
As of now, I think I'm maintaining a balance. I'm being proactive about giving advice, but I not everything that goes through my head comes out of my mouth. This is because of two beliefs I have regarding @ - 1. Quite a few of the things we treat with confidence as facts are in fact opinions. 2. @ is a learning organization, so if you have an opinion that is "somewhat" incorrect, it's okay because you can fail and then learn. Failing is something we learn in the organization. And for me, as long as the "somewhat incorrect" thing isn't "very incorrect", it's okay to leave it, so the person who believes in it can discover for themselves. Or it might turn out to be correct altogether and I'll know something new!
Obviously, the LCP and LC's direction isn't one-to-one with what I envision, because that's what @ is all about - diverse approaches stemming from diverse people at different stages of learning and situational context.
The title is a little bit misleading. I have already found my balance. Now all I need to know is whether it is right, to constantly re-evaluate myself to see if I am taking the right approach.
Saturday, 26 April 2008
Edna St. Vincent Millay - Sonnet IV
Only until this cigarette is ended,
A little moment at the end of all,
While on the floor the quiet ashes fall,
And in the firelight to a lance extended,
Bizarrely with the jazzing music blended,
The broken shadow dances on the wall,
I will permit my memory to recall
The vision of you, by all my dreams attended.
And then adieu,–farewell!–the dream is done.
Yours is a face of which I can forget
The color and the features, every one,
The words not ever, and the smiles not yet;
But in your day this moment is the sun
Upon a hill, after the sun has set.
Friday, 21 March 2008
Indiamania?
I was talking to Nabeel on Google Talk today (I've had an ID for a long time, but only recently have I started using it), and he asked me why I liked India so much. Strangely enough, a lot of people know I like India but never bothered to ask why; while I can't say Nabeel's question was the first time that I thought about this question, since I've reflected on my spare time (which seems to be quite a lot these days), it did give me the motivation to write this post and organize my thoughts a bit.
Firstly, I do admit that I do enjoy the chaos a bit, the unorderly fashion in which the cows, rickshaws, elephants (never seen an actual elephant on Indian streets, but I have photographic proof they exist!), motorcycles go about their daily deeds, creating what could be also called "organized chaos". What I do not enjoy is rickshaw drivers pulling over close to me on the sidewalk by just a mere few inches from hitting me, then cajoling me to get in - "Kya, aap ghar jaanaa chaate hein?" - in which the apt. response must be "You send me to Korea ar??. But it does make me feel like the important tourist cum money spender cum economy contributor I am! Then again, sometimes things get annoying I wish I looked like an Indian or wore a burqah.
The other obvious reason is the magnificent food. I've actually been eating Indian food since quite a young age, but only since APXLDS have my palates been altered to cry out for Indian food at least every now and then. The most delicious thing I have actually eaten is Indian, but it also can't be emulated. It was during the post-APXLDS study tour when we were on the tour bus on the first day, and the CCs gave us out take-out biryani on those tin-foil plastic packs and gave us yoghurt for those of us that found it hot. And given the hungry state I was in and the hot day, the heat-nourishing biryani spice and the yoghurt that slightly consolidated turned into something a bit like cheese bits was absolutely unforgettable. Then of course, there's my perennial love - masala dosa! Whenever I'm hungry and in need of a "hard snack" I think of only one thing - masala dosa! Hmmm .. the perfect crispy dosa and wonderful potato masala ... mouth-watering! I wonder what my fate would've been when we went to the chaat place near Hyd. Central Station and hadn't chosen masala dosa, not having any clue to what it actually was!
I also enjoy that fact that it isn't an completely anarchic state, yet there are ways around laws and "customs" that makes life easier - "street smarts" if you must call it. Knowing that the fixed price tag usually doesn't mean anything and asking for a 50% discount, paying the grandpa to stand in the line for you in the bank for bank related business, the rickshaw driver knowing shortcuts to shorten your travels by 10 minutes, smiling at an unknowing foreigner for paying for ketchup at an McDonalds counter (everybody knows you can get it for free ... ;) ).
Not to forget of course, none of this would mean anything without the nice and wonderful Indians I've met throughout the recent years. Inevitably, it's usually AIESECers, but I can't forget the driver uncle who drove me to Victorius Terminal in Mumbai, who told me he was from Hyderabad, when I was going to Hyderabad and wished a good time, the guy at Charminar who asked me for my number (sorry .. not interested in men!), the guy who did work in linguistics I talked with at the night of arrival at Pragati Resorts (and the nice, pretty Indian girl with him) and other various people I've encountered throughout my time(s) in India.
That being said, I should really go to North India and the deep south now! Sometime. Chalo ;)
Firstly, I do admit that I do enjoy the chaos a bit, the unorderly fashion in which the cows, rickshaws, elephants (never seen an actual elephant on Indian streets, but I have photographic proof they exist!), motorcycles go about their daily deeds, creating what could be also called "organized chaos". What I do not enjoy is rickshaw drivers pulling over close to me on the sidewalk by just a mere few inches from hitting me, then cajoling me to get in - "Kya, aap ghar jaanaa chaate hein?" - in which the apt. response must be "You send me to Korea ar??. But it does make me feel like the important tourist cum money spender cum economy contributor I am! Then again, sometimes things get annoying I wish I looked like an Indian or wore a burqah.
The other obvious reason is the magnificent food. I've actually been eating Indian food since quite a young age, but only since APXLDS have my palates been altered to cry out for Indian food at least every now and then. The most delicious thing I have actually eaten is Indian, but it also can't be emulated. It was during the post-APXLDS study tour when we were on the tour bus on the first day, and the CCs gave us out take-out biryani on those tin-foil plastic packs and gave us yoghurt for those of us that found it hot. And given the hungry state I was in and the hot day, the heat-nourishing biryani spice and the yoghurt that slightly consolidated turned into something a bit like cheese bits was absolutely unforgettable. Then of course, there's my perennial love - masala dosa! Whenever I'm hungry and in need of a "hard snack" I think of only one thing - masala dosa! Hmmm .. the perfect crispy dosa and wonderful potato masala ... mouth-watering! I wonder what my fate would've been when we went to the chaat place near Hyd. Central Station and hadn't chosen masala dosa, not having any clue to what it actually was!
I also enjoy that fact that it isn't an completely anarchic state, yet there are ways around laws and "customs" that makes life easier - "street smarts" if you must call it. Knowing that the fixed price tag usually doesn't mean anything and asking for a 50% discount, paying the grandpa to stand in the line for you in the bank for bank related business, the rickshaw driver knowing shortcuts to shorten your travels by 10 minutes, smiling at an unknowing foreigner for paying for ketchup at an McDonalds counter (everybody knows you can get it for free ... ;) ).
Not to forget of course, none of this would mean anything without the nice and wonderful Indians I've met throughout the recent years. Inevitably, it's usually AIESECers, but I can't forget the driver uncle who drove me to Victorius Terminal in Mumbai, who told me he was from Hyderabad, when I was going to Hyderabad and wished a good time, the guy at Charminar who asked me for my number (sorry .. not interested in men!), the guy who did work in linguistics I talked with at the night of arrival at Pragati Resorts (and the nice, pretty Indian girl with him) and other various people I've encountered throughout my time(s) in India.
That being said, I should really go to North India and the deep south now! Sometime. Chalo ;)
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Quick Updates
Hullo, March is around.
I dunno if anybody is checking this blog anymore hah, but here are a few updates anyway.
I dunno if anybody is checking this blog anymore hah, but here are a few updates anyway.
- Was sick for a few days. Symptoms included - Disorientation, dizziness, cold, cough, migranes, indigestion. (Scrapped from my answer to Nabeel's wall). But I am 99.99% recovered. I went to have veg biryani to celebrate!
- Major in snow in March depressed me. People in Malaysia and Bangladesh were jealous. I am always open to trading places.
- Singapore and Malaysia is increasingly becoming a meeting point!
- Lots of important friends got discharged from the military. Congrats!
- I took my military entrance exam yesterday. Didn't do too bad, didn't do exceptionally well either. Results out on the 21st. Don't ask anything till then!
- Back-to-school season. My sis has started her first year/semester in univ., but to me it just feels like she's gone back to her high school, without the fuss of a uniform.
- Had a couple of nice talks and bonding with some girls I simply love. Thanks!
- The 80th Academy Awards were so memorable that I downloaded it (illegally via Torrents of course). Watching it everyday.
- I've almost seen all of the Best Picture nominated movies. Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men (all the ones I've so far) were all great and worth watching at movie theaters.
- Major epiphany - I really like Lost (the TV series) now.
- Had a very nice time in Busan in late Feb. Saw my cousin (my fav. cousin too) get married, went to see my maternal grandma (my maternal fam. is my personal inclination) for the first time in four years. The countryside had changed a lot which left me disapointed. I suppose for a brief moment I could relate to what Yasar Kemal writes. I also spent some quality time with Ryu and Ryang-su (ex-LCP and current LCP of Busan), and Hee Kyung (VP ICX of Busan in 0607).
That's about it.
Some of my fondest memories were made in March. I wish you all the same!
Thursday, 7 February 2008
My February
As some people might have realized, I am not in London or anywhere near Europe at this time. My visit to London was forestalled by an unforseen event that I was not very happy with. I was very disappointed at the cancellation of my trip, but nevertheless I have been over it for some, maintaining a normal life without "unecessary" 'If only...' thoughts.
So what have I been doing so far?
1. Applied for military service. Yay................
2. Went on a food fest to spoil myself after the disappointment of London - sashimi, cheese & crackers, potato jackets, mutton (lamb) intestines (Korean delicacy), a little bit of liquor.
3. I have taken up jogging to keep myself fit. I have made it in to a habit and I am glad to report that I am feeling very light and healthy.
4. Got in touch with the world hegemony by watching American dramas and reading Marvel comic books. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was quite okay, since I didn't expect to much. I've also "tooken up" Lost, as season three is being broadcasted on TV here. I don't understand the full story as a person who's just started watching but I enjoy the acting. I should stop watching soon (perhaps after the end of the season) though, and watch the whole thing when it finishes in 2010. I read X-Men: Messiah Complex through downloads via Torrent. Wasn't too bad, and it felt nice to re-integrate myself into the Marvel continuity after all these years.
5. Felt very elated and excited as friends all across world took up higher positions in AIESEC. All of you are my motivation!! Displayed solidarity by calling Singapore and Malaysia on MC election days. For the few people who still have selection going on - all the best!
6. Planning a two-night trip to the North-Eastern part of South Korea, close to the Eastern Sea with a few friends. Will be visiting a very private pension (only two room for about 6-8 people tops) where the owner brews his own coffee and runs his own cafe (and the people who stay in the pension are the only customers of the whole cafe!). The concept of the trip is to be alone when we want to, then hang out together if our impulses tell us to - just the type of retreat I've wanted to do :). Good time to get a lot of reading done! Will also be going to Busan on the 23rd for my cousin's wedding. Will be seeing a lot of relatives I haven't seen over the years hah.
7. Singapore? Malaysia? Japan? The thing about Japan is .... all the people who I know for sure are going to APXLDS (Rina, Sharon, Siew Yik [?]) are people who I can see in Singapore anyway. Although Tokyo is cool, there's no reason I should be there if my friends aren't going to be there. And all my elect friends seem to be going to EuroXpros and MENAXpros. Let's see.
That's all. Tada and Happy February!
So what have I been doing so far?
1. Applied for military service. Yay................
2. Went on a food fest to spoil myself after the disappointment of London - sashimi, cheese & crackers, potato jackets, mutton (lamb) intestines (Korean delicacy), a little bit of liquor.
3. I have taken up jogging to keep myself fit. I have made it in to a habit and I am glad to report that I am feeling very light and healthy.
4. Got in touch with the world hegemony by watching American dramas and reading Marvel comic books. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was quite okay, since I didn't expect to much. I've also "tooken up" Lost, as season three is being broadcasted on TV here. I don't understand the full story as a person who's just started watching but I enjoy the acting. I should stop watching soon (perhaps after the end of the season) though, and watch the whole thing when it finishes in 2010. I read X-Men: Messiah Complex through downloads via Torrent. Wasn't too bad, and it felt nice to re-integrate myself into the Marvel continuity after all these years.
5. Felt very elated and excited as friends all across world took up higher positions in AIESEC. All of you are my motivation!! Displayed solidarity by calling Singapore and Malaysia on MC election days. For the few people who still have selection going on - all the best!
6. Planning a two-night trip to the North-Eastern part of South Korea, close to the Eastern Sea with a few friends. Will be visiting a very private pension (only two room for about 6-8 people tops) where the owner brews his own coffee and runs his own cafe (and the people who stay in the pension are the only customers of the whole cafe!). The concept of the trip is to be alone when we want to, then hang out together if our impulses tell us to - just the type of retreat I've wanted to do :). Good time to get a lot of reading done! Will also be going to Busan on the 23rd for my cousin's wedding. Will be seeing a lot of relatives I haven't seen over the years hah.
7. Singapore? Malaysia? Japan? The thing about Japan is .... all the people who I know for sure are going to APXLDS (Rina, Sharon, Siew Yik [?]) are people who I can see in Singapore anyway. Although Tokyo is cool, there's no reason I should be there if my friends aren't going to be there. And all my elect friends seem to be going to EuroXpros and MENAXpros. Let's see.
That's all. Tada and Happy February!
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