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Blogging from KNU, Daegu, Korea (1)

January 2, 2008 - An exciting first day of the classes. 44 students of my Knowledge management and Knowledge Management Systems course greeted me warmly and expressed their interest both in the subject matter and in the multicultural experience. I would expect nothing less from them, as KNU has been ranked among top 3 national universities in Korea and top 500 in the World. They are getting ready for the best positions in world’s top companies such as Samsung and LG (both originally coming from the Daegu area) — KNU’s graduates outnumbered all the other university graduates in Samsung Electronics, in example — and the positive and ‘learning’ vibe could be felt in my class and can be felt all around the campus. The campus and my hosts here are amazing. The older buildings are being replaced by hi-tech ones and the support from the staff is excellent. The office of international affairs, especially dr. Jae Kee Song, Mrs Lorne Hwang, and Ms Heejoung Woo, are taking care for all the details of my and my 7 other colleagues’ stay here. The highlight of theses pampering details was the reception by the vice presidents for int affairs at the beginning of our term, which was followed by an excellent dinner.

December 31, 2007 - the travel from Ljubljana through Paris to Seoul went smoothly. I especially enjoyed Adria’s business class ride (thanks for the upgrade, whoever is to blame for that ;)). After a snowy 4-hour drive on the limo-bus, I end up in Daegu. First impression: syberian cold wind will drive me nuts. Jinyeong Kim, my student assistant here at KNU, took me to a coffee place first, to get myself together, and this was exactly what I needed. A warm caffeine fix and a local-expert-briefing on what’s hot and what’s not - knowledge sharing/learning par excellence… An hour of beauty sleep and I was ready to celebrate the (western) New Year - Koreans take it easy and celebrate it twice, on Dec 31st and the Lunar one (around February). Nice attitute, and a nice /though bitterly cold/ evening on the streets of Daegu. Shot some photos & a video.