Next up... Lotto!

I won! I won! I won!

It's a first. I won something since playing the California Lotto back in 2003, but that was only $10. This time I won a gift certificate for two meals (either lunch or dinner for two) at the Marriott Cafe. It's a nice restaurant on the second floor of the JW Marriott Hotel in Seoul. I found out tonight when I ate at the Mikado restaurant. Kelly handed an envelope to me (with both hands on the envelope) with the congratulatory card written in English inside. "Chukkahamnida!" said Kelly when she handed the envelope to me. There were other associates gathering around to see what I won.

I entered the give-away by placing my business card in the big fish bowl in the Mikado restaurant on the lower lobby floor of the Marriott. I had been placing my business card in there for what seems like every time I ate there. Last month Miss Kim Su-ju told me last month that my card was selected to the next selection process. I didn't know they had a preliminary and a final selection. I thought it was just a one time selection. I guess I had to be selected from among the other cards submitted by the other restaurants in the Marriott.

Oh yeah, also with the English card there was a congratulatory letter written in Hangeul. I started reading it out loud and Miss Jung, Mikado manager, Miss Kim, Kelly, and Miss Hong were impressed with my reading and pronunciation. Ha! I had no idea what I was reading. I recognized maybe 10% of what I read.

Julie

Very ambitious with a bright outlook, loves life and wears an infectious smile. She wants to be a manager in a hotel. Not just any hotel, but the best that Seoul has to offer. Her career plan includes completing a professional graduate degree in hotel/hospitality management from a university in the U.S. For the last year Julie has been preparing for the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). She has been studying for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). She has been busy.

In a highly developed economy like South Korea, the search for employment becomes very competitive. Job seekers are looking for the edge to be the candidate that a firm will hire. It seems that a bachelor, and sometimes a graduate degree earned at a Korean university is not enough. It was the subject of a newspaper article just recently (and I can’t find it on-line). Candidates therefore go abroad and study, many go to a university in the U.S.

I met Julie on my first business trip to Seoul last summer (2004). She was working as a food server in the Mikado Japanese Restaurant in the JW Marriott Hotel, Seoul. From a distance she has a look about her that could make you lose her in a crowd. Up close it’s a different story. Julie’s bright smile enhances her beauty. Although she wasn’t the first Mikado associate that I met she left me with a lasting impression. It was all about service with a great smile.

Julie quit working at Mikado about a year ago to concentrate on her studies. The GRE is not an easy undertaking. One must prepare for the series of examinations to have the results desired for entrance to a university in the U.S. I can only imagine the difficulty and frustration Julie must have felt while studying for the GRE and TOEFL. For someone to take the GRE in English and fully understand the questions when English is not your first language, it will take lots and lots of preparation.

When I visited Mikado in December after I moved here, I was surprised to hear of her resignation. I asked Kelly to give my number to Julie. From then on we got together occasionally, having lunch and dinner, and the many assists with her graduate school applications. Last month I visited her in her hometown (see previous post). The more time I spent with Julie the more aware I became of her integrity, courage and commitment to her goals. I dared not to distract her from her studies, but admired her from a distance. She left Seoul for the U.S. last Thursday to complete her quest for that graduate degree.

Live well, laugh often, and love much, Julie. May God keep you safe on your Journey.