During my last weekend in Seoul, I went to Waterbomb Festival! I have seen videos of the festival in the past, and I always thought that it would be fun to go, but I never thought that I would have the opportunity to! When I saw that it was taking place when I was still in Korea, I knew I had to go. I also tried buying concert tickets to different concert, but it was a lot more competitive than I was expecting, so I unfortunately wasn’t able to go.
Waterbomb was an absolute blast. It’s called Waterbomb because the entire time you’re in the crowd, you’re getting water dropped on you (a water bomb, get it?) and sprayed at you with water guns that the artists have on stage. I had to bring my passport for identity verification, so I was super worried it was going to get soaked. I bought two waterproof pouches for it and my phone, though, and everything turned out okay!
The artist I wanted to see the most was JYP, who is the CEO of the entertainment company JYP Entertainment. He does not do any concerts internationally, so this was likely my one and only chance to see him, and the crowd was so good during his set! Everyone was really hype, and it was the most fun I’ve had a concert in a while.
During my last week I also tried out a PC cafe that was near the hotel I was staying at. I was getting a little homesick and started missing my gaming setup at home, and I had seen the PC cafe but never tried it out. When I went, though, I finally understood how people can spend so much time at PC cafes. The chairs were super comfortable, the food was surprisingly delicious and affordable, and hardware in the PC was way better than what I have at home. I was surprised by how smooth everything ran, and spent time playing video games with some friends of mine back home when I had a day off from work that my manager gave me. Even though I was going home soon, it was still really nice to connect with my friends again.
I believe that professional success in South Korea is strongly connected to being hardworking and respectful. I noticed that all of my coworkers were very busy from when they got to the office up until they left. There was very little talking in the office, as everyone was very focused on their work and ensuring the quality of it. They all took their responsibilites very seriously and put a lot of effort into them.
I also noticed that being respectful toward coworkers and managers was very important. It seemed that I was not held to the same standard as I mostly spoke to people in English, but I noticed that how my coworkers spoke to the managers in Korean was different from how they spoke to each other. People were polite and thoughtful when speaking to the managers, and there seemed to be an expectation that employees should listen carefully and take feedback seriously. I think this is an important part of being considered a successful employee because it shows that you respect the people you work with. In the taproom of my company’s brewery, all of my coworkers were always doing something, whether it was serving customers, cleaning up, or something else. They were all very focused on their jobs and did everything to the best of their ability. Even though I was just helping out, it made me feel bad when I didn’t have anything to do, as seeing them working hard made me want to work hard as well.
There was a lot of differences that I saw in my internship in South Korea as opposed to my job and experiences back at home. At my job at school, I talk to my managers like they’re my friends, even though they’re my bosses and older than me. We have a more casual relationship than what I have seen is common in Korea. I am also guilty of sometimes getting distracted at work, especially if it’s slow and there are no orders coming in. Seeing how seriously my coworkers approached their jobs in Korea is making me want to develop the same level of dedication in my own career.
