Business trip to South Korea left lasting impressions

Editor’s note: Ray Towry is the Recreation/P.R. director with the City of Ephrata. He is also the president of the Grant County Economic Development Council and traveled to Gunpo, South Korea with owners from five Grant County-based businesses for an eight-day trade mission. Here are the lasting impressions from his personal journal from that trip.

We’re not in Kansas any more Toto.

After 5,292 miles, 10 hours in the air, and a 16-hour jump forward in time zones, we’re finally here. What a day. We left on Tuesday and arrived in Gunpo (South Korea) on Wednesday. It’s exciting, like walking into a different world. Written historical record on Gojoseon (an ancient Korean kingdom) dates back to the early 7th century BC.

Preparation is the key to all business ventures and I’m glad we took the time to educate ourselves on customs, culture and how to act appropriately. You don’t want to come off as the ugly American I remember reading that it is considered inappropriate for a Korean woman to shake hands with a western man. So when we got off the plane and were welcomed by a Korean contingent with several women they immediately offered their hand to us. So when we bowed and said thank you in Korean, it was a nice way to start our trip off with a show of respect.

One of the first things I noticed is that the City of Gunpo (which is south of Seoul) is very westernized for a city of 290,000 people. They honor ancient customs, but have a definite interest in western cultures. The older generations follow traditional customs, but the younger generation, say 30 and younger, is very much influenced by the west in their actions and thoughts. It is also very understood that the younger generation treat their elders with the respect they deserve.

When you look at how they dress, it’s almost European more so than American. The cut of their pants in their suits, the older generation was straighter cuts. The younger generation was much more fitted, narrower as it came down the leg versus what you might see in a suit in the United States, more of what you’d see in European styles.

Health is a big deal there. They are very health conscious. Some of their sidewalks were literally rubberized like tracks. It was by design to encourage people to get out and walk and jog around the city.

There was a concentrated effort to focus on health and what you ate. Organic products are big there. Serving sizes are much smaller. It was funny because they would take us to places to eat and try and give us these huge serving sizes because they knew of Americanized portions.

The one thing I noticed with the food is that there was never any turkey offered. There were portions of duck, chicken and beef, a lot of vegetables and rice, but never any turkey. Kimchi was available for every meal. We tried duck eggs. There were live octopuses available for viewing, like picking out your lobster, before your meal. My son wanted me to bring one back for a pet.

There are 170 places in Gunpo where people can check out a book. The main library was five stories tall and over 85 percent of the population have active library cards. The remaining structures were a series of outdoor kiosks where people could just go up and take a book. We saw 6- and 7-year-old kids go up and get a book and take it over to their parents, who started reading to them.

Our respect for them and their culture was reciprocated. I found out that a lot of the guides and translators we had were professionals that had taken time away from their business because it was considered a great honor to be a part of what was going on.

On more than one occasion, I was introduced as the president of Grant County. They did not understand how we are set up, but they were knowledgeable of the election process.

We can only hope that we left the South Koreans with the same lasting impressions they gave us. It was great from a business perspective and an unforgettable personal experience.