I was pleased and honored when Kyu-Pal Choi, So Jang Nim at Hansung International Patent & Law Office, invited me to come with him to an event taking place at his alma mater on October 9. I already knew most of his story. Mr. Choi had been, to a large extent, self-educated during his youth in Jeong-eup. Yet he had no trouble competing academically at Korea’s most challenging and prestigious university. He graduated in 1974 and did well as a pharmacist and a patent examiner with the KIPO before founding Hansung in 1990. I know he is a proud alumnus of Seoul National University.
We met at our office building in Yeoksam-dong, bought some coffee across the street and drove to the SNU campus in his silver Benz. One of my friends thought it would be boring for me, a foreigner and not an SNU alumnus, to attend such a gathering, but she was wrong. It was actually a splendid day, a most enjoyable and unforgettable day. I tagged along as Mr. Choi registered and greeted many of his fellow alums. He introduced me to several. It came as no surprise that they were all, without exception, intelligent and well-spoken people. They were kind enough to address me in English.
About half the group was interested in hiking up Gwanak, a mountain that overlooks the SNU campus. The first part of our alpine adventure, however, was devoted to looking at a nearby construction site. The university is in the early stages of building a center devoted to development of new drugs. A couple of men spoke about the plans for this facility, also revealing that it would cost 16 billion won; SNU had committed to paying three-fourths of that amount, leaving 4 billion won to be covered by donations. If any contributions were in the offing, they would be gladly accepted. I told Mr. Choi that my school, the University of Texas, is just the same—constantly asking alumni for money.
We did not climb all the way to the top of Gwanak, but we were high enough to look over the campus and the sprawling city of Seoul to the north. Following our descent, we had lunch with makkoli under green and blue tents. All of the proceedings, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., were outdoors, and why not? The weather was cool and quite pleasant. Even as we ate, we were entertained/informed by a man in a white cap who spoke into a microphone. He kept up a running commentary, in between bouts of recorded music.
Then came the fun and games. Four voluptuous young women stepped out on the grassy expanse and gave us a demonstration of their belly-dancing skills. Some of the moderately competitive games seemed to have been designed most of all to bring about the feeling of togetherness for which Koreans are known. Our master of ceremonies, non-stop with the jokes and patter, also operated a raffle in which presents small (towels) to big (bicycles) were given away. I really enjoyed watching some of the children of these SNU College of Pharmacy grads jump and cavort. Such beautiful and energetic boys and girls!
Toward the end of the program, seven well-dressed young men walked up to a set of microphones and sang. I am no expert in operatic singing, but they seemed just as proficient as the late Luciano Pavarotti. As if that were not enough, they were soon joined by a young woman. Whether she was a contralto or perhaps a mezzo-soprano, I really did not know, but she sang like an angel. Only later did I learn that these winsome singers were Seoul National University vocal students. They gave a fine but all-too-brief performance.
There was a closing ceremony in which Ji-Seok Jung, the current president of the SNU College of Pharmacy Alumni Association, spoke. Everybody sang the university’s official song before dispersing to the parking lot, the streets of Seoul and then home. I could only thank Mr. Choi for having invited me to such a sparkling convocation.
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