145. Welcome, is this your first time in Korea? (2)
“eww···. Ummm…”
Smith opened his eyes, frowning, dazzled by the strong sunlight.
“What the… hell?”
He was lying on a soft bed.
One wall had a floor-to-ceiling window, and the blinds were up on that window, so the sunlight hit the eyes directly.
“Where the hell is this? Ugh… It’s the head.”
Smith looked around and touched his head from a sudden onset of headache.
And just when I thought I was thirsty, I found a glass with a glass of water on the bedside table.
He gulped down the water as if it were the water of life.
When the cool water entered, he was able to come to his senses little by little.
“Obviously yesterday…”
Smith remembered what happened last night.
After chatting with Joo-Jung Kim about the ADSL business for hours, I met Ho-Young on the first floor, and at first, I ate Korean food at a Korean restaurant.
“Is it Lee Jin-chan, Kim Jin-taek, Kim Won-shik, Woo Hyung-jin, Song Gyeong-tae…”
Smith remembered the names of all the characters except for Hoyeong and Jujeong.
It was because I had met Lee Jin-chan before and was deeply impressed, and the rest of the members were all brilliant young people.
“And then I went to the next bar, then to karaoke… Oh My God. How much did you drink yesterday?”
Forgotten memories came back in a hazy way, and he began to be astonished.
He, too, was a man who prided himself on not being indulged in alcohol anywhere in the United States.
And I was thinking that Hoyoung’s drinking volume would be about the same.
The other day, when Hoyoung and I were working on a masterpiece in the US, I shared a drink with Hoyoung all night.
But he realized it again yesterday.
Ho-yeong at that time was just adjusting the tempo to herself.
jump-
“Smith, are you awake?”
Just then, the door burst open and Hoyeong entered.
“boss! Where is this place?”
“Here you go? It’s my house.”
“Why am I here? I’ve obviously made a hotel reservation…”
Looking at Smith with an absurd expression, Hoyoung laughed.
“You don’t remember anything?”
“ah···. yes···.”
“Yesterday I told you several times to go back to the hotel, but you insisted on having another drink, so you bought some and came to my house.”
Despite Ho-young’s explanation, Smith looked as though he couldn’t remember anything.
“This is the first time I’ve had a blackout since my first drink as a kid.”
“ha ha ha. You ate a lot yesterday.”
“Where are all the others? Am I the only one in this house?”
“no. Let’s all come together and have another drink here. Everyone got up early in the morning and went to work.”
Smith picked up his watch and checked the time, it was 11:00 AM.
He clucked his tongue at Hoyeong and his seniors.
“An acquaintance told me in passing not to bet on drinks with Koreans, but now I know what you mean.”
“ha ha ha. Not all Koreans drink like this. I happened to… There are only people who drink well around me.”
Smith shrugged his shoulders and looked at Hoyoung, who spoke as if it was nothing, and managed to suppress the words ‘Boss is the most monster among them’ from the tip of his chin.
“Anyway, if you’re awake, come out and wash up. You should go to lunch. Smith’s bag is lying next to the bed, and toiletries are in the bathroom, so wash slowly.”
Hoyeong spoke with Hol, then closed the door and left.
Smith only laughed at Hoyeong, who seemed to have no repercussions from yesterday.
.
“good morning···. It is afternoon.”
a few hours later.
Hoyoung and Smith arrived at Hermes Headquarters and sat in front of Kim Joojeong.
In just one day yesterday, the two became very close.
It was a good thing to see for Hoyoung, who believes that good synergy comes from a comfortable relationship.
“Have you had lunch?”
“yes. Today’s boss is sundae soup? I took it home, and the broth was delicious, and it was a warm soup with meat in it.”
“ha ha ha. This is how you felt Korea properly in a few days. Soju goes so well with rice soup.”
“Oh! Soju, I don’t even want to hear about alcohol for a while.”
The three of them chuckled at Smith’s joke.
“Okay, shall we stop joking around and start talking about the things we didn’t talk about yesterday?”
“good.”
When Hoyeong smiled and changed the atmosphere slightly, the two started talking about the ADSL business with serious faces.
“After setting up the ADSL repeater for the first time, it would be of great help if a technician with field experience was dispatched. We also had a lot of trouble when we first introduced ADSL because we didn’t have experienced technicians. Field technicians in particular suffered a lot. I checked each phone line one by one by riding a motorcycle and walking around.”
“Then could you send some field technicians from Korea? If it takes a long time and is about six months after the repeater construction is finished, I think it will be enough time to transfer the technology to the technicians to be hired in the United States.”
“There is nothing wrong with dispatching. But communication is a problem.”
“There was such a problem.”
Smith nodded as if he hadn’t thought of that.
Even though he came to Korea and there was no interpreter, he did not feel any discomfort.
Hoyoung and Miruya were so good at English that they believed they were native speakers, and Kim Joo-jung, Lee Jin-chan, and Kim Jin-taek also did not neglect their English studies, so there was no problem in communication.
So Smith was forgetting the simple fact that Koreans speak English now.
“If that’s the case, how about attaching an interpreter?”
“Realistically, interpretation is impossible. ADSL’s field work is more of an individual work rather than a group work. Everyone has to work separately and from a long distance, and if we attach an interpreter to everyone, the result will be a belly button bigger than a belly. Now, teaching English to workers in Korea is unreasonable…”
The gap between Smith and Kim Joo-jung deepened.
Because they thought that unexpected realistic problems were holding them back.
Then, Hoyeong, who had been listening to their conversation, took a step back.
“senior. What is the ultimate goal of sending field workers to the United States?”
“As you well know, the performance range of ADSL varies depending on the situation of telephone poles and telephone lines. When it was first introduced in Korea, field installers went around the country checking telephone poles and telephone lines.”
“Yes. But the reason we had to do that was because we had no know-how or experience, right?”
“right.”
“Then, instead of sending out technicians to do the same work, why don’t we send out a few middle-management-level people to train them?”
Kim Joo-jung gave a negative answer to Ho-young’s method.
“It’s not that easy. If I thought this would be a simple education, I did it a long time ago. It won’t be easy as you have to check every single pole.”
“Then how about using a camera?”
“camera?”
Kim Joo-jung’s eyes widened at Ho-yeong’s unexpected answer.
“Send middle manager level, conduct basic training, but have field technicians hired in the US go out to the field and take pictures. And I print it so that I can understand what kind of situation it is. Wouldn’t it be difficult to share how to take a picture so that you can get the information you need, and try to understand the situation with that picture?”
“Oh, no. If you take three or four pictures of a telephone pole, nothing is impossible to check.”
“okay?”
Kim Joo-jung replied in a tone mixed with admiration.
“That’s a really good idea. Of course, I took pictures, printed them, and put them back together for each picture to make changes… It can feel complicated, but it’s new feet compared to attaching an interpreter to all the field technicians.”
“If you use a Polaroid camera for photo printing, wouldn’t it be possible to reduce the printing time to one day?”
Kim Joo-jung clapped and clapped.
“It is really a graveyard. Good idea.”
Unlike Kim Joo-jung, who liked it, saying it was a great idea, Ho-yeong was full of regret.
‘Smartphone… No, at least if I had a digital camera, it would have been easier.’
But his regret soon disappeared.
It was none other than Smith who soothed Hoyoung’s disappointment.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I think there is a better way than a Polaroid.”
“What? smith?”
“Have you ever heard of a digital camera?”
Hoyoung couldn’t help but be surprised.
Because Smith said exactly what Hoyeong was thinking.
‘Are you saying there were already digital cameras today?’
Digital cameras were not a field that Hoyoung was usually interested in, and he had never looked for them, so it was natural that he did not know about them.
Smith assumed that Hoyoung’s expression was the first expression he made when holding a digital camera, and continued.
“It is a camera that has not yet been universalized in Korea or even in the United States. A camera designed to take pictures, convert them into digital signals, and send them directly to a computer. The product launched by Kodak last year has been very well received.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“yes. The downside is that the price is very expensive, but in the long run, it will be more than the price of Polaroid film.”
Kim Joo-jung had never heard of a digital camera, but since he was quick-witted, he could understand exactly what the two were talking about.
“Then, would it be all right if we dispatched about three talented managers for a period of one year?”
“I think that should be enough. It is a matter of course, but if the personnel going to be dispatched to the US are at the manager level, we should guarantee them a promotion to the deputy general manager level when they return to Korea, as well as guarantee the dispatch incentives and living expenses.”
“okay. If you want to go with your family, you will have to rent a house to live in.”
“yes. After all, our company’s human resources are no different from assets.”
This was the part that suited Ho-yeong and his seniors, especially Kim Joo-jung, the most.
They knew how to value people.
He did not spare money to raise people, and the salary and incentives that were reasonable for the work were nagging to say the least.
A smile appeared on Smith’s face as he watched Hoyoung and Jujeong talk happily.
To be honest, the positive energy and ability of the two young men, who were no different from sons, delighted Smith.
‘Not only these two, but all the members are full of passion and ability. Certainly, H&H and Hermes will grow into global companies beyond this narrow Korea.’
And at the center of it all is, of course, his boss. Being Hoyoung was so natural.
Could these people have gathered without Hoyeong?
He thought it would never be.
.
.
.
Ten days passed like light.
There were several people at Gimpo Airport to see off Smith as he left.
“smith. When will you come to Korea next time? There are many restaurants I haven’t been to yet.”
“I will make time so that I can definitely come back soon. But is it right to go to a restaurant to eat? I don’t think my liver will be left after a few more days here.”
Smith shuddered as he thought for a moment of the drinking parties that took place almost every night.
“Jinchan sunbaenim and the other members also asked me to tell them that they were really sorry that they couldn’t come out today. Let’s meet next time.”
Regardless of the age difference, Kim Joo-jung seemed really sorry to let Smith go, as if she already had a deep friendship with him.
“me too. It was a very enjoyable time.”
“yes. We will select the best technicians and send them within three months.”
“yes. Thank you very much.”
Hoyoung shouted as he saw the two shaking hands hotly.
“smith! Senior Joo Jeong! I’m leaving the plane at this point. I heard that Smith also stops by the duty free shop.”
“Oops. It was. Then it’s really alright.”
Hoyoung called Smith at the entrance of the departure hall, and Smith barely shook off his disappointment and went out to the departure hall.
“Senior Joo Jeong. I will be back soon this time, so take good care of the company.”
“When have I ever worried you? go carefully You know what if you can’t talk to the Japanese government? Just lay it down.”
“ha ha ha. There’s nothing wrong with talking about it. Anyway, I’ll be back well, so don’t worry and wait.”
Hoyeong greeted Jujeong and went out to the departure hall.
Ho-yeong went with him to listen to Smith say that he would like to travel to Japan for a few days after he had come a long way, but there was also a reason why Ho-yeong went personally because of an important business schedule.
Along with the introduction of ADSL in Japan, Hoyoung reviewed the CDMA proposal he had previously submitted, and replied that he would like to introduce CDMA mobile phones to Japan as well.
“Isn’t this the same as taking over 50% of Japan’s communications system?”
Hoyoung walked out of the departure hall with light steps.
