Back in the game, now in Seoul, South Korea

I realized, it’s been so long since I stopped posting anything on my blog. People who follow my posts (I learned that there’re several) might have assumed that I’ve been quite busy–Indeed that is correct!

I have moved to Seoul, South Korea, since September last year. I am appointed as a new faculty member at Department of Physics of Korea University, which is one of the nation’s top universities. I was busy mainly for

• Securing fundings for my newly established group
• Building the lab (construction work and buying furnitures)
• Establishing a good theory group culture (open-minded, freely sharing ideas, being responsible, etc.)
• Supervising new students in my group
• Developing semester courses
• Building networks in Korean physics community

Personally, of course, there’s been a lot of challenge to move the country, having the ‘reverse culture shock’. Talking about the difference in cultures, the first challenge was to get used to really fast pace of everything in Korea. This is certainly stressful, but at the same time, you really see things are moving. The society seems quite efficient, and you can easily feel the energy. But this means that I need to find a way to project myself in fast torrents of everything. Still struggling and getting stressed, to be honest.

The second noticeable difference is when it comes to rules. The way people work in Korea is exactly the opposite to the way in Germany. German society works according to rules, whether it is written or not, you should know them and respect them. In Korea, the rules are just words. They exist, but in most non-critical works, there’s grey zone. The best is to ask people. In fact, there is not so much ‘manual’. Korean way might seem quite tough: There isn’t much ‘learning’, but instead, you face it, you do it (a bit like a graduate school education?).

Nowadays, everyday at work is struggle for securing my sacred time for deep thinking, without being a simple task-list-cleaner. I tried several strategies, like do-not-disturb policy during morning hours or the entire Fridays. But admin works are very much like inks that are spreading without noticing. They invade my time and everywhere! So, I remind myself again and again that I must be strong to dedicate enough time for pushing my research projects, developing ideas, and thinking more critically.