One of our Korea.net readers visited our offices at the National Museum of Korea on March 28. It was Christopher Rucinski, a 26-year-old man from the U.S.
The visit came after Korea Clickers, Korea.net's official Facebook page, hosted a special event where we invited one of our readers to visit our offices for lunch. It was a chance for one of our non-Korean readers to see what passed for a normal, everyday office lunch, and we thought our cafeteria would be the perfect place to host our guest.
The post was met with an unexpected flow of "Likes" and "Shares". Our Facebook fans seemed quite curious as to what's on the menu for a lunch costing only KRW 3,500.
Some responded that they were surprised by what a great deal it was, compared to more than KRW 6,000 elsewhere in the city.
Meanwhile, other readers posted images of their own lunch, meal photos coming in from many parts of the world.
Among the responders was Christopher Rucinski, a reader interested in our Friday lunch invitation.
It must not have been easy, for sure, to meet people he didn't know, in an unfamiliar location. Paying the visit must have required a lot of courage, we thought. Instead, he said, "Not at all. I am always open to everything."
"An open mind: that's what's needed the most when you face such a different culture than your own." With such an open-minded attitude, Christopher became our first guest for our invitational lunch. He just came to Korea in early March from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
When asked if there was anything so far that he found uncomfortable about living here, he just said, "Nothing."
"Before coming here, I'd stumbled across many things about Korea through YouTube. That's why I think I've not experienced any 'culture shock' here."
In fact, this is the third time for him to visit Korea. The 26-year-old American decided to explore the country all by himself in 2009 after he first got interested in Korean pop music after seeing a series of Korean groups perform at a concert in New York. After two more visits to Korea, he's gotten more and more fascinated with the country itself.
When we asked what most attracted him to the place, he immediately gave this answer: "The beautiful contrast between tradition and modernity, and the kind people."
We gave him a chance to have lunch with us at the cafeteria. Many other workers, standing in the queue for lunch, looked on curious-eyed at the man talking to us in English, not an everyday sight here.
While enjoying lunch, he said, "I am really having fun here. I know that there are always pros and cons to living in other countries, but if someone makes negative comments about Korea, I am ready to argue back."
Working as an instructor at an English language institute in Bupyeong, Incheon, Christopher wants to become a Korean citizen, which is his, "ultimate goal."
Then, as a Korean citizen, he hopes to work as an engineer, utilizing the expertise he gained while majoring in software engineering.
By Lee Seung-ah, Sohn JiAe, Paik Hyun
Korea.net Staff Writers
slee27@korea.kr
The visit came after Korea Clickers, Korea.net's official Facebook page, hosted a special event where we invited one of our readers to visit our offices for lunch. It was a chance for one of our non-Korean readers to see what passed for a normal, everyday office lunch, and we thought our cafeteria would be the perfect place to host our guest.
The post was met with an unexpected flow of "Likes" and "Shares". Our Facebook fans seemed quite curious as to what's on the menu for a lunch costing only KRW 3,500.
Some responded that they were surprised by what a great deal it was, compared to more than KRW 6,000 elsewhere in the city.
Meanwhile, other readers posted images of their own lunch, meal photos coming in from many parts of the world.
Christopher Rucinski, Korea.net's first lunch guest, says that, "I've really gotten into the beautiful contrast between tradition and modernity in Korea." (photo: Wi Tack-whan)
Among the responders was Christopher Rucinski, a reader interested in our Friday lunch invitation.
It must not have been easy, for sure, to meet people he didn't know, in an unfamiliar location. Paying the visit must have required a lot of courage, we thought. Instead, he said, "Not at all. I am always open to everything."
"An open mind: that's what's needed the most when you face such a different culture than your own." With such an open-minded attitude, Christopher became our first guest for our invitational lunch. He just came to Korea in early March from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
When asked if there was anything so far that he found uncomfortable about living here, he just said, "Nothing."
"Before coming here, I'd stumbled across many things about Korea through YouTube. That's why I think I've not experienced any 'culture shock' here."
In fact, this is the third time for him to visit Korea. The 26-year-old American decided to explore the country all by himself in 2009 after he first got interested in Korean pop music after seeing a series of Korean groups perform at a concert in New York. After two more visits to Korea, he's gotten more and more fascinated with the country itself.
When we asked what most attracted him to the place, he immediately gave this answer: "The beautiful contrast between tradition and modernity, and the kind people."
Christopher Rucinski (second from left) has lunch with the Korea.net team in the cafeteria at the National Museum of Korea on March 28. (photo: Wi Tack-whan)
We gave him a chance to have lunch with us at the cafeteria. Many other workers, standing in the queue for lunch, looked on curious-eyed at the man talking to us in English, not an everyday sight here.
While enjoying lunch, he said, "I am really having fun here. I know that there are always pros and cons to living in other countries, but if someone makes negative comments about Korea, I am ready to argue back."
Working as an instructor at an English language institute in Bupyeong, Incheon, Christopher wants to become a Korean citizen, which is his, "ultimate goal."
Then, as a Korean citizen, he hopes to work as an engineer, utilizing the expertise he gained while majoring in software engineering.
Christopher Rucinski (right) talks to Korea.net. (photo: Wi Tack-whan)
By Lee Seung-ah, Sohn JiAe, Paik Hyun
Korea.net Staff Writers
slee27@korea.kr
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