(continued from the introduction part of my previous post...)
Few days later, I called Mr. Woodman, and through the phone, he wanted to buy me a dinner. I was looking forward to meeting him in person, only until I found out that where he chose for dinner is a Japanese restaurant for busy office workers. Maybe I was expecting something, more special...
We met, and talked about the incident. However, he was not the person who I was expecting to meet. Because of what he did to my shirt, I was hard on him; actually, he was polite and able to communicate. Eating a rice ball stiffed with a tuna can, I complaint about my student life that I even have no time to eat breakfast, and that usually drink a cup of orange juice for breakfast to save my time for undone homework. After some chatting, I stared to ask some questions to him.
I : Mr. Woodman, why did you come to Korea? Is it for another trade?
Woodman : Yes, I came to Korea to continue my investigation. Actually, at the first time, I didn't think Korea was a nice place to keep myself busy. Unlike China, the population here is quite small; unlike Nepal, there is no particular item that Korea is very famous for; also, unlike any other places in earth, it is the country where the war is still continuing. Regarding all these inputs, I thought Korea had no potential for me to investigate. Nevertheless, the reason why I came here is because I wanted to challenge myself. According to the newspapers, Korea is called a grave of multi-national corporation. WalMart, Google, and other international companies failed to occupy Korean market. Korean market is also famous for its adaptability; Koreans easily absorb new items and cultures compared to other citizens. So I bought some unique items to sell in Korea from other countries, and will buy some appealing item to sell it to the rest of the world.
I : What did you bring here to sell it to Koreans? What items are you expecting to find here?
Woodman : Before telling you anything else, I want to inform you the procedures that I went through to find a suitable product for me to sell. I skimmed through some important researches about Korean market broadly, and found out some significant characteristics of the unique Korean consumer market. First, sales of luxury goods aren't influenced by the state of economy. Usually, when economy drops in recession, the sales of luxury goods decrease sharply, but in Korea, the common sense never works. Second, the market is very fashion-conscious. When a specific item becomes an 'it-item', it is natural for all Koreans to have that item in their place. Therefore, according to these meaningful information, I figured out that the item that I will be able to sell in Korea will be a luxury it-item. Recently, Koreans seems to be fascinated by the Arabican coffee. Koreans usually drink processed coffee or instant coffee; instant coffee is made out of 2% of Robusta coffee bean extract and 98% of other stuff such as sugar or forgery cream. Nowadays, people want "real" coffee; Koreans want fresh Arabican coffee beans which is less than a week old after roasting. So, I brought Kenya's qualified coffee beans from one of the small scale farms to sell them with a special price. The beans are qualified by the Kenyan government, and grown without any harmful pesticides. The beans are also attractive because they are not made by a massive coffee farm which will be more reasonable to call it a factory. I hope my coffee beans get a favorable reaction from Koreans.
- And about items to buy here, I am not sure about it. Though, I am thinking about something very Korean such as Korean roof tile or Korean floor heating system. However, roof tiles cost more than a price of themselves for delivery, and floor heating system is useless to other countries whose residents don't lie on floors. Hey, wait a second. You are a Korean! Give me some advice.
I : Well, I guess electronic devices are quite nice here. But they are difficult to sell in other countries. Rather than buying a good here, how about earning money like you did in Japan?
Woodman : Japan is the number one country of fish transaction, so I think it was meaningful enough to know how fisherman works and how fish transaction works in Japan, even though I earned less than a dollar for one and an half day of hard working. If I find something worth my time, I will do anything like I did in Japan. Oh, I can tell that you read my book! Did you find it interesting?
I : Of course, I did. I couldn't let my book leave my sight until I finished the book. It was captivating, alluring and gorgeous! After scrutinizing the book, I decided to live an adventurous life. Actually, my future dream was to be a busy market analyst or fund manager. Can I ask you the reason why you quit your job as an market analyst?
Woodman : When I was a kid, I wanted to be the part of the busy London Stock Exchange. Lots of people, a large number of companies, an astronomical amount of money. It was my dream to be involved in that world. However, after I graduated from Manchester university and got a job, I found out that being a market analyst is such a tiring job. When the good-morning alarm from my phone rings, I wake up on my desk with my arm gone numb; I turn on the computer and wipe off my fluid from the keyboard that I drooled last night. Then I figure out that a brand new binder is on my desk. I mechanically grab the binder, open it, and read it through my inflamed eye. I type, type, and type. I glare at the screen and put my brain back to work to find any fluctuation or incident that happened in the market in every minute. When the co-workers seems to get up from their seats, I fall asleep again. This procedure was my everyday life. And one day, I thought, what am I doing now? I wasn't born to work like a slave. I am qualified to live a wonderful life. Why not do what I want? I stomped out of my seat, and started to plan my new life. In a nutshell, let's say that I was tired of my everyday life.
I : So what would be the most terrible life for you?
Woodman : As I said previously, sitting on a solid chair typing something thoughtlessly like a robot will be the worst life for me. I heard that most of the students in Korea wants to be a government employee. I want to arouse their human nature. I want to make them to get into an adventure that nobody have tried! I want to shout to them, don't be a chicken, it's your only life!
I : Wow, that was quite straightforward. Thank you for your advice. By the way, when I bought your book in the bookstore, I bought another book named Justice. It was based on professor Michael Sandel's lecture, and I found it very interesting. The very first chapter includes a relationship between market price and justice. What do you think about justice? As a tradesman, do you think an act of selling a bottle of water for $30 after a category 5 hurricane hit the place can be justified?
Woodman : I think I will read the book right away! Even though I didn't have time to read Justice, I believe it's a serious problem to solve-the problem between market and justice. If you ask for my opinion, I'll say if it was for a bottle of water, which is crucial for a human being to live, it cannot be justified. However, if it was for optional goods or services, I'd rather say it is justifiable. Suppose that you are a tradespeople who lives in London. One day, you found out a hurricane went through Edinburgh. The supply of new trees to plant on roadsides are needed, but the government won't let you get more price than what you've got until now. Then, there is no incentive to go from London to Edinburgh. On the other hand, when you are allowed to sell trees without any limit on price, you will be willing to go to Edinburgh to sell trees. Because people want more goods, price goes up. The price that went up attracts producers to produce more of the goods. It's the basic principle of economics that you cannot pass over. However, without a regulation of government, human rights are likely to be ignored. So for the necessities, it is right for the government to regulate prices. I wonder what professor wrote in his book.
I : He did point out what you said. Oops, it's already 7 O' clock! Then I should make this my last question. Why were you interested in Economics in the first place? Do you have any advice to give to students who want to major in Economics?
Woodman : Economics is slightly boring when you only learn about principles and rules of economics. However, when it comes to application, Economics has the most potential. Every single thing in earth is related to Economics. Why did you only drink a cup of orange juice for today's breakfast? It's because you had to do other things such as taking a shower or doing your homework for the rest of the time. The choice you made is deeply related to Economics. Because your time is limited, you have to make a choice. The scarcity of resource is the basic principle of economics. To add, if you look the world around you carefully, you will figure out that Economics is always with you. And to students who want to major in economics : don't tie yourself up to the textbook. The world is there for you.
I : Thank you Mr. Woodman! It was very nice to meet you in face. The dinner didn't fit our conversation, but I enjoyed it a lot. You'll do great on your trade in Korea. Thank you again, and I hope I could meet you again somewhere!
Woodman : Of course, you will meet me somewhere in the world when you travel around the world like I do. I think I was bit silly this morning; I was totally worried about my coffee beans after getting a call from the delivery service center. Thank you for your mercy, and have a wonderful day!
2011년 9월 13일 화요일
2011년 9월 5일 월요일
Brainstorming : Who do I want to have dinner with-Conor Woodman
FYI : CONOR WOODMAN IS COMING TO KOREA!
BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Who? Conor Woodman
What? ran into him / ate dinner with him
When? the day before my 16th birthday
Where? at the subway / in the small public Japanese restaurant called 'Onigiriwa Igyudong'
Why? in accident / he spilled his coffee on my back
WHO IS CONOR WOODMAN?
- famous for the documentary/book, <Around the World in 80 Trades>
- former city(market) analyst
- interviews
WHY DO I WANT TO MEET HIM?
When I was in the middle school, I wanted to major in Economics to be a fabulous fund manager. However, my interests changed, and after all, I didn't want to know any principles and laws about the economy. One day, I found the book named Around the World in 80 Trades in my shelf, and started to read the book. It was fantastic; even though I do not enjoy reading non fiction books, I finished to read the book in a day.
The book and the author of the book, Conor Woodman, changed my entire life. I planned to major in Economics again, and my life dream is to travel all around the world to trade like Conor Woodman.
There are lots of questions that I want to ask him, and I want him to give me some advice.
To say the truth, his looks nice.
SITUATION
It will be impossible to remove a memory of September 1st, 2010 during my lifetime.
It was the day before my birthday; it was my precious birthday-eve and something special had to happen. Maybe I would run into my favorite celebrity Junsu Kim in the way going to somewhere. Maybe one of my old friends would call me by chance without knowing my phone number. Maybe I would be the winner to get a cup of pistachio ice cream in Baskin-Robbins. When I was daydreaming like this while I was brushing my teeth gently, my phone rang.
Yes, it should be the number two case! I answered the phone with a big smile, but, guess what, it was a urging call from a video rental shop threatening me that I should return the Cars DVD today or pay three thousand won tomorrow. Something was going wrong. I would have expected this.
However, I got another call, and thankfully it was my best friend who called. Even though I clearly knew that she got informed about my birthday by the text message that I sent secretly removing a sender number to all of my close friends two days ago, I was happy enough to listen to her voice through the phone. We made a firm promise to meet in Myeongdong station after an hour, so I ran to the subway as quickly as I can.
When I was running up the stairs to get on the subway at 2 in the afternoon where there are no people at all which means that it is almost near zero percent possibility to run into someone, a person spilled a terribly hot cup of coffee on my back. In the first place, it was so strange that he actually spilled it on my back. Also, because the person tried to get the cup by stretching his arms to my right shoulder, the incident got much worse; the left liquid in the cup teemed to my arms as if they were heavy raindrops and flowed to my hand. I got my right arm and hand burned, which meant that I absolutely screwed up an appointment with my best pal. There was nothing that I can do except bawl him out for his blunder.
Me : So what are you going to do now? Throw a cup of ice to me?
Woodman : Oh, I am really sorry to see my coffee on your shirt. Now, you owe me five thousand four hundred and twenty won, which is the amount of money I paid for my Café Breve excluding the discount with my Shinhan card. Oh, and because I am kind of busy now, say thanks to me later for me to include the discount with my card.
Me : What? What the hell are you saying? Are you insane? You spilled your crazy hot coffee on my back, you made the situation worse by stretching out your damn flexible arm, and now, you want me to pay for your new cup of coffee! Do you know who my uncle is? He is a fabulous lawyer! You absolutely look like I-wanna-be-sued-for-this! Don’t you think so?
Woodman : ……. Actually, I guess I was kidding. I’ll give you my business card. Contact me later.
The person ran away from me after throwing his contact information to my side. I tried to catch him, but it was impossible: he had a speed of Usain Bolt. I picked up the contact card of his, and read it off. It was written, “Conor Woodman, the investor of the world”.
WHAT I WANT TO ASK
- Why did you come to Korea?
- I want to major in Economics. Based on your experiences in University of Manchester, do you have any advice to give to students like me?
- What do you want to buy/sell in Korea?
- Why did you quit your job as an market analyst?
- What do you think about 'Justice'? Do you think selling a bottle of water for $30 after a category 5 hurricane hit the place can be justified?
- What do you think about brokers?
- In your book, many different kind of your friends helped you through the travel. How do you feel about getting help from friends?
- What will be the most terrible life to you?
- Why were you interested in Economics in the first place? Why did you major in Economics?
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