Week 3 of POSCO

Days 19-22.  As our work continues, we've begun going to the lovely company gym :)  POSCO is very concerned about the health of its employees and its impact on the environment, regularly encouraging people to take the stairs and using renewable energy.  Each of the stairwells is beautifully painted, with a different theme on each floor, from the evolution of steel working on the first floor to space travel on the 8th floor, where I work (I prefer this stairwell for its floor-to-ceiling windows).  Interestingly, each floor also tallies how many calories you've burned by climbing each flight of stairs.  So, when I take a break from sitting in my nice, soft work chair to walk up and down 8 flights of stairs, I have burned a little more than 25 Calories!  Makes my mid-afternoon snack seem a lot more damaging, doesn't it?  As a result, I ran on the treadmill, but 3 days and I'm already treadmilled out.  I much prefer the outside, covering real distance.

Speaking of the outside, one of my favorite images in POSCO is the occasional painting of a fat man walking next to a small tree.  An arrow points to a thin man walking next to a big tree, and the caption says, "Your walking can make something bigger and smaller."  It showcases the possibility and can-do spirit of POSCO, in English.  POSCO is already established in China and India with offices in Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and the Czech Republic, making it a truly global company. 

It's hard to believe that our time at POSCO is already halfway over.  It feels like we're just beginning to be used to working here.  The work ethic at POSCO is also very interesting.  Koreans both work hard and party hard, if the tales of our mentors and supervisors going out to drink is any indication!  Typically, employees will arrive sometime between 8:00am and 9:00am, leaving sometime after 6:00pm.  Breakfast is available between 7:30am and 8:30am, so I think some people are at their desks around then.  However, people get up to drink tea or coffee once or twice during the day, and spend time relaxing during the lunch hour.  The schedules are laid back, but their concentration throughout the day still seems very high.

This is mirrored by the uniformed high school students we sometimes see, riding the 10:00pm bus home from after-school classes and activities.  Education is valued highly in Korea, and university is seen as a prerequisite to a good life.  Most of the engineers and researchers (if not all) have their Ph.D. degree, or are working towards one.  I find it interesting that school and discipline are so emphasized, as opposed to focus on outside projects.  On the other hand, computer gaming is seen as a sport in Korea, with the top players of StarCraft earning salaries as professionals. 

Again, we're not allowed photographs inside POSCO for security reasons, so no photos of the beauty within.  I did take a photo from outside POSCO, though.  I realized this week (yes, I am slow) that out of my 8th floor window at work, I can see my own dorm room.  My dorm window returned the favor today.  From the view, you can see the building where I work, some of the lovely and well-cared for POSCO grounds, the coastline and the edges of Student Housings B (left side) and A (right side).

The real view from my window, fog included.

I also took some photos of the view behind Student Housing A.  Stitched into a panorama:

Like so many of my photos, this one does not fully display the beauty of Incheon at night.

And one of the walkway behind Student Housing A.

The series of lights, blue here, change color every few minutes.  Once, I even saw it rainbow-patterned.

 That's it for this week.  Onto the weekend!