IUFRO Conference - Seoul, Korea (1)

At the end of 2009, a few months after I started my Ph.D, my supervisor Jens had an idea that we should submit an abstract for the upcoming International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) conference in Seoul scheduled for August 2010. The Conference is only once every 5 years and he suggested this idea around December 21st. The Christmas holiday was to start on the 23rd, I was off to Portugal on the 26th, and the abstract deadline was the 31st. SO, it was a busy couple of days and in the end my supervisors refined my initial idea. As such I was not sure what I would be actually writing about until after the New Year.

No matter, the abstract got accepted for a short presentation in one of the technical sessions. The conference started on Sunday August 22nd, and my presentation was in the morning on Friday 27th. What I presented is probably not so interesting to most of you, so I will skip over the boring academic stuff.

When I arrived in Seoul on Sunday the 22nd, it was hot and SUNNY, and that is the last time I saw the sun until I got to Tokyo (a week later!). Seoul was in a rain rain rain rain weather pattern, but as I was in the conference much of the time it was ok.

When I arrived in Seoul Incheon airport I had a bit of a wait for the limosine bus to the conference center area and my hotel - so I stopped in a convenience store and couldn't help but buy this....


















It seems there is a boom in Korea (and Japan too) of stuff at least saying 'Denmark' on it, whether it is FROM DK I have no idea. The yogurt, the coffee drinks, and other stuff. Too funny to pass up.

On the way to my hotel, a 15 min walk with my backpack in 90F+ heat (30C or so), I was struck by how much Seoul is like Tokyo. I had been to Seoul... in 19... well lets just say a LONG time ago, when I was teaching English in Japan after I finished my bachelor. Anyway, when I went to Seoul that time to get my work visa for Japan at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, I had not yet been to Tokyo.

Now after having lived in Tokyo for 2 years I can see how much Seoul has a similar feel to it, hopefully Koreans and Japanese reading this won't be upset. This view from my hotel window while in Korea I think looks a lot like Tokyo too...














Our Korean hosts for the conference out did themselves with a fantastic opening ceremony drawing on rich cultural elements of Korea. The photo below is near the beginning of the ceremony when musicians were playing huge drums in a huge hall with thousands of participants. COEX, the conference center we were at is reportedly the largest in all of Asia.















Later in the ceremony the music was combined with traditional Korean dance. The colors of the outfits and accessories and the graceful movements of the dancers were memorable.














After the opening ceremony art came the business. Various high profile speakers from Korea and abroad made short presentations, including the President of South Korean Lee Myung-Bak, who was actually very interesting to listen to.