Seven years and one month. This is the duration of my stay at Siemens. I joined Siemens Ultrasound Group Korea (SUGK) on October 1, 2002. Official division name now is Siemens Ultrasound Systems Korea (SUSKO) since October 2007. Beginning 86th month, I added some old shots for Flickr to recall unforgettable memory so far. (Those shots remind me that so many colleagues left Siemens, too)

Note switchover completed by spending considerable amount of time in transcribing action items undone in the year of 2008 from handy paper bound note in white color to small ring binder wrapped with leather folder.

I don't believe in jinx. However, recollecting memories of over the last ten years, I was on right track with that small ring binder whenever I challenged something; getting an admission to Ph.D. course in USA, passing KOV screening, and joining Siemens. It stayed six years inside a carton at home. Then, January 2009 welcomed it again.

That's one of graduation presents from one of best friends. That's, at the same time, the only thing still available with me out of what I got from friends.

Precious and luck bearing object it is!

Let me summarize what I have done in 2008 to reflect what I have done well or wrongly, expect this year's outcome based on this reflection, and feed myself back toward additional and continual challenges which I will devote myself to this year. I might miss several events or happening to put on this post, though. I don't care because here is blog space where I can show whatever as they are. Let me make up those missing items next time or mention them in connection with future 2009's blog posts!

Well done

Japanese learning: I completed six months beginner's dialog courses beginning Japanese character writing in Hiragana and Katakana. I marked attendance ratio by 100%. Monthly step wise test scores marked high (sometimes great!) enough for me to move on to the next grade. I failed in accomplishing seventh class owing to yearend drinking session and personal affairs. However, I came to know how and what to study next. I've just got back from Japanese Chinese character lecture (Kanji). Good student, Hyok!

Blogging: Settlement in nexcess.net March enabled stable operations in running Movable Type with satisfactory quality of service that I wanted from a web hosting service. I got accustomed to manipulating movable type at my disposal. Apart from technical attainment for blogging, I posted 80 articles on this blog with topics ranging from blogging, voluntary services, donations, almanac to trace back important events in the future, meditations, and so on. In sum, stability made me concentrate on article contents itself without time consuming relocation from one hosting service to the others.

Office affairs: Insight, logical thinking, how to make a decision, how to assist manager's decision as a reporter; these are what I attained and got to understand as a company employee as well as a quality assurance engineer in practice not in theory. I will not leave more about this matter because disclosing details on what I have done 2008 at office can be violation of information security guideline at Siemens :-) Anyway, well done, too!

Friendship: There was no dramatic advance in the number of friends that I kept in touch with. My mobile phone now holds nearly 150 phone numbers with around 30 frequent contacts. Adding, modifying, and deleting contact information all through 2008 finally ended with that figure showing the same status in 2007. We say, "Making a foe is easy, however, keeping friendship is far more difficult." In this regard, I succeeded in doing so at the high expense of drinking day time after trekking and night time after work! :-)

Failure, undone, and/or done wrongly

Exams and tests: I marked worst grades and lower points in tests and examinations than I expected while preparation. I have nothing to excuse about the result though I have something. Let me take them as they were. Test is a glass clear transparent to all takers at test date; whoever got a good luck in marking only correct answers from random picking, whoever outperformed without in-depth preparation, whoever suffered from lower health condition even with fullest knowledge, and whoever.

Book keeping: Beginning 2008, one of my resolutions was to keep a book to make cash flows visible and tangible. However, I DID NOT (not "could not") with two excuses; one was because I was lazy (a little understandable) and other was because I could not find appropriate electronic double entry booking application (nerdy am I). GNU cash is now available at my hand. It's clear what I have to do in 2009.

Diary keeping: It's also from my laziness. The last diary article appeared at September 16. I have nothing more to say about this.

Roadmap establishment: Regardless of this summary of 2008, this is never ending task while I am alive. At this moment, I have no direction to approach, no clear picture about who I am and what I have (not financial meaning but potential standpoint), and no roadmap toward my future life as a result. The roadmap that I had established upon university entry made me who I was as of 2002 when I joined Siemens whereas there had been so many successes and failures altogether against short term plans in the middle of chasing the clear ward. Who I am and what I have now are, of course, dramatically far from what I had imagined. Nevertheless, that roadmap always played a critical role and mirror in spurring me whenever I became lazy and gauging whether I was deviated from proper track or not. What shall I have to follow this year? :-(

Snowfall (turned into rain late night, though) welcomed all the employees from Siemens Ltd. Seoul (SLS) at the porch of hotel. Everybody became gregarious with colleagues over beverages and cocktails right before being seated in grand hall. Situated geographically apart from SLS headquarter all through this year, I could have a chance to meet whoever I could not keep in touch.

Dinner was so full of good touch by hotel and organizer that we could enjoy meal serve with delicate flavor represented both in recipe and table arrangement. After going through routinely formal processes like speech, toast, and the like, we could slip down to gorgeous performances rendered by three groups one by one; The first was, so called, sand animation, the second was a capella, and the last one was wind instrument play. Even though I could not understand the delicacy from them in depth, one thing sure was that they made me and all attendees enthusiastic upon their shows. Dance performance prepared by the employees was another big hit.

Lucky draw kept us stalled along the table as it did every year :) As is often the case, my patience turned out to be in vain because nothing happened to me. Several (perhaps more in team or division base) groups of people organized informal party around the venue. This party-after-party ultimately closed Siemens's calendar year.

So, what will await me during the year of 2007 at Siemens? It's up to between me and Siemens, though. What you can do is to share joy of the party with me by browsing photos from here. Enchanting Video clips will be available at your hand upon request. However, I will not post them to abide by copyright tips by YouTube.

Name tag below is an admission ticket for the year end party 2006 by Siemens Ltd. Seoul. Unfortunately, I could not attend there due to important task in Asan. I sat up to eleven from six p.m., then returned back to home in a couple of hours. This year was full of challenge both in duties from SUGK (workplace) and toward life planning. Christmas and new year are coming, however, many things still get undone. On the other hand, those undone things must be done by mid January. Prioritization process in my brain is messy. :( One thing clear is that everthing will have been done at the end of this year regardless of its performance; good or bad and pass or fail.

Revival of Egyptian child mummy; for more details on "2006 Visualization Challenge Winners", click this link.

Now, photo taken with Dr. Kleinfeld is available at my hand. Meeting (called "meeting with young potentials") participants include young employees and president and vice president of Siemens Ltd. Seoul. The second from the left of the second row is me.

이름하야 KINS 타워. 아래 사진에서와 같이 그럴 듯한 뜻을 가지고 있음. 빌딩에 대한 자세한 정보는 요기에~~~

주변 사진은 여기를 보3

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Siemens Medical R&D Center under Siemens Ltd. Seoul recently relocated to KINS tower with the support from SeongNam Industry Promotion Foundation, as a part of Foreign Direct Investment Program. Photos below show the meaning of KINS and building outlook, respectively.

Lookup more photo shots from here

It was held on Children's day of May 5, 2005. All the SLS employee and their family members got together to celebrate the day with lovely weather. Look up photo shots from here. One of the highlight was the performance by Koyote famous dance group in Korea.