Differences exist not only between the two sexes but everywhere: among colleagues at work, between friends, and further, among the various cultures in this world. It is a truly meaningful effort to have an open mind and make a sincere effort to understand and sympathize with others. This is why the POSCO TJ Foundation invites open-minded brilliant talents across the globe through the POSCO Asia Fellowship program. Today Hello, POSCO blog introduces the story of Aigul Kussaliyeva, a fellow of the POSCO Asia Fellowship program from Kazakhstan. Let’s hear about her experiences of cultural understanding during her weekend trip to Insa-dong and Dongdaemun in Seoul, Korea.

Her Story: Aigul on Korea

I was looking for something that would be very Korean and practical at the same time to give my sister and parents back home in Kazakhstan. My sister was getting married soon, and I wanted to find something meaningful for her. My friend in Korea recommended getting some green tea, but I was still a newbie about Korea – I had been here for just two months – and didn’t know where to go look for it. Luckily, my friend Gun Huh who works at the POSCO TJ Foundation offered to be my guide, and that’s how our date started!

We looked for a place where we could purchase the best gift while getting to experience Korean traditional culture, and Insa-dong was the perfect place to do just that. The weather was pretty hot, but everything was so fun and interesting that we were barely affected by it. The streets were teeming with cultural goods, and we even got to take a picture with a pair of young people in traditional Korean clothes, supporting the preservation of the Korean language. They taught us a lot about Korean language and culture, including the phrase Ari Ari which means “Go for it!” in old Korean.

We stepped inside “Osulloc,” which was a shop full of various kinds of organic tea. After a sniff of the wonderfully tasteful aroma of the green tea leaf, I found myself buying 5 sets of green tea even before I knew what I was doing.

After buying the tea gifts, my friend and I had a lovely time chatting about Korea sipping cool traditional tea. I talked about how joyous and nice Koreans were, especially during drinking parties. There was this one guy who went out of his way to mix up a drink just for me! I think Korea’s unique vibe comes from the intimacy and joyfulness of its people.

After the relaxing tea time, we headed for the Ssamjigil of Insa-dong. One of the things that interested me the most was the wall of letters at a rooftop at Ssamjigil. I was astonished to find out they were letters of love written by lovers who visited the Ssamjigil. Back home at Kazakhstan, people don’t express their love for one another so much. I thought it was very cute and lovely for Koreans to be so affectionate to each other.

[box] About Ssamjigil

(Photo courtesy of Ssamjigil, http://www.ssamzigil.co.kr/)

Ssamjigil was opened to the public on November 18, 2004. It is a road full of cultural goods and merchandise, just like a shopping mall. The unique architecture that connects the first floor to the fourth floor with a single road makes it an attractive place to visit not only for Koreans but also for tourists. The plaza in the center of Ssamjigil is where various exhibitions and plays are held, making it a famous location for cultural experiences, sightseeing and ethnic food. [/box]

His Story: Gun on Kazakhstan

Taking Aigul out to experience Korea together was both fun and challenging. I realized that it doesn’t necessarily mean you know all about your own culture just because you were born and raised in it: you really have to think about the culture and have a deep understanding of the history that formed that culture. Such was the mindset I had when I guided Aigul to Insa-dong.

After our tour of Insa-dong, Aigul offered to introduce me to a little bit of her own culture. She took me to an ethnic restaurant at Dongdaemun that had traditional Russian food. Aigul told me that Kazakhstan is a multi-cultural country home to various unique dishes. The most prevalent are traditional Kazakh and Russian cuisine. It was my first time to try Russian food, and I totally loved it!

One thing I noticed about Russian cuisine was its unique aroma. I learned from Aigul that Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan cuisine share a common aroma. When I asked her for the secret recipe, Aigul happily revealed Ukrop, an annual herb used widely in Russia and Kazakhstan cuisine as a spice. She even gave me some as a gift to use when cooking soup! I was delighted to have had learned something about Aigul’s home country; it made our day a mutually learning experience.

The lady from Kazakhstan and the gentleman from Korea had a meaningful time explaining and experiencing each other’s culture and food. We hope to see more meaningful cultural exchanges in the future through the POSCO Asia Fellowship program!

The first episode of the “POSCO, the Great Company to Work at” series will highlight the POSCO Toastmasters Club.

Toastmasters Club: Onwards to Being a Global Leader!

POSCO provides a supportive and opportune environment for any ambitious employee who is striving to become true global leaders. One of the great ways of training employees is the Toastmasters club. Established in December 2011, the POSCO Toastmasters club is an English speech and leadership club focused on improving employees’ public speaking and organizational skills. The name of the club is used to describe a leader or presenter of a meeting and symbolizes its aim to develop individuals through targeted activities involving communication and leadership. The POSCO Toastmasters club’s regular Wednesday lunch meetings give each member a chance to speak in front of an audience and brings them one step closer to becoming an effective public speaker and leader.  The club is open not limited to POSCO employees; in fact, anybody who aspires to improve their English, verbal communication, and leadership skills are welcome with open arms. Come meet us!

The mission of the POSCO Toastmasters club is to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.

What Makes a Toastmasters Club Special?

The POSCO Toastmasters club’s strength is its program and curriculum. Each member is given a different role to perform every week. These tasks add up and eventually have each member perform more than 8 different practical exercises more than once. As shown in the image below, the club meetings delegate functionary roles following a fixed order:

When a member successfully completes the curriculums outlined below, he/she earns a Competent Communicator (CC) certificate from Toastmasters International to recognize their accomplishements. Additionally, when a member performs various roles, including Toastmaster, Table Topics master, and evaluator; and helps organize the club’s meetings and education procedures, his/her achievements are recognized with the Competent Leader (CL) certificate. The education and leadership opportunities do not stop there, as the CC and CL awardees then proceed to further improve their skills through an Advanced Communicator and Advanced Leadership track.

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Curriculum

#1 The Ice Breaker: The first speech is, of course, about yourself!

#2 Organize Your Speech: Practice making a well-organized, coherent speech

#3 Get to the Point: Learn how to convey the key message by dividing the content into general and specific

#4 How to Say It: Choosing the right words and expressions depending on the nature of the speech

#5 Your Body Speaks: Practice effective gestures and body language

#6 Vocal Variety: Experiment with speech tone, pace, and vocal devices

#7 Research Your Topic: Give a trustworthy speech that has sufficient research and evidence

#8 Get Comfortable with Visual Aids: Practice integrating visual aids for a more effective speech

#9 Persuade with Power: Provide clear and coherent logic to effectively persuade the audience

#10 Inspire Your Audience: The final CC speech to apply all the skills gained in the first 9 projects

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Boost Up Skills with Fun Activities

In the POSCO Toastmasters club, we don’t simply follow the curriculum but also provide room for improvement in abilities through various entertaining team activities. Let’s look at some examples of the fun stuff we have done in our club.

Speech Contests

In order to help overcome nervousness when speaking English and to promote friendship among members, the POSCO Toastmasters club recently held a Humorous Speech contest. The contest provides opportunities for the members to share their personal stories, such as “the scariest moment in my life,” in a fun and playful manner. The winner of the club’s speech contest went on to compete with other Toastmasters clubs’ winners, each delivering their speech with humor and joyful charm.

In addition to Humorous Speech contests, there are other types of exciting challenges. This includes the International Speech contest. This particular contest is held once every year and provides a great opportunity to share experiences, improve communication abilities, and develop speech delivery skills while overcoming the fear of speaking in front of a large audience. Winners of our club contest, such as Mr. Jaekyung Park or Ms. Anna Kim, went on to compete at the Area (4 clubs) and Division (more than 15 clubs) level speech contests. Mr. Park won the challenge with the topic of “What are the factors that Korea is globally known for?”

The club not only helps to master English skills, but also creates an environment to meet new people through auction events, skating, picnic at Han River, and other fun activities!

What Team Members Say

Igor: “Time is limited; opportunities are unlimited”

Hi! I was raised in Ukraine and came to Korea in 2008 when I was twenty-one years old. I received a Master’s degree in POSTECH and joined POSCO’s Investment team in 2010. My undergraduate and graduate majors were in metallurgy, and like most engineers, I had problems with public speaking and leadership. While looking for opportunities to develop my speaking and leadership skills, I met Mr. Jaekyung Park who had just returned from Hong Kong with an idea to establish a speech and leadership club called Toastmasters. I have been inspired by his vision, and helped establish POSCO Toastmasters, eventually taking a lead as a club president.

Every Toastmasters meeting is a great opportunity to meet new people, overcome the fear of public speaking, and train task solving skills by taking on leadership roles. The key difference from other clubs is that in Toastmasters I get to receive honest and unbiased feedback from fellow members, so I know what to work on next time. All of my friends and coworkers noticed that I have become more confident about speaking in front of an audience. I can now deliver quality presentations and speeches with ease. In addition to improvements in my speaking skills, I feel like I became better at managing tasks and social connections. I served as an officer in POSCO Toastmasters and organized various events such as speech contests and conferences. I feel that my experience in the Toastmasters club has aided in my promotion to the manager level. Toastmasters is unique because it is a global network of clubs with very motivated and talented people. Your future path is not limited within the boundaries of the club: if you become a skilled speaker, you get to take part in speech contests where you can advance up to the International Speech Contest in the USA. To become a strong leader, you need to take on many leadership challenges and serve as a club, area, division or even district officer, helping others in establishing their own success stories.

Anna: “Inspire yourself through public speaking!”

Hello everyone, my name is Anna Kim from Uzbekistan and I joined POSCO in October 2010. Currently, I am working in the Steel Investments and Technology Planning Department. I have been one of the founding members of POSCO Toastmasters and the vice president of public relations since December of 2011. First of all, by being a member of this club you can improve your English public speaking skills. Furthermore, you can develop leadership qualities by organizing speech contests and events. Finally, you get to meet a wide range of people with various backgrounds and experiences. It is a great opportunity to expand your network and enjoy inspiring and informative speeches.

Yevgeniya, ”Training to become a Global Leader while building a unique network!”

Hi there, I’m Yevgeniya Li from Kazakhstan. In 2010 I got a scholarship from POSCO TJ Park Foundation, and after graduating from Yonsei Graduate School of International Studies, I’ve joined POSCO in October 2012. I am also an active member of the POSCO Toastmasters club, taking a position of the vice president education from July 1^st. The club is great because it is not simply about practicing English and public speaking skills; the club gives its members a great opportunity to become an effective communicator through professional guidelines, training material, and peer evaluation. The weekly meetings help to develop a wide range of crucial skills including leadership, time management, critical thinking, and impromptu conversation. Members are not limited within the boundaries of POSCO, so you get to build a unique, expansive network. And besides, the club is always a lot of fun!

Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/poscotm

Website: http://posco.toastmastersclubs.org/

Can you feel the enthusiasm and ambition of POSCO employees to become global leaders? The “POSCO, Great Company to Work” series will continue to introduce many other exciting opportunities that the company offers to its employees. Stay tuned!