This week's tête-à-tête is with South Korean Byong-Guk Park and his wife Gee Ai Kang over a delectable homemade Korean meal of Doenjang-guk (bean and tofu soup), Daggogi Nangcha (chicken with vegetables, sea-weed and mustard sauce), Japcha (noodles) and Kimchi (Chinese cabbage and mixed vegetables).
Byong-Guk is pursuing a Post-doc at SMI (Systems and Materials for Information Storage) part of MESA+ research institute at the UT. He explains his project, `We are trying to make a device in which electron 'spin' can be generated and detected; conventional electronics devices use only the charge properties of electrons. Exploiting the 'spin' properties of electrons is a relatively new research field - it has been studied for less than 15 years and is called spintronics/magnetoelectronics. However, its short history has not deterred application. The first application has been the read head in hard disk drive most of us have in our computers. It is the first spintronic device and it has increased the capacity of the hard disk drive dramatically.'
After completing his PhD from the Material Science and Engineering department of KAIST University, South Korea, Byong-Guk decided to spend some time in Europe. Why the UT? He answers, `I had read some papers published by the UT and also a friend recommended it. I must say that UT made things easy for me because I was able to bring Gee Ai with me. One of my friends is living away from his wife - I would not want to be in his shoes!'
The couple is expecting their first child. Gee Ai exclaims, `My baby has started to kick me! I am delighted but a little apprehensive too because in Korea the delivery takes place in a hospital. A mid-wife will be assisting me here and I keep wondering what that will be like. It seems so strange. The first three months were awful because I used to be sick, craved Korean food and really missed my mother. It's a blessing that she will be coming in May.'
Gee Ai has a Master's degree in Chinese Literature and used to work as a private tutor before she came here. Didn't she get bored when she came here initially? She says, `Not really, I used to be very busy in Korea. I did not have much time to enjoy life.' Byong-Guk concurs, `In Korea people work very long hours. As a PhD student, I used to work till eleven almost everyday. It was the same for my friends working in the industry. Home becomes just a place to sleep. That is why I like it here. After six in the evening, people simply stop working!'
So what else does the couple appreciate most about the Netherlands? Gee Ai answers instantly, `People here are very individualistic ...it is radically different from our culture. We are not raised like that. An extremely important aspect of our decision-making process is what other people will make of our actions. `
Name: Byong-Guk Park
Hometown: Daejeon, South Korea
Languages: Korean, English
Favorite food: Calbi (beef with soy sauce)
Favorite movie: `Entrapment'
Favorite music: Gospel
Favorite sport: Soccer
Best part of living in NL: friendliness of the Dutch people
Worst part of living in NL: `The paperwork is in Dutch.'
Name: Gee Ai Kang
Hometown: Deleon, South Korea
Language: Korean, English, Chinese
Favorite food: Bibimbab (Rice with vegetables, eggs, onion and hot pepper sauce)
Favorite movie: `Brave Heart'
Favorite music: Gospel, Western Classical
Favorite hobbies : Playing the flute, piano
Best part of living in NL: Individualistic attitude of people
Worst part of living in NL: The weather in the winter
DT
Geej Ai Kang and Byong-Guk Park sit down to a homemade Korean meal.
