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    Seoul Man: A Memoir of Cars, Culture, Crisis, and Unexpected Hilarity Inside a Korean Corporate Titan
    Unavailable
    Seoul Man: A Memoir of Cars, Culture, Crisis, and Unexpected Hilarity Inside a Korean Corporate Titan
    Unavailable
    Seoul Man: A Memoir of Cars, Culture, Crisis, and Unexpected Hilarity Inside a Korean Corporate Titan
    Ebook363 pages7 hours

    Seoul Man: A Memoir of Cars, Culture, Crisis, and Unexpected Hilarity Inside a Korean Corporate Titan

    By Frank Ahrens

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Recounting his three years in Korea, the highest-ranking non-Korean executive at Hyundai sheds light on a business culture very few Western journalists ever experience, in this revealing, moving, and hilarious memoir.

    When Frank Ahrens, a middle-aged bachelor and eighteen-year veteran at the Washington Post, fell in love with a diplomat, his life changed dramatically. Following his new bride to her first appointment in Seoul, South Korea, Frank traded the newsroom for a corporate suite, becoming director of global communications at Hyundai Motors. In a land whose population is 97 percent Korean, he was one of fewer than ten non-Koreans at a company headquarters of thousands of employees.

    For the next three years, Frank traveled to auto shows and press conferences around the world, pitching Hyundai to former colleagues while trying to navigate cultural differences at home and at work. While his appreciation for absurdity enabled him to laugh his way through many awkward encounters, his job began to take a toll on his marriage and family. Eventually he became a vice president—the highest-ranking non-Korean at Hyundai headquarters.

    Filled with unique insights and told in his engaging, humorous voice, Seoul Man sheds light on a culture few Westerners know, and is a delightfully funny and heartwarming adventure for anyone who has ever felt like a fish out of water—all of us.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateAug 16, 2016
    ISBN9780062405265
    Unavailable
    Seoul Man: A Memoir of Cars, Culture, Crisis, and Unexpected Hilarity Inside a Korean Corporate Titan

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    • 4/5
      Very interesting book, a mix of life in Korea, the problems of being an expat and the situation of Hyundai. A little too positive on the side of Korea: it's such an oppressive society that young people with advanced degrees are accepting menial jobs in American farms just to get some breathing space and freedom. Also, lots of First World rich people's problems: it feels like the couple wanted to keep the cake and eat it too, especially the wife, who as a Christian, should have known better. To start a family with kids and an international career with an expat spouse is totally unreasonable. Glad that she decided to focus on raising her babies. Anyways, recommended reading.