Life is Good: Korea

The past month has been all about work for me. I’ve been spending time even during weekends to catch up with the workload I was supposed to do during the workweek (which sucks big time). I guess the luckiest break I’ve had so far was my first ever business trip: I was sent to Korea to assist a client in the negotiation and the signing of an Agreement with some Korean partners. It was a “break” in every sense of the word. It was a big break for me – an opportunity not every associate in a law firm gets to experience. It was also the break I needed from too much monotony and stress I had with work. But at the same time, it broke each and every bone in my body because I had so much to do to prepare for my trip and I had little time to accomplish them. And lastly, it sorta broke my heart, my ego and every bit of confidence I had in me, at least this was the case before the trip. I was scared, mortified even. I absolutely felt I was not ready for opportunities this big. I was the lone lawyer to go to Korea with the client who was heavily relying on me to negotiate and come up with a fair and favorable deal.

On a whole, I think my trip generally went well. We were able to finalize our negotiations and sign the Agreement on schedule. Every time I was asked some Philippine law which I wasn’t sure of, I followed my boss’ advice to just act authoritatively for they don’t know our laws! I was able to create networks in the area and I was able to gain the trust and confidence of the client I was with. My boss acknowledged the hard work I put in all of this and gave a simple reward for it.

The entire business trip was all about, well, business. No time at all for leisure and sightseeing. The only places in Seoul I saw were the offices of our Korean partners and some bars near them. And it was definitely damn tiring. When I got back, I practically slept for two whole days to catch up on sleep. Hopefully, when I go back to Korea, it won’t be all about business anymore but perhaps with a bit of pleasure on the side.