Report: Board of Directors Meeting in Galway, Ireland

Monday, May 13th

The previous day was such a long day trip from Korea to Ireland. 15 hours flight to Dublin, and then 3 hour coach to Galway. Totally exhausted, but greeted with big smile of board members who got there earlier that day. The morning started with WCI members talking about values each club represents. Maria Fernanda Arduino, the President, started with her own. 'home'. Other members brought 'diversity, instigator, relationship, friendship, family, giving and educations. I was going to say 'education', but Janet from Denver hit it first. After that we talked about WCI's initiative: Educating women and shared the importance of incorporating our initiative with other programs like UN ECOSOC. $50 annual due issue was brought up again and most members were against raising the dues since WCI 's purpose if to build up the network through out the world and some African  and developing countries would have a hard time paying the dues. Besides, raising 25 dollars wouldn't cover the website expenses. we talked about 10 lenses through which we can view culture, so called 10 dimensions of cultural intelligence <Achievement, Time, Social norms, Rules and Fairness, Expressiveness, Authority, Risk, Communication, Identity, Purpose>  and had a round table discussion. 

After the lunch break, Mr. Buz Carpenter gave us the lecture "Innovation- the Challenge of Changing Times". He flew some of the most incredible aircraft ever developed with over 4,400 jet flight hours and holds the record as the fastest 'air-breathing manned aircraft'. After serving as Vice Commander of the 2nd air Force, he is currently a Docent at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. 

For an hour we had an outgoing WCI Executive Committee Meeting and were headed for the famous Kings Head Pub which has a very long story attached to it. They had a marvelous clam chowder and lovely dish as well.  

Tuesday, May 14th

Meeting started with the discussion on emotional intelligence that leads to cultural intelligence  which has about 5 traits <self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, social skill and lifelong learning and openness>. Such an innovative session we had. After the coffee break, Country Report  was held and 12 representatives reported what's been achieved and what kind of challenges they currently face. After that  Dr. Jungsook Kim made a presentation on International Council of Women, the history and so on, and also explained what having consultative status in UN means in a crystal clear manner. As a Korean, I felt really proud to watch her speak so elegantly. 

Mr. William Henry gave us the historical background of Galway which helped us understand the area better. He is the author of some 17 books about Ireland and writes a weekly column titled 'Talking History' in the Galway Independent newspaper. 

After the lecture, some took a rest and the incoming WCI Executive Committee members had a meeting with the President-elect Kim Riedel. 

The bus arrived around 6:30 and took us to Corrib Princess River Cruise which departed Woodquay in the heart of Galway City and followed the trail of fearsome Viking invaders and Victorian steamboats alike along eh majestic River Corrib in Galway. The Corrib is Ireland's largest lake and UNESCO-designated wetland. We're so happy to listen to Dr. Jungook Kim's 'Danny Boy' on the boat and Dr. Younsoon Lee and myself joined her singing Arirang. People applauded. The dinner was served around 8pm and it was still very light. That was also the beauty of being in Europe. 

Wednesday, May 15th 

From early in the morning, we visited Cnoc Suain and listened to the historical background of Irish people. On our way back to the hotel we made a stop en-route at Spiddal Craft Center in Connemara at the edge of the Atlantic and enjoyed browsing through the small shops. 

Thursday,  May 16th

We travelled to the Burren National Park. It is almost 1500 hectares of uplands in the southeast of the Burren. It is owned and managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The area contains excellent examples of limestone pavement, calcareous grassland, hazel scrub, turloughs and fen. Out of all those things,  Cliffs of Moher was really something. Absolutely marvelous!