Should you go to Korea , Should you do the Imagine Cup

The empathic answer to both of these is YES. Several people have commented that after reading my blog they felt that I did not have a great time in Korea with the Imagine Cup, nothing could be further from the truth. It was great , weird but great, I think any down fall in enjoyment ( and there wasn't much ) was entirely down to lack of preparation on my part and so I have included some thoughts on both the Imagine Cup and visiting Korea.

Advice on the Imagine Cup for Mentors

Prepare that the students will do the unexpected , I spent a week with over enthusiastic , hyper students who were just happy to be in Korea and wanted to explore. The best description I can give of my week with the students is that it was like herding cats in the dark.

I think that the mentors need to plan early with the students on the visit and not leave it to the last minute as well as a clearly defined set of roles as to , who does what.

Engage with your Microsoft ADE , I was fortunate that the UK had a great ADE who was more understanding than he should have been ;)

The one regret I think I have is that we did not organize to do more as a team when we were out, we did go for meals and we did do the organized trips but I think we should have done more.

As for the competition , read the Judging criteria carefully as they Judges are straight and fair, they will stick to the criteria like glue.

Advice on the Imagine Cup for Students

The main thing to do is enjoy yourselves, you need to do all your prep before hand but prepare to have fun , the event will be like nothing else you have experienced ( unless you did a previous imagine cup ).

I think a clear definition between the students , the Mentor and Microsoft as to who is doing what is needed as soon as the team is set to go to the finals and writing it down will help students remember.

Advice on visiting South Korea

Prepare , Prepare , Prepare. Normally when I am visiting a country for the first time I carefully learn enough of both the language ( enough to get around ) and culture before I go.

For reasons of not getting around to it I did not manage any preparation , Jim and Matt learnt a few words on the plane , but for all practical purposes we were ignorant westerners and for that I still feel quite ashamed.

I think the bit I found most shocking in Korea is that I felt functionally illiterate and I did not like the experience. Spend a bit of time learning some written language will not help much but should help you feel better about yourself.

Tip: take a MP3 recorder and get the concierge at the hotel to record "Please take me to " , as an alternative you can use a piece of paper , but with the paper method it took us several tries with Taxi drivers and to get us home which was a bit worrying.

**Top Tip:**Visit the Imperial palaces , they are stunning as is Seoul itself , put aside at least 1/2 a day.

Food was the biggest issue for most of the people, I think trying the local food is important again reading a guide book first should sort out any issues.

b.