Andy West, Head Of Communications

In addition to being a crucial part of the squad's preparation for the new season, the Club's trip to South Korea is also a busy time off the pitch.

Since arriving in Seoul on Tuesday evening we have been busy with a wide range of activities, starting in the arrivals hall at the airport where a scrum of local media men were waiting to greet the travelling party.

Obviously Seol Ki-Hyeon is a huge star here, but Kevin Doyle is also extremely popular and can be seen gracing the front cover of a local sports magazine. Steve Coppell is another favourite with the Koreans, even though he is sometimes referred to by his full name 'Steven James Coppell'!

The Peace Cup organisers have been brilliant, looking after our every need and making sure all necessary arrangements are in place. They have also chaperoned us around the city and its chaotic traffic (you really have seen nothing like it!), starting on Wednesday morning when I attended the final tournament planning meeting.

A wide range of practical topics were covered, including rules regarding substitutions (six per team), kit colours (the Royals will wear blue and white in the first two games, silver and black in the third) and a long discussion over the permitted length of the pre-match warm-up!

It was also a chance to meet representatives from other clubs, and via our interpreters I had a chat with the General Manager of River Plate, who noted that games between English and Argentine clubs are often quite feisty affairs!

On Wednesday evening it was off to the official welcome reception, which turned out to be a rather grand full-blown six-course banquet for 200 guests including participating clubs, the Peace Cup committee, sponsors and local dignitaries.

I was accompanied by Steve Coppell, Club patron Graham Dougall, Michael D'Arcy from promoters KAM Sports and our super-efficient local Peace Cup liaison officer John (I think that must be an anglicized version of his name!).

Each club was asked to visit the podium and make a speech, and in our 'turn' I tried to express - via the ever-present interpreter! - our pride at being invited to such a high-profile tournament against such famous clubs as River Plate and Lyon.

It may sound twee, but thinking back to my first pre-season tour in 2002, when we played an eighth division German side on a ploughed field in front of 150 people, this current trip really is a sign of how far we've come.

Another illustration of our status these days is the fact that the Peace Cup organisers told us that our game with Lyon is regarded as the biggest match in the competition, while a local expat told me that he's a Liverpool fan but can rarely watch his team on television because they only ever show Reading games!

We are keen to be active within the local community during our stay here, and on Thursday afternoon we made the trip across town to Seoul's SOS Children's Village, home to more than 130 orphaned local children.

Young players James Henry and Alex Pearce came along with Mark Bradley from the Communications department and myself, but we had a bad start when our 'driver' clearly didn't have a clue where he was going! Seoul's traffic is bad enough without the added delay of a driver who can't read maps, but apparently that's a common occurrence in this city!

Visiting the Village was an eye-opening experience, but it was good to see that the kids who live there look very happy and well looked after. They also seemed to enjoy meeting James and Alex, even if they were shocked that they were only 18 years old!

The players represented the Club very well, and I think this kind of visit is a good experience for them - it would be a shame if they flew halfway around the world but only saw hotels, training grounds and stadia.

We'll be meeting up with the SOS Children's Village again on Tuesday, when a group of the kids will visit one of our training sessions and meet the players. Hopefully we can give the children some enjoyment during our visit here, and maybe pick up a few new fans along the way!

Another Peace Cup event takes place on Sunday afternoon, when speakers from Lyon and Bolton will join me in making presentations at a seminar that has been arranged for delegates from professional Korean clubs.

The Koreans obviously feel they can learn from the big European leagues, and have asked me to speak about how we are attempting to establish a long-term position in the Premier League.

On a day to day basis our travelling communications team of Craig Mortimer, Mark Bradley and Simon Heggie are also responsible for looking after the demands of the media - both here in Korea and back home - and of course reporting on the trip's events for readingfc.co.uk, so it's a busy time but very rewarding, and hopefully we'll be able to do our bit to keep raising the Club's profile!