Articles by mgedwards

The king of Korea bloggers moves on

Korea Life Blog is the most popular blog maintained by an expat living in Korea.  I don’t read it often, but my wife is a big fan of Shawn’s blog and follows it along with my own Korea blog.  (Yes, she actually reads what I write in my blog.  Aside from the fact that sometimes I "sugarcoat things," as she puts it, she generally thinks it’s accurate and enjoys reading it.)  She likes the fact that Shawn personalizes his site and does a great job talking about everyday life in Korea as an English teacher.  She loves to follow his personal relationship with his girlfriend (sorry, I don’t have any tear jerker stories or salacious soap operas to share).  She thinks my site is more intellectual.  That’s probably true–I would just as soon talk about investing or pop culture as about Korea.  I have to hand it to Korea Life Blog–he does an excellent job describing expat life in Korea, at least from a teacher’s perspective.  A U.S. soldier or a Western businessman would have a different point of view, but Shawn does a good job describing Korean culture from a foreigner’s perspective.  He puts a lot more effort into his blog than I do.  For me, World Adventurers is an evening ritual I enjoy doing at the end of a long day.  I sit down at the computer, think about something that may or may not be related to Korea, and then type out my thoughts, do a little editing, and publish it hoping I haven’t made too many errors.  Occasionally I will add photos taken from our trips around Korea.  Shawn’s site obviously takes a lot more time and effort than mine.  In fact, the guy has published a couple of books about his life in Korea.  I think they’re a selection of his best blog entries.  Shawn’s experience in Korea is much more intimate than mine, partly because of the nature of our purpose for being here.  Shawn is an English teacher who interacts personally with Koreans all the time.  My experience with Koreans is much more impersonal, and lately I’ve been spending time with a lot of Americans in need here in Korea.  Getting to know Koreans personally remains one of my biggest challenges.  My own observation about English teachers in Korea is that although their best friends are generally expatriates, they also have many Korean friends and acquaintances.  Also, I’m a family man who usually returns home after a long day at work.  I have far fewer opportunities to go out and experience Korea like Shawn does.  My night life usually consists of playing with my son and working on an ongoing home project.

Now the author of Korea Life Blog has moved on.  He recently went to Beijing, China and will probably stay there for awhile.  I wonder whether he will return to Korea.  He seems to be enjoying himself immensely in China.  As someone who knows China well, I can understand why he’s so infatuated with China.  Problems such as pollution and Big Brother notwithstanding, China is an awesome place.  In a way, I feel a bit like his alter ego.  Shawn knows Korea like I wish I knew Korea, and I think he wants to know China like I know China.  My lifestyle is also far different than his.  I wonder what life would be like if we traded places for a week.  I wonder whether he would even do it if he could.  If he does stay in China, I wonder whether he will change the name of his blog or start a new one focused on China.  That’s why I chose a generic name like "World Adventurers."  Korea today, China tomorrow.  Only one thing is sure–a year and a half from now, this blog will focus on someplace new.  No matter what, this blog will probably never generate 377,000 hits like Shawn’s blog has since September 2004.  That’s quite an accomplishment.

Sometimes things are just plain blah

Sick with fever and chills.  Temperatures in the high 80’s with high humidity lingering in the air.  Stock market crashes.  Breaking out in a cold sweat and looking very pale when you meet with your big boss to go over something important.  Today was a confluence of bad occurrences that made for a miserable day at the ranch.

I went home from work early yesterday and crashed at home all day with a freakish flu.  It’s the same 48-hour flu my wife had last week.  I felt better yesterday evening, at least enough to write my blog and track a 166-point crash in the Dow Industrials Average.  I also felt well enough to go back to work today, although as I told colleagues, "I’m fine as long as I don’t move."  Working at my desk, I felt fine as long as I didn’t move too much.  Once I stood up, I felt faint.  My condition improved as the day progressed, and by the end of the day I felt much better.  The low point of my day came when I met with my boss’ boss to discuss our monthly operations management and broke out in cold sweats in front of him.  I was probably a bit nervous, but my illness and the lack of air conditioning exacerbated my condition.  He seemed sympathetic and told me I did a good job.  He’s a big-picture guy, and I’m glad I could give him something that highlights our operations based on charts he already reviews. 

I went to lunch with my good friend, and after that my condition improved.  I stood for a long time in the afternoon and survived.  I now have a sore throat, but my fever has subsidied.  I crashed again earlier this evening for a few hours.  The best part of my ordeal is the sympathy my son has given me during my illness.  He keeps telling me he’s "sick" and has a fever and pretends to feel just like daddy.  We rest for a couple of minutes until he’s tired of feigning illness, and then he jumps out of bed and exclaims, "All done!"  It’s really cute, although mommy thankfully wisks him away so I can get some sleep.

The abominable weather also contributed to my misery.  When you can see the mugginess lingering heavily in the air, you know it’s not a nice day.  My wife had the crazy idea of eating outside tonight while my son played.  The mist blanketed the air and weighed it down.  Imagine eating outside in a light fog.  I told her, "I guess we should be thankful to have place to eat outside at all."  It’s true–we could live in an apartment or in a very polluted city where staying outside is always an unpleasant experience.  Still, the experience was nothing like the days when we lived in Seattle and breathed in the fresh Pacific Northwest air.  I don’t think I will spend much time outside this weekend.  We were thinking of going to the Korean Folk Village south of town this weekend, but I’ll see how I feel.  Right now, I would rather stay home for rest and recuperation.

A glimpse into the future

In my line of work, it’s necessary to plan ahead.  Career planning is essential so you can land a follow-on assignment that you enjoy and enhances your career.  If you fly blind, you never know what you’re going to get.  For example, right now I am busy learning German in order to qualify for German-speaking assignments.  After German I will polish my French, and after that I will focus again on Korean when I once again return to interviewing Koreans. 

A couple of intriguing career possibilities landed on my desk this week.  First, I found out that because I already qualify for Mandarin Chinese-required assignments, I can bid six months early for my follow-on assignment.  I had expected to bid next February, but it is great news to be able to look ahead and know where you will be headed in the future.  I can bid on any assignments I qualify for which begin after my time here in Seoul ends (I depart February 2007).  I also qualify for a short course in Spanish (8 weeks), so I can also bid on Spanish-speaking posts that begin in April 2007 or later.  I won’t know until bidding starts in August as to whether I will be able to find assignments that begin after I leave Seoul.  It’s good to have options, though.  A friend of mine working in India and fluent in Japanese recently did exactly what I will do, and his follow-on assignment will be in Tokyo.  There are more assignments available to bid on during the summer.  Most assignment bidders prefer bidding during the summer cycle because more assignments are available.  I will bid Chinese-required posts very high, and I’m optimistic my follow-on assignment will be somewhere in China.  I’ll let you know.

Second, I’ve heard that there may be a three-month short assignment to Papua New Guinea available later this year.  Yes, that’s right—Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea—not exactly a hot tourist destination.  It’s intriguing to me as a great career possibility, but that’s about all.  Most people in my line of work try to avoid the country because it is an extremely difficult and potentially dangerous place to be.  Violence is much too common there.  However, the job prospect sounds fabulous.  I broached the subject of doing this three-month assignment in Port Moresby with my family, and they reacted very coolly to the idea.  I don’t know if the opportunity will even become available.  I’m sure that several other people are interested in doing it, and it would put a hardship on my family if I went unaccompanied to Port Moresby for three months.  We would probably meet up a couple times in nearby Australia, Thailand, or Bali.  My in-laws would likely stay with my family in Korea while I’m away.  I’m only considering it because it’s a short assignment and a great opportunity.  I don’t know what I’ll do, but if you have any thoughts about this, let me know.  The prospect of working there reminds me an episode of “Survivor”—living for a short while in extreme hardship with the prospect of great reward.  Or I could just get booted off the island.