Articles by mgedwards

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.

Sticker shock for expats

A survey released yesterday by Mercer Human Resources Consulting ranks Seoul as the fifth most expensive city in the world for expatriate living.  Seoul is up two spots from last year, and it now ranks fifth behind Tokyo, Osaka, London, and Moscow.  Asuncion, Paraguay remains the cheapest city in the world for expats.  Each year, Mercer publishes this ranking in order to give companies an indication of how much to pay their expatriate employees.  While most local residents manage to live in Seoul on a limited budget, expatriates who want to maintain a comfortable lifestyle in Seoul have to adjust to sticker shock.  It may not be as expensive as Tokyo or London, but then again, one would not expect Seoul to be more expensive than New York City or Paris.

It is still a bit of a mystery to me how Koreans can afford to live in Seoul.  When the average Korean earns about $12,500 (U.S.) annually, one wonders how Koreans can afford to live in Seoul at all (one in every four Korean lives in Greater Seoul).  Granted, Koreans can buy cheaper goods at local markets, rather than shopping at upscale department stores.  Plus, they often live at home with their parents until they can afford to rent their own place, and when they do rent or buy, they typically buy in areas far from downtown such as in Incheon City.  Although the cost of living in Korea is much cheaper for Americans who are stationed at local U.S. military bases because the military subsidizes goods purchased on base, prices on the local economy are significantly higher.  For example, prices at the three Costco warehouses in Seoul are far higher than in the U.S.  I think I would find it hard to make ends meet if I lived in Seoul making $12,500 a year.

The fact that 1 U.S. dollar equals approximately 1,000 won also hides the true cost of an item.  For example, when one pays 16,000 won for a lunch with one 10,000 won bill, a 5,000 won bill, and a 1,000 won bill, one does not automatically calculate the true cost of the meal they just purchased.  In the U.S., I commonly made my own lunch or paid a few dollars for lunch at a cafeteria.  Now, I routinely spend $6-$16 per day having lunch with colleagues.  Food and housing costs seem to make up the highest percentage of a typical Korean’s budget.  Apartments can cost well over $1,000,000 (U.S.) in some areas of town, especially in Jongno-gu (central district), Yongsan-gu (just south of downtown), and Gangnam-gu (the area south of the river).  Dining and entertainment is usually a large portion of one’s budget, because meeting with friends and coworkers for food and drink is a very common activity in Seoul.