National pastime back in the Nation's Capital

Major League Baseball returned to Washington, D.C. for the first time in 34 years on Thursday evening as the Washington Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3.  President Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch, the first pitch thrown at RFK Stadium since the Senators left for Texas in 1971.  After a 34-year hiatus, the nation’s pastime has been reincarnated in the nation’s capital in the form of the Washington Nationals, or Nats.  The Nationals, formerly the Montreal Expos, received a warm welcome from newly minted Washington fans.  I can’t go to a game yet because I’m in Seoul, but I would love to once I return to the D.C. area.  The last time I wrote about the Nats, D.C. Councilwoman Linda Cropp was holding up a stadium deal.  I’m glad she brokered a deal that brought the Nationals to D.C. and a new stadium.  I don’t generally support public funding for sports stadiums.  However, striking a stadium deal was preferable to reneging on a previous agreement.  (If you recall, Mayor Anthony Williams struck a deal with MLB last year to move the Expos to D.C.  Cropp nearly derailed it by trying to rewrite the deal to remove some key public funding.)  I plan to watch a Korean Baseball Organization game or two here in Seoul.  Still, I’m really looking forward to rooting for my newly adopted National League team.  I’m a big Seattle Mariners fan, but I won’t be able to see an M’s game in Seattle anytime soon.  The Nationals give me a team to root for while I live in the D.C. area.  I’m not really fond of D.C.’s other professional franchises, except perhaps D.C. United, the 2004 Major League Soccer champions.

 

I turned on the TV tonight and had to endure what seems like the umpteenth night in a row of Yankees-Red Sox baseball.  Enough already!  There are 28 other teams in the majors; it would be nice to see some other teams play for a change.  Now that the Sox are the champions and the Yankees have loaded up for yet another championship run, my heart just isn’t into baseball’s “hottest” rivalry.  I suspect I am not alone.  Both teams are 4-5 and currently cellar dwelling in the AL East.  I wouldn’t even mind watching a Pittsburgh-Milwaukee matchup over watching Yankee Gary Sheffield bum rush a Sox fan.  It seems as if every time a Yankee faces a Red Sox pitcher or hitter, their combined salaries exceed the entire payroll of the Kansas City Royals or Florida Marlins.  We all know they’re the best teams money can buy.  It was fun to root for the Sox when they were lovable losers; now they’ve joined the ranks of teams that try to buy championships. 

 

Speaking of competitions—tonight our team won second place in a trivia contest organized by our Association.  Another team previously won the competition three times in a row, and we were determined to defeat them.  Although we didn’t win this time, we put up a valiant fight.  The questions were very tricky, and some of them were quite obscure.  Hopefully next time we can bring home the “Golden Plate.”

Checking in from China

I talked to my wife tonight on the phone. She has been in China with my son since early last week. They are doing very well. Life in Shanghai is not as comfortable or convenient as it is in Seoul, but she’s glad she went home to spend time with family. My wife and son are staying with my in-laws, who as you might recall returned to China last December before we left for Seoul. My sister-in-law’s family, who also live in Shanghai, met my son for the first time. My son has really taken a liking to his aunt (probably because she is a lot like his mom, her sister). They all live in pretty cramped quarters and have had a few minor family quarrels, but all in all, the visit has been a good one. My son really misses me. Whenever he sees a photo of me, he says excitedly, “Baba!” the Chinese word for “daddy.” I can’t wait to see them again. My temporary, pseudo-bachelor life has its good moments, but there’s nothing like being with the ones you love.

My son is apparently quite a celebrity in China. As a mixed-blooded child—half American, half-Chinese—he obviously looks different than Chinese children. My wife told me that strangers go out of the way to meet the little guy because he looks so different. She recently took him to a neighborhood photography studio for a photo session. The session so well that the studio acquired the rights to his photos and will display his album as a studio sample. He is a very photogenic kid. (I’m glad he inherited his mother’s good looks!) Although my son has been noticed here in Seoul, he has gotten far more attention in China than he has in Korea. This may be because Koreans have seen so many foreigners and mixed-blooded children that they are no longer a novelty. Chinese, on the other hand, have experienced much less exposure to foreigners and have met few mixed-blooded children. When I first visited China in 1994, I received many inquisitive looks from Chinese. I was a bit of a novelty, even when I was in Shanghai. However, in recent years the foreign mystique has diminished, and many Chinese now won’t give foreigners a second glance.

On the other hand, mixed-blooded children in China born to a foreign parent are still relatively rare. As a result, like my son, mixed-blooded children still elicit stares from Chinese. And Chinese typically hold them in high regard. Some Chinese believe that mixed-blooded children are physically more beautiful than either full-blooded Chinese or foreigner (e.g. Western) children. A recent poll indicated that 63% of Chinese would like to marry a foreigner. During my 1994 visit to China, my wife and I received critical stares from strangers who disapproved of our bi-racial relationship. Now, our mixed marriage is apparently hip. Attitudes in China have changed dramatically in the past decade. This may explain why Chinese are generally favorably disposed to mixed-blooded children. Rather than being a social burden, mixed-blooded children have become a status symbol of sorts.

Koreans, in contrast, typically do not hold mixed-blooded children in such high esteem. Koreans tend to prefer full-blooded Korean or non-Korean children. This is partly due to the fact that some mixed-blooded children in Korea are born out of wedlock to Korean mothers who are abandoned by foreign partners (particularly soldiers) who leave the country. Many of these children are born into unfortunate circumstances where the father reneges on his responsibility to take care of the child and disappears from their life. It is a very interesting contrast between two cultures that are similar in many ways but differ in some key social aspects. It is partly a product of cultural and historical influences.

Spring must be here

Spring must finally be here.  The pheasant family that lives nearby has been more active than usual.  I came home today and heard the sound of frogs croaking in the distance.  I heard the low rumble of the magpies announcing their territorial aspirations.  Our neighbor put out their lawn table and chairs.  The lawn is looking a little greener, and I will soon have to break out the water hose and lawnmower.  The first mosquitoes of the year appeared today.  One tried to land on my hand, but I brushed him off and darted into my house quickly.  I’ve heard that the mosquitoes will continue to buzz all year until sometime in December when the last one dies inside one’s home.  While I don’t like mosquitoes (who does?), it’s nice to see nature waking up and blessing us with more beauty.  Mosquitoes are preferable to hibernating nature.  The landscape was previously dingy with dead grass and barren, skeletal trees, but soon the cherry blossoms will bloom and the trees will grow leaves again.  Korea is beautiful in the spring.  Barring any Yellow Sand, this is the best time of the year to be in Korea.