Articles by mgedwards

March Madness and junk food

The NCAA Tournament, better known as "March Madness," began play last night.  The games were on tape delay here in Korea.  Still, I enjoyed watching a bit of the Gonzaga-Winthrop game on television.  The Gonzaga Bulldogs, a team from Spokane, Washington, won 74-64.  My Washington Huskies beat Montana, 88-77.  The Huskies are the top seed in Albuquerque Bracket, so they needed to perform better than they did against bottom seed Montana if they have a chance to win it all.  I do have to confess that although I am rooting for the Huskies to win March Madness, I’m not optimistic of their chance of success in the tournament.  After all, it is a ritual for Seattle sports fans to be pessimistic about their teams’ ability to win championships.  I did not choose the Huskies to win it all in my tournament predictions.  Although the Huskies are my sentimental favorite, something tells me that they won’t make it past the "Sweet 16."  When filling out tournament "brackets," or predictions, it is necessary to be objective.  I also like Gonzaga, another Washington State favorite.  (It’s difficult for anyone from Washington State to dislike the "’Zags."  The Washington Huskies-Washington State Cougars rivalry is another story.)  I did not pick the ‘Zags to go far either.  The ‘Zags are too often on the wrong side of upsets.

If you’re not into college basketball, but you enjoy investing, give Fool.com’s "Stock Madness 2005" challenge a try.  It’s a fun way to see how 64 top-performing investments perform against each other.  With the markets doing so poorly lately, one needs something to make investing more fun.  Of the stocks listed, I am personally bullish on Apple (AAPL), Yahoo (YHOO), Blue Nile (NILE), and Overstock.com (OSTK).  Fool.com’s tourney seems to be heavily leaning towards technology stocks.  I am surprised they did not include eBay or Google, two technology titans with heavy stock price swings over the past few months.

For those who are exercise nuts or generally stick to a strict diet, beware!  What follows may be discomforting to read.  For the rest of us, read on.  Our family had a junk food craving tonight and went out to each at a local restaurant.  We’ve been eating dinner at home pretty much since we arrived in Seoul and decided we needed to get out and feed our pent-up American junk food craving.  We loaded up on pizza, Philly steak n’ cheese sandwiches, cheddar and bacon fries, and Buffalo wings.  Completely artery-clogging junk food!  It was delicious.  If it’s any consolation, we walked to the restaurant because we don’t yet have our car here in Seoul.  We don’t do it very often, but we’re not alone.  It was Friday night, and around 7 p.m. the restaurant filled with customers seeking the same artery-clogging food.  I guess we’re not the only junk-food junkies.

From the "Things that Make You Go Hmm…" Department:  During our trip to Korea, we departed from Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.  One of President Reagan’s first bold moves was to fire the nation’s air traffic controllers when they illegally went on strike.  Now the commercial airport closest to the nation’s capital is named after this president.  Perhaps Congress was being a bit cheeky when they voted to rename one of the nation’s most famous airports after President Reagan.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

Wouldn’t you know it?  I forget to wear me Irish green today!  I told meself, "Wear your green, Seamus!" but lo I forgot.  That’s OK…St. Paddy’s Day isn’t really a big deal in Korea.  I manage to avoid being pinched for not wearing green.  In an office atmosphere heavy on protocol (at times politically correct), that’s relatively easy to do.  Expatriates love to celebrate Ireland’s national holiday with green beer or a pint o’ Guinness imported by local faux Irish pubs.  When asked about St. Patrick’s Day, Koreans told me that they knew about the holiday but don’t observe it.  (Obviously–the Irish don’t really celebrate Buddha’s Day either, so fair is fair).  Ireland and Korea have some similarities, not the least of which being that both have been historically dominated by island neighbors to the east, England and Japan.  Both experienced recent economic dynamism; Ireland as the "Irish Tiger" and Korea as an "Asian Tiger."  South Korea also looks a wee bit like Ireland on a map.  Both have large Christian populations, and both nations have a unique, passionate spirit that is not easy to characterize.  Both are political divided into north and south portions and have suffered violence over the years as a result of this political divide.

So much has changed over the past couple of years.  Two years ago I was an MBA student en route to Ireland for an MBA study tour.  I was a student tour leader leading a motley group of 21 on a school visit to London, Munich, and Dublin.  I was not in Dublin on St. Paddy’s Day, unfortunately, but I fondly remember my visit to the Emerald Isle.  We visited the Intel Corporation facility and the U.S. Embassy, an odd-looking circular building located in the suburbs.  I remember thinking how nice it would be to work there.  Maybe I will in the future.  We also made a pilgrimage to the historic Guinness Brewery and toasted with free pints of Guinness on the 7th floor observation tour overlooking the brewery and city.  Ireland is a wonderful place to visit, a hidden gem.  Visiting Ireland is worth the trip.  Don’t stay in Dublin, though–get out and see the beautiful Irish countryside.  Rent a car and have fun driving on the left hand side of the road.  I highly recommend visiting Newgrange, an ancient Celtic site older than the pyramids in Egypt, and Glendadough, an old monastery, if you have time to make a couple of daytrips.  2003 was the year when I finished my MBA, when my son was born, and when my dream of joining the Service moved one step closer to reality.  It seems so long ago, yet when I think about how fast time passes now it does not seem so long ago.

Today I had the honor of meeting Andre Kim, Korea’s premier fashion designer.  Andre Kim’s unique design style is a fusion of western and Asian styles.  I was happy to meet such a famous and well-regarded person.  Today is also our one-month anniversary living in Korea.  One month ago tonight we arrived at Incheon and embarked for our new home in Seoul.  It’s hard to believe how fast time has passed here.  We’re only here for two years.  Our Korea tour will be over before we know it!

Time with my son

My son really depends on his mom.  She does so much for him; much more I’m afraid than I have been able to do during his short life.  I wasn’t around last year for almost five months when we were separated by two coasts.  I left for Washington, D.C. in February 2004, and my family joined me the following July (and for a week in April).  That is a very long period of absence from my son’s life.  Since then I’ve worked hard to be as good a father as I can be.  It didn’t help my case that my in-laws lived with us until late last year, and they were constant part of his life until very recently.  I really appreciated their help, but in the heirarchy of the family I have struggled to play a more prominent role in my son’s life.  It also didn’t help that I spent so much time studying Korean and preparing for our move to Seoul.  It has been frustrating at times being close to my son, especially when we uprooted him from his life in Seattle and in D.C.  The poor kid has moved and traveled more than most kids have to do in their first two years of life.  I now work all day while my wife takes care of our son, so I have to work extra hard to be available to him.

I am happy to say that four weeks into our life here in Seoul my son and I bonded in a way we never have in the past.  When he first arrived here, he was not sure of his surroundings and clung to his mom for security.  However, in the past couple of weeks he has settled into his new life and realizes that this is home.  We have reassured him that this is his new, long-term home, and he has accepted this reality.  He has also grown closer to me, which makes me very happy.  I have been more accessible to him, and he’s responded.  My wife left tonight for a meeting, and my son and I spent the evening together playing with his toys, watching videos, ate dinner together, and I took care of his needs.  He wasn’t in the least bit upset that mommy was gone–a first for him.  When she came home he kept reading a bedtime story with daddy.  His mood can change from day to day, but I know that he’s growing up and more amenable to change.  When I tell him something like "mommy will be home soon," he now seems to understand.  He still has trouble speaking, but we know he understands.  (Children in bilingual homes tend to start speaking at a later age until they can sort out the languages being spoken.)  As for me, I am happy as can be to spend quality with my son.  I’ll take anything I can get and keep trying harder to be a good father.