Korea

Greetings from Haeundae!

I’m writing you in the business center at the lovely 5-star Paradise Hotel in Haeundae, Korea.  I’m about 14 kilometers from Pusan.  I was happy to find out the hotel that has free Internet access so I can post at least a short blog entry today.  The hotel is very nice.  It sits on the waterfront overlooking Korea’s most popular beach.  During the summer, up to 90,000 visitors a day flock to Haeundae to enjoy the beach.  It isn’t quite Waikiki, Hawaii, but Haeundae is definitel a nice resort town.  I’m glad that it’s fall now, because I can enjoy the town and the beach in relative peace and quiet.  In mid-November, this place will change dramatically as Haeundae hosts the upcoming APEC Summit.  In fact, today the power went off several times at the hotel as engineers ran test power outages in advance of the APEC Summit.
 
I came down here for work.  I will help Americans for a couple of days before returning to Seoul.  My family is coming along for the ride.  I could not have asked for a better job assignment.  I wanted to come down to help out with APEC Summit preparations, but it was not meant to be.  I’m more than happy to settle for this assignment, because I hear that those who will be involved with APEC will be scrounging around for places to sleep.  My room is comfortable with a gorgeous view of the beach and the East Sea (a.k.a. Sea of Japan).  Sometimes this job is so tough.  Someone has to do it!  🙂
 
My wife and son arrive soon.  They are taking the KTX train to Pusan like I did yesterday.  My son is absolutely fascinated by trains, and his appetite for all things "Thomas" (Thomas the Tank Engine) is insatiable.  Riding the KTX train will be a joy for him, at least for part of the trip.  I hope he gets a window seat so he can see the Korean countryside.  One of his favorite "Thomas the Tank Engine" characters is Spencer, the sleek, modern silver train owned by the Duke and Duchess.  We told my son before the trip that he will ride on Spencer to see daddy, and he grew very excited.  The trip is short–about 2.5 hours–so it should keep him preoccupied for awhile.  I hope his mom was able to manage him without consternation! 
 
I will try to write again tomorrow about Pusan.  From what I have seen, it’s a beautiful city hugging the coastline and cradling the mountains inside the city limits.  It’s one of the world’s largest seaports, and it has a great seaport atmosphere.  If you visit Korea and have time, take a journey out of Seoul on the KTX and visit Pusan.

An observation

I am at work tonight, wrapping up some important projects before I take the day off tomorrow.  As it is my anniversary, I probably will not write a blog entry tomorrow (if I do, I better give my wife a good reason).  In fact, I could be offline for the next few days.  Tomorrow my wife and I will go hiking, and we will have dinner at Bonasera Italian Restaurant in Gangnam, which I hear is highly recommended by the Italian Embassy (you can’t beat a recommendation like that).  On Wednesday, I will start the day at work, say goodbye to a coworker who is retiring after 20 years of service, and then I’ll hit the road with another coworker.  We’ll head to Daegu via KTX train to visit a couple of Americans in the afternoon, and then we’ll travel to Pusan to assist Americans on Thursday and Friday.  It’s my first trip to Pusan, and I’m looking forward to it.  My family will join me on Thursday evening, and we will tour Pusan together on Saturday before heading home.  Although Korea is a very wired country, I do not know how much time or opportunity I will have to go online and update this blog.  I will definitely be back online to update World Adventurers by Saturday evening, though.  All commentators need to take a break now and then, right?  One of these days I’ll invite a special guest or sidekick to write for me.  Perhaps my cousin and ever faithful blog reader, Wade3016, will fill in for me.  He’s been quiet here lately, but I’m sure with a mere mention of his name he will post a comment.  His interests are a little different than mine, but he is very entertaining.
 
So, Dear Reader, until I can write again, I leave you with this observation:
 
As I drove to work tonight around 9 p.m., I saw a schoolgirl waiting at an intersection in downtown Seoul.  Dressed in her school uniform, she was alone, not at all like the multitudes of schoolgirls I saw today wandering the streets at about 3:30 p.m.  She carried a book bag.  She looked tired.  She could not have been older than 12 years old.  To a Korean, she is considered diligent.  She probably finished up her English lesson at the hagwon (학원), a Korean term for a private, evening English language institute.  She will probably head home via the subway to her family’s apartment somewhere in Seoul and will study at home for another two or three hours.  Around midnight, she may head to bed, or she might stay up later and study some more.  Either way, four hours after going to bed, she will probably get up again to start another school day.  Upon seeing this girl, an American would ask questions.  Why is this girl walking downtown in a big city alone at night?  Why does she have to study so long and so hard?  Isn’t private tutoring expensive?  Why are her parents allowing this or forcing her to do this?  Isn’t it dangerous?  How can any kid sleep four hours every night and survive? 
 
This girl reminded me of how different Korean culture can be from American culture.  While I understand the Korean desire to educate children, I never want my son to have to come home alone after 9 p.m. after a long day at the hagwon.  I hope he will be successful, but I could never drive him to such excess for the sake of success.  Korean children are brilliant, but I think the Korean education system is very hard on Korean children.

Taking two for the team

I spent much of the day today at the COEX Mall at the Fall 2005 Korean Emigration Fair.  The fair is for students who would like to travel abroad to study (and possibly emigrate).  Lately, I’ve tried to cut back on the number of out-of-office engagements I participate in because I’m already very busy at work.  These events are good overtime opportunities, and they also give you a chance to reach out to the community.  I’ve already done many of these events and did not really need to do another for awhile.  The weekends are already short as it is; a Saturday day event limits the weekend to Sunday.  On Friday afternoon, the front office asked me to sub for someone who had planned to attend the fair but backed out on short notice.  I did not want to attend, but I decided that I needed to take one for the team.  I reluctantly accepted.  Fortunately, my wife understood and gave her blessing.  During the fair, I gave a 30-minute presentation to about 55 attendees and answered questions for another 30 minutes.  Afterwards, I manned a booth at the fair and answered visitors’ questions about studying in the United States.  I also attended this fair last March.  At the time, I was still new to Seoul and did not have answers to many people’s questions.  This time I was much better prepared.
 
Although I don’t enjoy public speaking, my presentation went well.  My delivery was good, in spite of a few challenges.  For one, my knowledge of the subject is dated.  Secondly, the presentation I used was in Korean, and my English guide was different than the Korean version.  As a result, I had to improvise and modify my presentation.  It is tricky making sure that what you say in English matches what is written in Korean on a PowerPoint presentation.  I also had a Korean interpreter, and I needed to make sure that she understood the content of my presentation.  At times I forgot to stop and let her translate what I said into Korean.  Fortunately, she did a great job keeping up with me.
 
After I came home, I took care of my son.  My wife went out tonight with some girlfriends for a "girl’s night on the town."  I was happy to oblige.  She spends so much time with our son that I was happy to encourage her to go out with friends.  I also enjoy spending quality time alone with my son.  He is better behaved with me when his mom isn’t around.  My wife went out for deokgalbi and stayed out until long after my son’s bedtime.  She had a great time.  My son and I also had a wonderful time.  He’s been sick, but he felt a little better tonight.  I gave him some medicine and fed him dinner.  We colored a few pictures, played with trains, and did some puzzles.  I gave him a bath and got him ready for bed.  He was such a good boy–until I tried to get him to sleep.  His mom puts him to sleep every night, and tonight he resisted falling asleep with me.  He cried for his mom.  It took me over an hour to get him to sleep, but I finally did.  Although I was happy to give my wife the night off and take care of my son, the frustration of getting my son to sleep and reluctantly going to the student fair today made me feel like I took two for the team.