Family

New Year’s resolutions, anyone?

Last night was very busy and a lot of fun.  We’re on our way out soon to join friends for a New Year’s party, so I’ll write about it tomorrow.  Today I’ll write about a bit more concise topic–New Year’s resolutions.  Dear Reader, did you make New Year’s resolutions for 2006?  I tend not to, because they’re usually too difficult to fulfill.  I did last year, though.  How did I do?
  1. Finish Korean language class with an adequate testing score
  2. Arrive in Seoul safely
  3. Take a real vacation
Well, two out of three ain’t too bad.  I finished Korean language class last year with the required proficiency level.  However, I should have resolved to maintain it, because my Korean language ability has receded precipitously.  I am not taking any Korean classes right now, and I rarely speak Korean, unfortunately.  I speak a little once in awhile, although I never carry on conversations in Korean anymore.  Even my Chinese ability has decreased a bit.  My German improved, although not by much.  I plan to retest in German in January before I bid for my next assignment.  If I test well, I would be qualified to bid on German-speaking locales early next year (read Europe).
 
We also made it safely to Seoul.  However, we did not take a vacation this year.  My wife and son went to Shanghai, China in April and May, but I haven’t left Korea since we arrived here.  Interestingly, I feel like more of a homebody in Seoul than I did when we lived in the U.S.  We spent a few days in February in Hawaii en route to Korea.  We also made overnight trips to Gyeongju and Seoraksan National Park, but that’s all the traveling we’ve done together.  However, none of these were really "vacations."  We had planned to return to the U.S. over Christmas, but that trip has been postponed until next summer.
 
I thought about what resolutions I want to make for 2006.  Here’s what I came up with:
  • Lose 10 pounds.  I need to lose more weight than 10 pounds, but I need to be realistic!  I can never achieve unrealistic weight loss goals.  Can you relate?
  • Increase our net worth by 15%.  By aggressively saving, I think we can do it.
  • Spending more time reading for pleasure and reading what I need to read.  I never seem to have enough time to read.  It’s probably because I spend too much time on the computer.
  • Improve my Korean.  It would be nice to leave Korea speaking better Korean than I do now.
  • Take a real vacation.  This one carries over from last year’s resolutions.

So, Happy New Year, Dear Reader!  I hope you have a wonderful and prosperous 2006.  If you make any resolutions, I wish you all the best in fulfilling them.

 

From the "Things that Make You Go Hmm" Department:  This morning I found my son in the pantry trying to reach something on the shelf.  He was using a case of bottled water as a step chair.  The first thought that crossed my mind was, "Wow, my son can even walk on water!"  Now if he could just let us know when he needs to use the potty.

Home at last

It’s really nice to be home.  My wife asked me if I missed being home while I was in Busan.  I told her honestly that I was glad to be home, but I did not really miss it while I was away for the APEC Summit.  Before you respond critically to that statement, let me explain why I felt this way.  Working at the APEC Summit was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  Rarely is one given the opportunity to be midst of such excitement and exhilaration.  Only people who work being the scenes at major events such as the Olympics or G-8 Summit know what it’s like to be involved in an event such as this.  I was so busy in Busan that I had little time to miss being home.  The longing to head home returned whenever the excitement of the APEC Summit subsided, such as during yesterday when I returned to Seoul from Busan via the KTX Train.  Otherwise, I had little time to think about it.
 
I came home yesterday and was greeted by my son, who rushed to the door to welcome me with open arms.  You can’t replace the joy of your child welcoming you home.  I bought him a new, challenging puzzle to work on, and we solved it together.  We went to the store together and had dinner together.  Those are great moments in life that you can never replace.  But being a part of the APEC Summit was absolutely unforgettable.  Knowing that I played a small role in a nearly flawless performance was very satisfying to me.  "Rubbing elbows with the elites," as I like to joke about working amidst some of the world’s most influential leaders, was thrilling.  Each year during the Summit someone does what I did.  Next year someone will do the same job as mine when the APEC Summit is hosted by Vietnam in Hanoi.  I’m sure they will be just as thrilled as I was.  
 
Now that I’m home, I can unwind and go back to enjoying home life.  In fact, we already have the next few days through Thanksgiving planned out.  I plan to work on Wednesday and Friday while many people are on vacation, and on Thanksgiving I will join the community association for our annual Thanksgiving celebration.  Thursday evening our family will drag out the Christmas decorations and put up our Christmas tree, an annual ritual at our house.  I’m looking forward to it.  I may not be "rubbing elbows with the elites," but I’ll be stringing lights and garland with my family.  Now that the APEC Summit is over, that’s just fine with me.
 
Blog Note:  I received a big surprise in the mail today.  My friend Courtney, who I met last August in Seoul, sent me a belated birthday present.  Wow!  I am so happy.  Thank you, Courtney, for such a thoughtful birthday gift.  She bought me a very nice necktie.  I posted a photo of it along with the nice card she sent me.  I will wear the necktie with pride at work.  I guess she took pity on me for lamenting about my frayed neckties!  (I’ll need to figure out a way to wear it at work and not snag it on the counter at the office.)  This birthday is the best one I’ve ever had, because I get to celebrate it over and over again.  Thanks, Courtney.
 
I also posted a couple of recent photos.  The first one is a photo of my wife with former President Bush taken two weeks ago.  The second one is of me in front of Air Force One taken last week in Busan.

On the home front

Lately I haven’t written much about life in Korea.  We’re doing fine.  There really hasn’t been specific to highlight over the past couple weeks, so I decided to focus on other blog topics for a change.  My wife has been working for a month now, and my son has finally settled into a new routine where we both leave in the morning for work and the nanny takes care of our son.  Lately I’ve been coming home a couple hours late each night because there’s so much to do at work, although I usually arrive about an hour before my wife does.  For the past couple of weeks my son has grown much closer to me, and we spend more quality time together.  I don’t know whether this is because my wife is now working full time.  More likely it’s because he’s growing up fast.  Our new nanny is doing well, although we have given her critiques on caring for our son and cooking meals (hiring a nanny affordably while living overseas is a great benefit to expatriate life).  My wife and I haven’t had much time for domestic chores, and they’re piling up.  Lately, we haven’t been out and about too much on weekends, and we haven’t taken any time off.  Now that the weather in Seoul has turned colder, there’s less incentive for us to go out and explore Korea.  It hasn’t rained or snowed, but it definitely feels chillier now than it did just two weeks ago, dampening our enthusiasm to brave the elements.  The falling leaves are piling up around the yard, but I haven’t had much time to rake them up.  For the first time in over two years, I have to hire someone (our nanny’s husband) to do the work. 
 
When we first arrived earlier this year, it seemed that we had more leisure time available than we do now.  Now, life seems more cluttered.  I think it’s because both my wife and I are now both working and working long hours.  The extra work and commute time impinges on our time available to do other things, like spending time with our son or entertaining guests or touring Korea.  It will get worse before it gets better.  On Saturday I will head to Busan for a week and a half for the APEC Summit.  It’s the biggest event in Korea this year and a heckuva lot of work.  My family won’t be with me.  I will put in a lot of overtime down in Busan, and my wife will be busy holding the fort down at home when she’s not working.  Thanksgiving will be upon us before we know it, and we haven’t even had time to put together our Thanksgiving plans.  We will probably join the community association’s annual Thanksgiving dinner.  Things probably won’t slow again down before Christmas.  Perhaps peace and quiet will be the best present we receive this year.