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My son's birthday

Although my son’s birthday was yesterday, we celebrated it today.  Because of the time difference between Korea and the U.S., his birthdate actually occurred this morning because time on the U.S. West Coast is 16 hours behind Korean time.  Early this morning, I woke up and remembered that fateful day when he was born.  Our lives have never been the same.  My first image of him was when he stretched out his hands and reached out for someone to hold him.  I couldn’t believe how strong he was for a newborn.  As a new father, I was a bit apprehensive about this new life we had brought into the world.  He seemed so fragile and breakable, and I was not sure how to touch and hold him.  It’s a feeling many new fathers experience when their first child is born.

Since my son’s birth I’ve matured as a father.  We now have a great father-son relationship.  This morning we drove around together running errands for his birthday.  We picked up a few groceries, some balloons, and his birthday cake, a Thomas the Tank Engine cake.  He was a great boy this morning and behaved well, in spite of the fact that his mom stayed home to finish preparing for his birthday party.  His birthday party was a great success.  About nine adults and five children attended.  My son received a number of outstanding gifts, including a wagon, wading pool, books, train toys, and a toy bus.  We gave him another toy train set, a Fisher-Price Geo Trax set.  It’s not Thomas the Tank Engine, his favorite, but it’s much cheaper and features a remote control.  He really loved it.  I put it together for him today.  We also received the outdoor playset we purchased yesterday.  The playset includes a playhouse with a slide and a swing set.  It’s still a little too big for my son, but he’ll grow into it.  Right now he can’t even use the swing set on his own.  He will sooner or later.  We’ll be in Seoul for the next two years, plenty of time for him to enjoy it.

Parties and sitters

Today my wife and I went to the going-away party for a good friend and colleague who will be leaving soon.  We left our son with a babysitter.  It’s our first big step toward partial independence.  My son does not do very well with babysitters, but he’s old enough now that he needs to acclimate himself to occasional separation from mom and dad.  My wife and I agreed to spend a little more time than we have in the past doing things together as a couple.  It’s impossible to go anywhere alone without leaving our son with a friend, relative, or babysitter.  We decided that from time to time we need to go on a date or join friends for dinner or drinks.  Many parents conquer that milestone early in their children’s lives.  However, our son is a bit spoiled because he’s received almost constant attention from family since he was born.  Thankfully, our son behaved well for today’s babysitter.  He cried a bit after we left, but he recovered and spent much of his time taking his mid-day nap.  This was a first big step for us.  We’re hoping that in the next few months we can leave him with a babysitter later in the day and for longer periods of time.

My colleague’s going away party was a lot of fun.  We feasted on some down-home, pippin’ hot chili brewed up by my colleague.  He’s a gracious host and a good guy.  He’s gregarious and a lot of fun.  Outspoken and charismatic, he’s larger than life in a place where it’s hard to be a stand out.  He’s done very well for himself.  He’s heading to Europe for his next assignment, so he’s definitely not doing too shabby.  My wife and I arrived late to his party because we purchased a large outdoor play set for our son on a whim.  I assumed that his party would slowly wind up and wind down and that we could sneak in and out unnoticed.  No, not so with my colleague’s party.  He is a master of punctuality, and I should have known that the party would start and end on time.  I sometimes operate on “Chinese” time; that is, it is often fashionable to be late to a get together.  I realize I am generalizing, but in my many years of exposure to Chinese culture I have noticed that Chinese tend to arrive “late” to parties; that is, they don’t arrive at the time Westerners expect them to show up.  This of course is not true with all Chinese.  However, if you ever spend time in China, you will know what I mean.  I don’t mind at all.  People tend to give me a hard time for being late.  I’ve done much better at being on time in my current job, but I do have a historical penchant for tardiness.

One of the crazier incidents that happened to me in Seoul was when my colleague misunderstood some American slang I used on him.  He’s an American, but he had no idea what I was talking about.  We talk in slang and innuendo all the time, so I was surprised when he did not catch my euphemism.  We were driving home in his car, and he asked me whether he should take a chance and drive straight or whether he should play it safe and take another route.  If he went straight and the traffic volume was light, we would be home in minutes.  If traffic was horrendous, it would take us a long time to get home.  If he took an alternative route, he would avoid traffic, but it could take us longer to get home.  I responded, exclaiming, “Eat the worm!” and pumped my fist like a frat boy chanting at a college party.  He asked, surprised, “What do you mean?” and had no clue what I had just said.  Do you know what “Eat the worm!” means?  Can you guess what I was trying to tell him?  My colleague spent the entire week asking various people if they knew what “Eat the worm!” meant.  He now knows what I meant, but I’m not sure he believes it’s really slang.

An old chore and an old friend

So you’re tired of mowing your lawn?  Live in suburbia and wish sometimes you could hire someone to mow your lawn for you or that you could cover the whole yard with decorative rock?  Maybe you live in an apartment or condo, don’t have a yard at all, and are thankful for you don’t have one.  Chances are, if you do have a lawn to mow, you probably don’t enjoy mowing it.  Well, I do.  I mowed tonight for the first time since Fall 2003, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I really missed mowing.  It’s like an old friend who visits you for a few months during the spring, summer, and fall.  Yes, that’s right, I mowed my lawn in Seoul.  I’m probably one of a few dozen people living in Seoul proper with a yard that I mow.  Most residents live in high-rise apartments.  Most of my neighbors hire people to mow their lawns.  Although mowing is a time-consuming and tedious job, I actually enjoy it.  I love the smell of fresh cut grass and the feeling that in a small way I’m getting some exercise.  Never mind I could be spending my time in a gym sweating away on a treadmill or stationary bicycle.  Nah, mowing will do just fine.  I like the mindless nature of mowing because I can let my mind wander and ponder the meaning of the universe.  And I get to wrestle with with a greasy machine, albeit a small gas-powered mower.  Changing the oil and filling the mower with gas makes me feel, well, handy.  Some guys really dig mowing.  Tim Allen from the old television sitcom "Home Improvement" epitomized the handy husband who loves improving the house with power tools.  Mowing fits the bill for me.  I don’t have to do much around our house other than daily maintenance, and I won’t have much opportunity to do landscaping, one of my favorite hobbies. Oddly, mowing fills that strange need I have to get out in the yard and do something.  My neighbors will give me strange looks and ask me why I haven’t hired someone to do the lawn work.  I’ll tell them it’s because I enjoy spending time with an old friend.