News

The Secretary's Visit

This weekend was very memorable for me and my family.  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in town for her first visit to the Republic of Korea on Saturday.  It was the second-to-last stop on her South and East Asia diplomatic tour.  On Saturday evening my family and I went to a meet and greet for the Secretary.  We welcomed her to Korea and joined her for a short photo op.  I didn’t get to meet or shake hands with her, but I saw her and managed to take a photo of her with my wife and son.  My wife was thrilled to have a photo with Secretary Rice.  My wife missed her opportunity to meet Henry Kissinger a couple weeks ago, so I did not mind giving her a chance to meet the Secretary.  Secretary Rice will be back in town with President Bush later this year for the upcoming APEC Conference, so I will likely see her again.

I spent Saturday night and early Sunday morning managing the Press Filing Center at the hotel where Secretary Rice stayed.  The Center is where the media traveling with the Secretary published their stories about the Secretary’s trip to Korea.  I enjoyed meeting some members of the press and reading what they wrote online and in the papers the next morning.  It gave me insight into how the media covers the news while traveling with prominent officials.  I ensured that the members of traveling media were able to write and file their news stories without hindrances such as technical glitches.  I also assisted with gathering morning press clippings for the Secretary and bringing them to her in the morning.  I went home around 7 a.m. after staying up the entire night at the Center.  I missed the big webcast with Secretary Rice the following morning.  The webcast event, hosted by Daum, Korea’s largest Internet company, was the first time a top U.S. offiicial held direct discussions with foreign journalists via the Internet.  I hear it was a success.  As I managed the Press Filing Center I had a long discussion with a Korean employee working in public affairs.  With little to do in the wee hours of the night, we had a chance to talk about all things Korean and American, from the recent Dokto controversy to differences between Korean and American cultures.

After I returned home I slept for most of the day.  I finally woke up around 3 p.m.  I didn’t do much else last weekend, but the Secretary’s visit definitely made the weekend eventful.

The Ides of March

On March 15, 44 B.C. Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated in Rome.  Immortalized in Shakespeare’s classic, "Julius Caesar," the assassination stands as one of the most inauspicious days in history.  The date previously represented a modest lunar event, but following Caesar’s assassination and the establishment of the Roman Empire it became a lasting reminder of portends.  The day turned out to be a fine one in merry ol’ Seoul, although at Seoul City Hall today thousands showed up to protest the government’s decision to build an "administrative city" south of Soeul and move a handful of Korean Government ministeries to this new "city."  Why were they protesting?  Over money, of course.  The government’s original plan to move the national capital to the Gongju-Yongi region about 100 miles south was struck down by Korea’s high court last October.  However, the government still decided to move go forward with a scaled down plan to build a smaller city and move several ministeries there.  While it will economically benefit that region, it will inevitably be a very expensive infrastructure project.  The protest had ended by the time I drove past the city hall today, but I did see a number of busses encircling the area and police lingering around to make sure that the protest wound down peacefully.  I had also heard that every 15th of the month Koreans endure emergency preparedness drills, but someone told me that the city discontinued those a few years ago. 

I thought it a bit ironic that "White Day" is followed by the Ides of March.  Those who know one event typically do not know the other.  "White Day" is a uniquely Korean celebration.  In Korea on Valentine’s Day women typically give gifts to their husbands or boyfriends, and then one month later on "White Day" men reciprocate and give gifts to their wives or girlfriends.  The celebration is followed by "Black Day," on April 15th, when women who did not receive anything for "White Day" gather to eat jajang (자장) noodles with friends who were also ignored on "White Day."  I found out about "White Day" yesterday when a thoughtful colleague showed up in our office with a bucket of beautiful red roses from Namdaemun Market and passed them out to all the women in our office.  He passed them out next to my desk.  All the women were wowed by his gesture, and I did my best not to look like a forgetful Luddite.  He said that it’s an office tradition he enjoys doing every year.  I also think he loves the attention. 🙂  The office was abuzz as women came to collect their roses.  Either way, I thought it ironic that such a happy day is followed by an inauspicious day, the Ides of March.  Of course, most Koreans don’t know what the Ides of March represents.  Interestingly, Valentine’s Day came from another violent Roman event–the death of St. Valentine.  How inauspicious.

The end of a funny week

This week witnessed a cornucopia of interesting news events.  Martha Stewart got out of jail and landed on Forbe’s list of the world’s richest people.  (Congratulations, Martha–was the insider sale worth spending time in Camp Cupcake just to add a few more thousands to your net worth?)  Michael Jackson’s defense team scored points against the prosecution by backing the plaintiff into a proverbial corner after they got the child to admit that he lied about being shown pornography.  Then Jacko turns around and hurts his case by nearly being thrown in jail for showing up one hour late to trail wearing pajamas.  (Note to Michael–do not show up to a molestation trial wearing pajamas–it just does not look good to the jury.)  Wall Street reminisced over the 5th anniversary of the the peak of the NASDAQ at 5,048 (it now stands at 2,059), and the rest of us who lost money remember when we all thought we were investing genuises.  We have since been humbled.  Yes, it was a strange week indeed, and that’s not even including all the strangeness in the world today.  One year after 3/11/04, the date of the train bombings in Madrid, we remember that the world is still an insecure place. 

I had lunch today with a Korean lady who works at our office.  I volunteered to help her practice her English, and we met to discuss a variety of conversations–family, Korea, the U.S., work.  She is the first local I’ve had a chance to get acquainted with since I arrived in Seoul.  Her English is already very, very good (she majored in English literature), but as I know from personal experience with the Korean language, practice makes perfect.  While I’m here in Korea I also want to look up a couple of old friends I knew back in the United States.  I met them while pursuing my MBA, and I haven’t seen them since we graduated and they returned to Korea.  I’ve located two of them; the third I haven’t been able to connect with yet.  Meeting and spending time with Koreans while I am here is one of my personal priorities.  I find at work that Americans and Koreans tend to remain somewhat aloof from each other.  It’s natural for people to have an affinity for others of their own culture.  Language differences also hinder inter-cultural communication.  Breaking down culture and language barriers is important, especially if you live and work overseas.  The conversation partner program at work I joined is a convenient way to help break down that barrier.  Having married into a Chinese family, I relate well to Asians.  Language is a much bigger barrier for me than is culture.

I’ve been nursing a head cold all week.  I’m feeling better, but now my family is sick again.  My wife isn’t feeling well and hasn’t found the rest she needs, and tonight I noticed that my son has a runny nose.  Darn, this one is my fault.  I was hoping we could finally move past these nagging illnesses and enjoy the weekend, but we may have to stay home and rest again.  Drats.  I just hope and pray that we can all heal and start feeling like we’re past the move transition period.